Create and install a custom module

Creating a custom module

Orchard Core offers a way to create a new CMS module. You can find a detailed guide in the official documentation: Create a new CMS module. This guide assumes that a module already exists and focuses on how to install, customize, and enable it.

Module customization

We can customize how your module appears in the Admin UI by editing the Manifest.cs file.

The manifest file allows you to define the following attributes:

• Name
• Description
• Author
• Version
• Category

After modifying the Manifest.cs file, for the changes to take effect, follow these steps:

1. Compile the solution
2. Run the application
3. If changes are not reflected, disable and re-enable the module

Installing the module

To install a custom module in an Orchard Core CMS application, the module project must be referenced by the main CMS web project.

For example, in Visual Studio:

• Open the solution
• Right-click on Dependencies in the project named Orchard Core.Cms.Web
• Click on Add Project Reference
• Select the custom module project
• Click the Accept button

After adding the reference, the main CMS project file should include an entry similar to:

<ItemGroup>
<ProjectReference Include="..\MyModule.OrchardCore\MyModule.OrchardCore.csproj" />
</ItemGroup>

This reference allows Orchard Core to discover and load the custom module at runtime.

Enabling the module

Once the module is installed, it can be enabled from the administration panel:

1. Go to the Admin dashboard
2. Navigate to Tools > Features
3. Search using the name defined in the Name property of the manifest file
4. Click the Enable button

If the module does not appear in the list, check the following:

• The module must contain a manifest file (Manifest.cs)
• The CMS web project must reference the module project