Orchard Core updatesUpgrade GraphQL to 8We currently use 7.9.0 of the GraphQL packages. However, as of now, 8 is out, so we needed to upgrade. The goal here was to upgrade to the latest GraphQL packages. This is a breaking change and will not be part of 2.x. It will be included in Orchard Core 3.0 since it's breaking (as we have to set ResolvedType instead of Type on all fields, including custom fields in external projects). Below are important changes and considerations for your future implementation:

Orchard Core updatesAdd PollingTime & MinimumIdleTime to BackgroundServiceOptionsThe ModularBackgroundService executes background tasks in one-minute batches, and there's a 10-second idle time between batches. Neither of these are configurable, which prevents customizing background execution, forcing you to wait at least 1m 10s for a background task. This means that we have to wait for that amount of this for background tasks instead of being able to tell to execute them faster.

Orchard Core updatesNew AddDisplayDriver Service Collection ExtensionA new extension method, AddDisplayDriver<TModel, TDriver>services.AddScoped<IDisplayDriver<Navbar> has been introduced to streamline the registration of generic display drivers. Now, instead of the verbose syntax services.AddScoped<IDisplayDriver<Navbar>, VisitSiteNavbarDisplayDriver>() for registering a driver like VisitSiteNavbarDisplayDriver, you can simply use the more concise services.AddDisplayDriver<Navbar, VisitSiteNavbarDisplayDriver>(). This enhancement reduces boilerplate code and improves readability when adding display drivers.

Orchard Core updatesAuto Attach the DashboardPart to content types with DashboardWidget stereotypeIn Orchard Core 2.1, we've introduced the IContentDefinitionHandler interface, which allows you to intercept and modify content definitions as they are being built before being cached. This provides finer control over the creation of content types, enabling customization at various stages of the content definition process.

Orchard Core updatesSupport WebM filetype in media extensionsWebM is an audiovisual media file format. It is primarily intended to offer a royalty-free alternative to use in the HTML video and the HTML audio elements. It has a sister project, WebP, for images. The WebM file format is quite popular nowadays and should also be supported by Orchard Core. The Media module provides a UI to upload and organize binary files that can be used while creating content. And from now on, by using that UI, you can upload WebM files too. The Orchard Core documentation shows how to configure the list of allowed file extensions by modifying the appsettings.json file. Here, you can see the added webm extension.

When working with an ASP.NET Core application, it’s often necessary to move various content or configurations between different environments or back up critical information. Whether you’re setting up a new site, migrating content, or synchronizing data across multiple instances, the Orchard Core Deployment feature can simplify the process. This feature provides an easy solution for importing and exporting data.

Orchard Core updatesNew NamedRecipeStepHandler base classThe NamedRecipeStepHandler class has been introduced to streamline the implementation of IRecipeStepHandler. This base class simplifies the creation of custom recipe steps by handling common step-name checks, allowing developers to focus on implementing their specific step logic.

Orchard Core updatesDon't configure JsonOptions by defaultA key change in version 2.0 is the shift from Newtonsoft.Json to System.Text.Json. Previously, we configured the default JsonOptions to match the settings used for document serialization. In the upcoming release, however, the community reverted that approach, and the JsonOptions are no longer configured by default. This change provides greater flexibility, allowing you to customize JSON serialization as needed.