Orchard Harvest Panel discussion, add node title to each outcome in the workflow - This week in Orchard (17/10/2025)
Don't miss your chance to shape the conversation at the Orchard Harvest Conference 2025! This week's topics include adding a node title to each outcome in the workflow and fixing the alpha slider functionality in the Color Editor for the Text Field! You can also read an interview with Toby Dodds on Orchard Core at Smithsonian Folkways!
Orchard Core updates
Add node title to each outcome in the workflow
Currently, when you hover over the dots while trying to connect workflow events or tasks, there is no title to indicate what each dot (outcome) signifies. With this change, hovering over the dot will show the title of the outcome. It sounds like a minor improvement, but it was a little annoying that you had to start to connect a task to another one to see the name of the outcome.
Here we have a simple workflow where we send an email once a Blog Post has been published. The Send Email task has two outcomes: Done and Failed. If everything goes well, we display a Success Notification, but in case of an error, we would like to display an Error Notification. Before this change, we had to start drawing the line between the activities to see which outcome we were dealing with. Now it's enough to hover over the dot to see the name of the outcome.
Fix the alpha slider functionality in the Color Editor for the Text Field
This July, we introduced an alpha (transparency) slider to the color editor used in Text Fields. While the slider appears to function visually, its value is not actually stored or persisted.
Additionally, this change introduces a regression when the color picker is used within Flow or Bag Parts. The implementation relies on hard-coded input field IDs, which causes conflicts and breaks functionality in dynamic contexts where multiple instances of the color picker may exist.
This addition addresses a key usability issue by ensuring the alpha (opacity) slider functions correctly in the color editor, and it also resolves the color editor's functionality when used in Flow and Bag Parts.
The alpha value is now persisted with the actual color using the #RRGGBBAA format. It also applies a default color of black (#000000) when the default value for the Text Field is empty, and now there is a robust handling for multiple color formats in the default value:
- #RRGGBBAA
- #RGBA
- #RGB
- #RRGGBB
News from the community
Orchard Harvest 2025 Panel discussion
The Orchard Harvest 2025 conference will be held in Prague, and we look forward to seeing you all this autumn in the Czech Republic, in the heart of Europe. Our confirmed dates for this year are November 11th and 12th. Secure your early-bird tickets to the conference, taking place November 11-12, 2025, at the Botanique Hotel Prague, a modern hotel inspired by nature with a green approach, located in the city center.
Attention Orchard Harvest enthusiasts, you only have a few days left to purchase your tickets at a discount! You can buy your early bird tickets here until the 21st of October.
Don't miss your chance to shape the conversation at the conference! Whether you're attending in person or not, you can still submit questions and topics for our upcoming panel discussion. Influence what our experts will discuss by getting involved here: https://forms.office.com/e/8BQ5WipCAJ.
In this section, we would like to discuss the most important and interesting topics that we don't have time for in busy business hours.
Please submit your questions in advance or bring surprise questions and engage with our expert panel.
Be sure to check out the updated official website of the conference for more information!
As we move forward, we will keep community members informed of the details, and you will find every detail in this newsletter, too!
Don't miss the biggest Orchard Core event of the year!
From CMS to Collection Manager: An Interview with Toby Dodds on Orchard Core at Smithsonian Folkways
In our latest case study, we talked with Toby about how their platform evolved over the years, what made Orchard the right long-term choice, and what others might learn from building and running something this complex and essential.
In this interview, Toby Dodds shares how they turned their CMS into a mission-critical platform, the most significant improvements or benefits they noticed after moving to Orchard Core, and several other interesting behind-the-scenes insights into how Smithsonian Folkways built and evolved a platform that does much more than power a website. His story is a reminder that with the right tools — and the right team — Orchard Core can become a core part of how organizations work, grow, and deliver on their mission.
Want to build something like this? Need a CMS that's flexible, easy to maintain, and won't slow you down when your site grows? Get in touch with us!
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