Orchid Newsletter: The One Where It Got Cold In Texas
Tags: showdev, orchid, static, webdev
Published: 2019-02-11 00:59:19

---
title: Orchid Newsletter: The One Where It Got Cold In Texas
published: true
description: January 2019 Monthly Orchid Update
tags: 
- showdev
- orchid 
- static 
- webdev
series: Orchid Newsletter
canonical_url: 'https://orchid.netlify.com/news/2019/2/11/where-it-got-cold-in-texas'
---

When I moved to Houston, I never expected it would get this cold! Temperatures have been jumping between 30°F and 80°F just about every other day, but that's alright because it gives me an excuse to do more work for Orchid! 

This is a monthly newsletter around Orchid, the newest and best static site generator for the JVM. There is a growing need to keep the community up-to-date on all the happenings around Orchid, and here I will share Orchid's progress during the previous month! Follow along with this series to stay on top of Orchid's newest features, track adoption on Github, and see who's using Orchid!

{% github JavaEden/Orchid %}

# On Github

As of the time of writing, Orchid is at 134 stars on Github. Thanks for all the support!

# What's New?

Version [0.15.4](https://github.com/JavaEden/Orchid/releases/tag/0.15.4) was release later in the month, which was mostly a bugfix release, and will be the last release before the next major version, 0.16.0. There's some really exciting stuff coming soon to Orchid, check out what's in progress below!

# Coming Soon

### New theme: **Copper**

![Copper Theme Example](https://res.cloudinary.com/orchid/image/upload/v1549253492/themes/copper/1.png)

The theme I built for my own site, now you can use for yours! Based on Bulma, this theme is great for showcasing the best projects for your portfolio, but is equally good for documentation.

Visit [caseyjbrooks.com](https://www.caseyjbrooks.com/) for a live demo.

**Current Status**: Waiting for release

### New bundle: **Orchid Docs**

After setting up many of my other library projects with Orchid documentation, I've noticed myself adding the same plugins over and over to each project. To make it easier for others to get started with Orchid as a documentation tool, I've created a new Bundle, `OrchidDocs`, which contains the following plugins:

- `OrchidCore`: The core Orchid framework
- `OrchidEditorial`: A default theme (subject to change in a later version)
- `OrchidPages`: Static pages to hold changelogs, contact forms, project license, etc.
- `OrchidWiki`: The full wiki documentation for the site
- `OrchidForms`: Easily add contact or bug report forms
- `OrchidChangelog`: Manage project verions, and update Github releases automatically on deploy
- `OrchidSearch`: Enable full-text search of your docs
- `OrchidDiagrams`: Describe your project with diagrams and flow charts 
- `OrchidSyntaxHighlighter`: Your choice of either server-side or Javascript-based highlighting

**Current Status**: Waiting for release

### New plugin: **Groovydoc**

Delivered by request, Groovy will be an officially-supported language for Orchid code documentation. The Groovy plugin allows you to easily document your Groovy and Java source code and embed it in any Orchid theme you like.

**Current Status**: In development (nearly complete)

---

Are you interested in getting started with Orchid? There simply is no better way to manage all the documentation for your project, and I'd love to help you get set up! 

If you have an open-source project that needs docs, are building a new portfolio, or are building any other kind of static site, I want to work with you to get you set up with Orchid! Comment on this post, send me a PM here on Dev.to, or [contact me here](https://www.caseyjbrooks.com/contact/) and I will be with you every step of the way.

And as always, let me know if you start using Orchid so I can feature you in next month's update!