Orchard/README.md

# Orchard
Orchard is a free, open source, community-focused Content Management System built on the ASP.NET MVC platform.

## About The Orchard Project

#### Please visit our website at http://orchardproject.net for the most current information about this project.

Orchard is a free, open source, community-focused project aimed at delivering applications and reusable components 
on the ASP.NET platform. It will create shared components for building ASP.NET applications and extensions, and
specific applications that leverage these components to meet the needs of end-users, scripters, and developers. 
Additionally, we seek to create partnerships with existing application authors to help them achieve their goals. 
Orchard is delivered under the [.NET Foundation](http://www.dotnetfoundation.org/). It is licensed under a 
[New BSD license](http://www.opensource.org/licenses/bsd-license.php), which is approved by the OSI. The intended 
output of the Orchard project is three-fold:

* Individual .NET-based applications that appeal to end-users, scripters, and developers 
* A set of re-usable components that makes it easy to build such applications 
* A vibrant community to help define these applications and extensions
In the near term, the Orchard project is focused on delivering a .NET-based CMS application that will allow users 
to rapidly create content-driven Websites, and an extensibility framework that will allow developers and customizers to provide additional functionality through modules and themes.  You can learn more about the project on the [Orchard Project Website](http://www.orchardproject.net).

## Project Status
Orchard is currently in version 1.8.1. We invite participation by the developer community in shaping the project’s direction, so that we can publicly validate our designs and development approach. 
Our 1.8.1 release is available from our Downloads page, and is easy to [Install Orchard using the Web Platform Installer](http://www.orchardproject.net/docs/Installing-Orchard.ashx). We encourage interested developers to check out the source code on the Orchard Github site and get involved with the project.

* [Download the latest release](https://github.com/OrchardCMS/Orchard/releases)
* [Feature roadmap](http://www.orchardproject.net/docs/feature-roadmap.ashx)
* [Docs and designs/specs](http://www.orchardproject.net/docs)
* [About us](http://www.orchardproject.net/about)
* [Contact us](mailto:ofeedbk@microsoft.com)

## How To Get Involved
We hope that by engaging with the community in the very early stages of the project that we will be able to shape Orchard into a valuable set of tools and applications for the community.  The Orchard team is committed to open community participation and accepts code contributions today.  We encourage community participation at all levels from general project feedback to bug fixes and patches.  

* [Check out the code](https://github.com/OrchardCMS/Orchard)
* [Check out the docs](http://orchardproject.net/docs)
* [Find and file a bug](https://github.com/OrchardCMS/Orchard/issues)
* [Propose a feature idea](http://orchard.uservoice.com)
* [Ask and answer questions](http://www.orchardproject.net/discussions)
* [Participate in forum discussions](http://orchard.codeplex.com/discussions)
* [Submit a patch](http://www.orchardproject.net/docs/Contributing-patches.ashx)
* [Send us feedback](mailto:ofeedbk@microsoft.com)