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Ghost - Publishing Platform

Ghost is a modern publishing platform for blogs, newsletters, and subscription-based content.

What is it for?

  • Professional blogs - Article publishing with clean design
  • Newsletters - Send emails to subscribers
  • Memberships - Exclusive content for paid members
  • Publications - For editorial teams

Open Source Alternative to

  • Medium
  • Substack
  • Beehiiv
  • ConvertKit
  • Buttondown
  • Patreon (blog)

Why choose Ghost over SaaS alternatives?

FeatureGhostSaaS Alternatives
CostFixed monthly pricePer user/usage
DataOn your serverOn external servers
LimitsNo limitsPlan-based limits
Customization100% customizableLimited
CodeOpen sourceProprietary

Why Ghost?

  • Fast - Optimized for performance
  • SEO included - Automatic search engine optimization
  • Distraction-free - Clean and focused editor
  • Monetization - Built-in subscriptions and memberships

Minimum requirements

ResourceMinimumRecommended
CPU1 vCPU2 vCPU
RAM1 GB2 GB
Storage25 GB50 GB

Initial setup

When deploying Ghost, you will configure:

  • Site title: The name of your publication
  • Admin email: Your email to access the panel

Getting started

1. Set up your account

  1. Go to yourapp.deployalo.com/ghost
  2. Create your administrator account
  3. Configure the site name and description

2. Write your first post

  1. Click New post
  2. Write your content with the editor
  3. Add images and formatting
  4. Publish or schedule

3. Customize the design

  1. Go to Settings > Design
  2. Upload your logo
  3. Change colors and typography
  4. Adjust the navigation

4. Configure newsletters (optional)

  1. Go to Settings > Email newsletter
  2. Connect your email service (Mailgun recommended)
  3. Customize the email design

Ghost Editor

The Ghost editor uses "cards" for different types of content:

  • Text - Markdown with formatting
  • Images - Galleries and photos
  • Embed - YouTube, Twitter, etc.
  • HTML - Custom code
  • Product - For membership content

Video tutorials

Additional resources

Troubleshooting

Emails are not being sent

Ghost requires configuring an external email service (Mailgun, SendGrid). Go to Settings > Email newsletter to configure it.

I can't upload large images

The default limit is 5MB. Optimize your images before uploading them.