Introduction

The following documentation serves as your guide to the new theme. Since this is Ghost theme documentation, it is assumed that you have a basic knowledge of the Ghost.

If you’re new to Ghost, it’s recommended to explore the guides in the official Ghost Help Center. Checking these resources will provide you with all the available information.

Uploading a theme

This is where the magic happens! You are able to upload, activate and delete a theme in the Ghost Admin of your publication.

Step-by-Step

1. To upload a theme, go to the 'Design & branding' settings in the Ghost Admin and click 'Change theme' in the bottom right corner.
2. Then click the 'Upload theme' button in the upper right corner.
3. Once uploaded, click 'Activate' to activate the theme on your site.

Dark & sepia version

The dark or sepia version introduces a fresh and distinctive appearance for your website, bringing a modern and stylish aesthetic that enhances the visual experience for your visitors.

Step-by-Step

1. Go to the 'Design & branding' settings in the Ghost Admin.
2. On the right you’ll see the tab 'Site-wide' – expand this settings list and go to the 'Color scheme' position.
3. Use the dropdown menu to select your option.
4. Finally, click 'Save' to activate.

Tip: Dark & sepia version depending on operating system preferences

Modern operating systems (Windows, macOS, iOS, etc.) allow users to choose their preference for light or dark system themes. The below feature is used to detect if the user has requested the system to use a light or dark color theme.

1. To activate an auto dark version based on user operating system preferences, select the 'Auto' option.
2. Click 'Save' to activate.

Featured section

Select which posts you want to featured in your publication.

Step-by-Step

1. Open the post you would like to add to the featured section.
2. Then, go to the 'Post settings' panel using the icon in the top right of the screen.
3. At the bottom of the panel, you'll find a switch labeled 'Feature this post.'
4. Click the switch and close the panel.

Tip: How to remove featured posts from the main collection? (For advanced users)

1. Go to the 'Labs' settings in the Ghost Admin, click on 'Beta features' tab and you will find the 'Routes' section.
2. Upload the routes.yaml file with these settings:

routes:

collections:
  /:
    permalink: /{slug}/
    filter: featured:false
    template: index
  /featured/:
    permalink: /featured/{slug}/
    filter: featured:true
    template: index

taxonomies:
  tag: /tag/{slug}/
  author: /author/{slug}/

Social accounts

Link your social accounts to have them displayed in the footer of your publication.

For: Facebook and X

1. To add Facebook and X account to your publication, go to the 'Social accounts' settings in the Ghost Admin.
2. Once adding social accounts, click 'Save' to activate.

For: Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, Snapchat, Pinterest, Tumblr, TikTok, Reddit, Weibo, Threads, Discord and Mastodon

1. To add these social accounts to the navigation, go to the 'Navigation' settings in the Ghost Admin.
2. Click on the 'Secondary' navigation.
3. Add a service name into the name label, like Instagram, and then set the URL to your social profile.
4. Drag the item to the end to maintain order (optional step).
5. Once your items are added, click 'OK' to activate.

Tip: Adding other social accounts to the footer (Requires theme editing)

1. Open ../partials/footer_icons.hbs file in your code editor.
2. Then, uncomment the block – remove the lines which contains {{!-- and --}} for the chosen profile icon.
3. Now replace the # for each href value with your own profile links.
4. Save your footer_icons.hbs file in ../partials/ folder.

Recommendations page

Recommend any publication that your audience will find valuable, and find out when others are recommending you.

Recommendations feature is currently in beta, which means there may be unexpected behaviors or errors. Please keep this in mind when using this feature.

Step-by-Step

1. To enable the recommendations feature, go to the 'Recommendations' settings in the Ghost Admin.
2. Click the 'Add recommendations' button.
3. Follow the steps in the configurator.

Add a recommendations page

1. Create a new page, add a page title, and open the 'Page settings' panel using the icon in the top right of the screen.
2. At the bottom of the panel you’ll see a dropdown menu titled 'Template'.
3. Use the dropdown menu to select the 'Recommendations' template, close the panel.
4. Finally, click 'Publish'.

Authors page

To present all authors from your publication in an elegant way, you can add a custom authors page.

Step-by-Step

1. Create a new page, add a page title, and open the 'Page settings' panel using the icon in the top right of the screen.
2. At the bottom of the panel you’ll see a dropdown menu titled 'Template'.
3. Use the dropdown menu to select the 'Authors' template, close the panel.
4. Finally, click 'Publish'.

Tags page

To present all tags from your publication in an elegant way, you can add a custom tags page.

Step-by-Step

1. Create a new page, add a page title, and open the 'Page settings' panel using the icon in the top right of the screen.
2. At the bottom of the panel you’ll see a dropdown menu titled 'Template'.
3. Use the dropdown menu to select the 'Tags' template, close the panel.
4. Finally, click 'Publish'.

Contact page

If you wish to have a direct way in which your readers can contact you, you can add a contact page based on Formspree or Getform.

Step 1: Add your Formspree or Getform endpoint

1. Go to the 'Design & branding' settings in the Ghost Admin.
2. On the right you’ll see the tab 'Site-wide' – expand this settings list and go to the 'Contact form endpoint' position.
3. Paste your Formspree or Getform endpoint, e.g. https://formspree.io/f/xhyplkej
4. Finally, click Save to activate.

Step 2: Add a contact page

1. Create a new page, add a page title, and open the 'Page settings' panel using the icon in the top right of the screen.
2. At the bottom of the panel you’ll see a dropdown menu titled 'Template'.
3. Use the dropdown menu to select the 'Contact' template, close the panel.
4. Finally, click 'Publish'.

Tip: How to add custom text and a checkbox to agree to your terms of service on the contact page?

1. Open the 'Page settings' panel using the icon in the top right of the screen.
2. At the bottom of the panel, you’ll see a menu titled 'Code injection'.
3. Click on the 'Code injection' section and paste your text into the 'Page footer' field, like this:

You have read and agreed to the <a href="https://your-site.com/privacy/">Privacy Policy</a>

1. Finally, click 'Update' to activate.

Logo

A publication logo is the primary logo for your brand and is displayed across your theme.

Step-by-Step

1. To upload a logo, go to the 'Design & branding' settings in the Ghost Admin.
2. On the right you’ll see the tab 'Brand' – expand this settings list and go to the 'Publication logo' position.
3. Click 'Upload logo' to upload your logo.
4. Finally, click 'Save' to activate.

Tip: How to change logo size?

1. To change logo size go to the 'Code injection' settings in the Ghost Admin and paste this code to the 'Site header':

<style>
:root {
   /* Desktop */
   --height-logo-header: 40px;
   --height-logo-footer: 40px;
   
   /* Mobile */
   --height-logo-mobile-header: 34px;
   --height-logo-mobile-footer: 34px;
}
</style>

1. Change the current value to the expected value.
2. Finally, click 'Save' to activate.

Tip: Uploading a 'secondary' logo for dark version

1. To upload a secondary logo, go to the 'Design & branding' settings in the Ghost Admin.
2. On the right, you’ll see the tab 'Site-wide' – expand this settings list and go to the 'Color scheme' position – set the position to 'Dark' or 'Auto' to display the option with a 'Secondary logo' below.
3. Click 'Upload Image' to upload your logo.
4. Finally, click 'Save' to activate.

Navigation

There are two types of navigation: 'Primary' and 'Secondary'. The primary navigation is used in the theme header, while the secondary navigation is used in the footer.

Step-by-Step

1. To add a navigation, go to the 'Navigation' settings in the Ghost Admin.
2. Once here, you can remove any navigation items that you want by using the trash icon to the right of the item. You can add new items by just typing them in. You can change the order by clicking on the icon on the left and dragging it to the spot you want.
3. Once your items are added, click 'OK' to activate new navigation on your site.

Tip: How to add a dropdown menu with 'dots' to the navigation in the header?

1. Add a new item to the 'Primary' navigation.
2. Add an item name, it can be, for example, 'dots', and then set the URL to ###
3. Drag the item to the desired position. It is recommended to place it as the 4th item because a larger number of elements before the dots may not display properly on smaller screens.
4. Once your item are added, click 'OK' to activate.

Tip: How to divide the footer navigation into columns with custom names?

By default, all items in the 'Secondary' navigation will be displayed in a single column named 'Links'. To divide items into columns, follow the instructions below:

1. Add a new item to the 'Secondary' navigation.
2. Add an item name, which will serve as the column name, and then set the URL to ###
3. Drag the item to the desired position. If you set an item in the first position, it will replace the default name 'Links'.
4. Once your item are added, click 'OK' to activate.

Publication cover

In this theme, 'Publication cover' is used to display a cover in the subscription widgets visible below the featured posts section and at the bottom of the page.

Step-by-Step

1. To upload a publication cover, go to the 'Design & branding' settings in the Ghost Admin.
2. On the right you’ll see the tab 'Brand' – expand this settings list and go to the 'Publication cover' position.
3. Click 'Upload cover' to upload your image.
4. Finally, click 'Save' to activate.

Tip: How to control the transparency of the 'Publication cover'?

1. To change transparency, go to the 'Code injection' settings in the Ghost Admin and paste this code to the 'Site header':

<style>
:root {
   --opacity-cover: 40%
}
</style>

1. Change the current value to the expected value.
2. Finally, click 'Save' to activate.

Tip: How to change the text color on the 'Publication cover'?

1. You can choose whether the text should be white or black directly on the cover, to do this, go to the 'Design & branding' settings in the Ghost Admin.
2. On the right you’ll see the tab 'Site-wide' – expand this settings list and go to the 'Color scheme for subscription widgets' position.
3. Choose 'Light' if the text is to be black, select 'Dark' if the text is to be white, choose 'Based on global 'Color scheme' option' if the text should be automatically adjusted based on user settings.
4. Finally, click 'Save' to activate.

Accent & secondary color

The theme utilizes two colors, 'Accent' and a 'Secondary' color. The accent color is used in buttons and links, while the secondary color is applied to colored backgrounds in your publication.

Tip: How to set the 'Accent' color?

1. To change the accent color in your publication, go to the 'Design & branding' settings in the Ghost Admin.
2. On the right you’ll see the tab 'Brand' – expand this settings list and go to the 'Accent color' position.
3. Choose your color.
4. Finally, click 'Save' to activate.

Tip: How to set the 'Secondary' color?

1. To change the secondary color in your publication, go to the 'Design & branding' settings in the Ghost Admin.
2. On the right you’ll see the tab 'Site-wide' – expand this settings list and go to the 'Secondary color' position.
3. Choose your color – must be written in hex format, for example #cdfd01
4. Finally, click 'Save' to activate.

Fonts

You can easily select fonts from several prepared presets. The fonts are sourced from the Google Fonts library. Use the 'System fonts' option to exclusively utilize local fonts.

Step-by-Step

1. To change fonts, go to the 'Design & branding' settings in the Ghost Admin.
2. On the right you’ll see the tab 'Site-wide' – expand this settings list and go to the 'Fonts' position.
3. Use the dropdown menu to select your option.
4. Finally, click 'Save' to activate.

Hero title

Add and customize your own title on the homepage directly below the header on homepage.

Tip: How to add your own hero title?

1. To add your own hero title, go to the 'Design & branding' settings in the Ghost Admin.
2. On the right you’ll see the tab 'Homepage' – expand this settings list and go to the 'Hero title' position.
3. Enter your own hero title.

If you want your text in bold, use the <b> ... </b> or <strong> ... </strong> tag, like this:

Your own <strong>hero text</strong>

Some fonts don’t have a bold option, so it’s better to use the <span> ... </span> tag, which will automatically detect and apply bold for fonts that support it and italics if not – use this tag like this:

Your own <span>hero text</span>

If you want to start the text on a new line use the <br> tag, like this:

Your own hero text<br> New text line

1. Finally, click 'Save' to activate.

Hero options

Toggle between 'Featured posts' and 'Paid tiers' at the top of your homepage.

Step-by-Step

1. To select 'Featured posts' or 'Paid tiers', go to the 'Design & branding' settings in the Ghost Admin.
2. On the right you’ll see the tab 'Homepage' – expand this settings list and go to the 'Header options' position.
3. Use the dropdown menu to select your option.
4. Finally, click 'Save' to activate.

Header layout

Select layout and items displayed in the header navigation.

Step-by-Step

1. To select layout and items displayed in the header navigation, go to the 'Design & branding' settings in the Ghost Admin.
2. On the right you’ll see the tab 'Site-wide' – expand this settings list and go to the 'Header layout' position.
3. Use the dropdown menu to select your option.
4. Finally, click 'Save' to activate.

Feed layout

Switch between 'List' or 'Grid' views in the feed.

Step-by-Step

1. To change feed layout, go to the 'Design & branding' settings in the Ghost Admin.
2. On the right you’ll see the tab 'Site-wide' – expand this settings list and go to the 'Feed layout' position.
3. Use the dropdown menu to select your option.
4. Finally, click 'Save' to activate.

Hide author

Decide whether you want to display the author in the feed and on the post page.

Step-by-Step

1. To hide the author, go to the 'Design & branding' settings in the Ghost Admin.
2. On the right you’ll see the tab 'Site-wide' – expand this settings list and go to the 'Show author' position.
3. Use the toggle switch.
4. Finally, click 'Save' to activate.

Images orientation

You can easily change the orientation of your images.

Tip: How to change images orientation in a Feed?

1. To change images orintation, go to the 'Design & branding' settings in the Ghost Admin.
2. On the right you’ll see the tab 'Site-wide' – expand this settings list and go to the 'Feed images orintation' position.
3. Use the dropdown menu to select your option.
4. Finally, click 'Save' to activate.

Tip: How to change images orientation in a 'Featured' section?

1. To change images orintation, go to the 'Design & branding' settings in the Ghost Admin.
2. On the right you’ll see the tab 'Homepage' – expand this settings list and go to the 'Featured images orintation' position.
3. Use the dropdown menu to select your option.
4. Finally, click 'Save' to activate.

Tip: How to change images orientation in a 'Spotlight' section?

1. To change images orintation, go to the 'Design & branding' settings in the Ghost Admin.
2. On the right you’ll see the tab 'Site-wide' – expand this settings list and go to the 'Spotlight images orintation' position.
3. Use the dropdown menu to select your option.
4. Finally, click 'Save' to activate.

Additional section

Choose the 'You might also like' or 'Next for you' section at the bottom of your post – the posts displayed in this section are based on the first tag used in your post.

Step-by-Step

1. To select an additional section, go to the 'Design & branding' settings in the Ghost Admin.
2. On the right you’ll see the tab 'Post' – expand this settings list and go to the 'Additional section' position.
3. Use the dropdown menu to select your option.
4. Finally, click 'Save' to activate.

Post header layouts

The default post header layout features the title text on the left side and an image on the right. However, the theme includes a collection of post header layouts, allowing you to move the image to a new line and choose to center the text or select the image format.

Step-by-Step

1. Open the 'Post' or 'Page' settings panel using the icon in the top right of the screen.
2. At the bottom of the panel you’ll see a dropdown menu titled 'Template'.
3. Use the dropdown menu to select the template, for example: 'Template 'Left' + Image 'Wide' (Bg color)' – this means that the text will be aligned to the left, and the image will be displayed in a 'Wide' size, and an secondary color will be applied (if set).
4. Close the panel and click 'Update'.

Footer copyright

Customize your own text in the footer by replacing the default value 'Published with Ghost and (...)'.

Step-by-Step

1. To change footer copyright text, go to the 'Design & branding' settings in the Ghost Admin.
2. On the right you’ll see the tab 'Site-wide' – expand this settings list and go to the 'Footer copyright' position.
3. Enter your own copyright text.
4. Finally, click 'Save' to activate.

Custom pages

By default, the theme utilizes Portal. If you want to use links to custom pages, follow the instructions below.

Step-by-Step

1. First, configure your custom Signup & Signin and Membership pages.
2. Then, go to the 'Design & branding' settings in the Ghost Admin.
3. On the right you’ll see the tab 'Site-wide' – expand this settings list and go to the 'Use portal' position.
4. Set the toggle switch to the 'off' – at this point, you will see two additional options:

• 'Join button url slug' – slug for 'Join' button, for example /signup/ (if the value is empty Portal will be used).
• 'Plans button url slug' – slug for 'See our plans' button, for example /membership/ (if the value is empty Portal will be used).

1. Finally, click 'Save' to activate.

Tip: What to do in case of an 400 error with message e.g. 'Missing template members/signin.hbs for route /signin/'

The error indicates that there was previously used a routes.yaml file with another theme that required it. To solve the problem, reset the routes.yaml file to its default settings.

routes:

collections:
  /:
    permalink: /{slug}/
    template: index

taxonomies:
  tag: /tag/{slug}/
  author: /author/{slug}/

Signup & Signin pages

The 'Signup' and 'Signin' pages are allowing your visitors to sign up to your site in order to access members only content.

Step-by-Step

1. Create a new page, add a page title, and open the 'Page settings' panel using the icon in the top right of the screen.
2. Provide the appropriate 'Page URL' as /signin/ for the 'Signin' page and /signup/ for the 'Signup' page.
3. At the bottom of the panel, you’ll see a dropdown menu titled 'Template'.
4. Use the dropdown menu to select the 'Signin' for the signin page and 'Signup' for the signup page.
5. Finally, click 'Publish'.

Membership page

The 'Membership' page is helping your visitors to quickly visualize and compare the different pricing plans you offer.

Step-by-Step

1. Create a new page, add a page title, and open the 'Page settings' panel using the icon in the top right of the screen.
2. At the bottom of the panel you’ll see a dropdown menu titled 'Template'.
3. Use the dropdown menu to select the 'Membership' template, close the panel.
4. Finally, click 'Publish'.

Tip: How to add premium tier?

1. Go to the 'Tiers' settings in the Ghost Admin.
2. Click on the 'Connect with Stripe' and configure your Stripe account.
3. If you have Stripe connected, click '+Add tier' – add your own tier name, description, monthly and yearly prices and list of benefits.
4. Click 'Save & close'.
5. Making tiers available to visitors – from the 'Portal settings', you can control which tiers appear on your site.

Tip: How to add description and list of benefits to free tier?

1. Go to the 'Tiers' settings in the Ghost Admin.
2. Click 'Free' position and add your tier description and list of benefits.
3. Finally, click 'Save & close' to activate.

Tip: How to add position to FAQ?

You can add FAQ items in your page content using the 'Toggle card' in the Ghost editor.

The page content on the 'Membership' page only serves to add FAQ items, it is not designed for other types of content.

Subscription widgets

Configure the subscription widget and decide whether it should be a subscribe form, a button linking to your pricing page, or a description of your free plan with a registration link.

Step-by-Step

1. Go to the 'Design & branding' settings in the Ghost Admin.
2. On the right you’ll see the option 'Site-wide' – expand this settings list and go to the 'Subscription widgets' position.
3. Use the dropdown menu to select your option (the first item refers to an element located below the 'Featured' section).
4. Finally, click 'Save' to activate.

Tip: How to add a free tier?

1. Go to the 'Tiers' settings in the Ghost Admin.
2. Click on the 'Free' option and configure your description and list of benefits.
3. Finally, click 'Save & close' to activate.

Tip: How to change the background color?

1. Go to the 'Design & branding' settings in the Ghost Admin.
2. On the right you’ll see the option 'Site-wide' – expand this settings list and go to the 'Color scheme for subscription widgets' position.
3. Use the dropdown menu to select your option.
4. Finally, click 'Save' to activate.

Refer to the associated documentation.

Comments

The native comments feature in Ghost allows you to invite members to join the discussion and participate in a community directly on your website.

Step-by-Step

1. To enable native comments, go to the 'Access' settings in the Ghost Admin.
2. Change the 'Commenting' level to 'All members' or 'Paid-members only'.
3. Finally, click 'Save' to activate.

Editing a theme

To edit files, you will need to unzip the theme archive — at this point you will have access to the necessary files indicated in the theme documentation.

Step-by-Step

1. To edit your theme files, download a copy of the theme. For this purpose go to the 'Design & branding' settings in the Ghost Admin and click 'Change theme' in the bottom right corner.
2. Use the 'Installed' tab menu in the upper right corner to download your theme, then unzip the theme locally.
3. Once the theme is unzipped, the files can be edited using an code editor – make the changes indicated in the theme documentation.

You can edit files using applications (code editor) such as Sublime Text, Visual Studio Code or Brackets. Using native text editors like TextEdit on macOS may add formatting may cause the theme to work incorrectly.

1. When you’ve finished making changes to the theme code, re-zip the theme directory for uploading back to Ghost.

To create a zip archive on a macOS, right-click on the theme folder to view the context menu. Then, click the 'Compress' option. On Windows right-click on the theme folder, select 'Send to', and then select 'Compressed (zipped) folder'.

1. To upload a theme, go to the 'Design & branding' settings in the Ghost Admin and click 'Change theme' in the bottom right corner.
2. Then click the 'Upload theme' button in the upper right corner.
3. Once uploaded, click 'Activate' to activate the theme on your site.

Updating a theme

Updates to the theme ensure compatibility with the latest Ghost version, performance improvements and minor bug fixes. So it is important that you use the latest available theme version.

If your theme features custom code, updating it with the latest versions will overwrite all your customizations.

Step-by-Step

1. Download the latest version of the theme, then unzip the archive locally.
2. Choose a theme version that is compatible with your Ghost version.
3. To upload a theme, go to the 'Design & branding' settings in the Ghost Admin and click 'Change theme' in the bottom right corner.
4. Then click the 'Upload theme' button in the upper right corner.
5. Once uploaded, click 'Activate' to activate the theme on your site.

Tip: What if you’ve already edited the theme, and want to update it without losing your changes?

That’s a bit trickier to deal with but not impossible, as long as you can remember what the changes were, or more specifically which files you edited. Unfortunately in Ghost when updating a theme you have to re-enter your changes.

For more advanced users, it can be helpful to use a comparing files app like Sublime Merge – that way you can find your changes if you don’t remember them.

Tip: After uploading the theme my settings in Design section were reset, what should I do?

The best solution is to always use the same name e.g. theme-name.zip – that way you will not have to enter your settings again after uploading a theme.

Ghost assigns the settings in the 'Design & branding' section to the name of the uploaded archive. If you upload theme-v1.zip and theme-v2.zip – Ghost will recognize them as two different themes – so the settings will reset.

Theme translation

Translations are used both when you want to add a new language and when you want to edit current phrases used in the theme.

Editing current phrases used in the theme (Requires theme editing)

1. You’ll need to open the theme’s ../locales/en.json file in your code editor.
2. Change the sentences used in the theme following the pattern:

{
    "Old translate": "New translate",
    ...
}

1. After making your changes, save your file, compress the theme into a zip format, and upload it to Ghost.

Translation to another language (Requires theme editing)

1. Inside the ../locales/ folder, add target language file for example es.json for Spanish and pl.json for Polish (a valid language code must be used).
2. Based on the translation from the en.json file, add translations for your language in your code editor. For example, for Spanish, use in the es.json file:

{
    "Back": "Volver",
    "Newer Posts": "Artículos Siguientes",
    "Older Posts": "Artículos Anteriores",
    ...
}

1. After making your changes, save your file, compress the theme into a zip format, and upload it to Ghost.
2. Then, go to the 'Publication Language' settings in the Ghost Admin.
3. Enter the correct language code into the 'Site language' field.
4. Finally, click 'Save' to activate.

Posts per page

The number of posts provided will depend on the 'post per page' setting which you can configure in your package.json file.

Step-by-Step (Requires theme editing)

1. You’ll need to open the theme’s package.json file in your code editor and find:

"config": {
    ...
    "posts_per_page": <value>
    ...
}

1. Change the current value to the expected value.
2. Save your package.json file in root folder.