Ghost CMS: Definition, Features and Advantages

What is Ghost CMS? When it comes to blogging platforms and the blogging world, the WordPress platform will be mentioned first as the best blogging platform. Even though Ghost is a platform that is sophisticated for creating interesting blogs. In Fact, not many people know about this content management system (CMS), even though some big names like Mozilla have used it.

Some people think CMS Ghost is a difficult platform to install. That’s not the case. As long as the steps are done correctly, Ghost installation can be done quickly and run smoothly. Well, in this article, you will learn more about what the Ghost blogging platform is, its various features and advantages, and how to install Ghost on hosting. You can read to the end and then get more information here.

What is Ghost CMS?

Ghost is an open-source CMS that is specially designed for content publishing or blogging. If you want to create a blog that can be easily managed, this CMS blogging platform is worth a try. People use this blogging platform because of several reasons.

CMS Ghost is a user-friendly blogging platform. This is because the interface and features are made as simple as possible by reducing unnecessary things, such as plugins.

The Ghost platform itself was created by John O’Nolan in 2013 because he saw that popular CMS like WordPress had too many complicated features that were quite burdensome for just blogging. It is difficult to understand, especially for new bloggers.

Ghost is built using the Node.js platform, which is based on the JavaScript programming language. The reason is that Node.js is considered superior in flexibility, speed, and performance. Until today, CMS Ghost has been installed more than three million times, with more than 10,000 active users. That is why some of the big companies are now using CMS Ghost. They are Buffer, Cloudflare, Clubhouse, Unsplash, Duolingo, Mozilla, and many more.

Is it possible for you to use CMS Ghost for free? This CMS Ghost blogging platform can be used for free, and self-hosted on your hosting service. Even so, you can also update the services and features of this platform by upgrading to the Ghost Pro service. You can try it for a fee, starting at $9 per month.

Features of the Ghost Blogging Platform

To meet the needs of bloggers around the world, some of the key features that Ghost provides are as follows:

A. Tools for Professional Creators

Professional Creator Tools is a set of editor features to make it easier for bloggers to publish content, including:

Smart Links: You can insert links simply by highlighting the desired text.
Image Card—this feature will allow you to resize uploaded images automatically.
This feature will display multiple images at once in the form of a collage.
embed card. This feature is used to insert content from other services or social media, such as Spotify playlists, Instagram posts, or YouTube videos.
Unsplash Card – This feature searches for royalty-free images from Unsplash without having to visit the site.

B. Native Analytics

Just like other analytics tools, Native Analytics makes it easier for bloggers to analyze content performance and measure the level of audience engagement. You can also find out which audiences are registered as members who most frequently access content or open email newsletters. Ghost’s analytics feature is available by default for its users.

C. Subscription Commerce

Do you want to earn money from blogging? Through the Subscription Commerce feature, you can do that. You can create and post premium content that can only be accessed by members who pay a subscription fee. Different from other membership platforms, the Ghost blogging platform does not charge any additional fees when you use this feature.

D. Ghost Integrations

The CMS Ghost blogging platform does not have a plugin to add special functions. However, you can take advantage of the integration features to easily connect Ghost with third-party services. Some of the supported integrations are Slack, Shopify, Intercom, YouTube, Zapier, Twitter, and so on.

The Advantages of the CMS Ghost Blogging Platform

Even though it is only used by 0.1% of websites on the internet, CMS Ghost has advantages that cannot be underestimated, including:

A. Super Minimalist Editor Interface

The CMS Ghost blogging platform implements full-screen editing as an editor interface. This means that bloggers will see a plain display without the Advanced Creator Tools features. These features are hidden by default, and they will only appear if you press a certain button or command. This allows you to focus on writing content without being distracted by other things, like adjusting the image size. As a result, the content production process can run faster.

B. A More Affordable Cost

Building a blog with Ghost is also more affordable, whether hosted or self-hosted. If you upgrade and use Ghost Pro, you can get all the third-party themes and integrations at no extra cost. It’s different if you use WordPress.com for blogging, for example. Meanwhile, if you want to use your hosting, you can simply install this platform at no additional cost.

C. Faster Performance

Because Ghost is built with Node.js, its performance is optimized so that it is suitable for a blog platform. You can create a blog faster and post your articles in less time too.

In addition, the appearance of the interface and its features is kept to a minimum by trimming things that can burden the performance of the CMS. As a result, the response time of the website increases, and the failure rate of loading can be reduced. Even when compared to WordPress, the Ghost blogging platform claims to be able to increase website speed by up to 1900%.

D. More Comprehensive SEO Features

Unlike other blogging platforms, Ghost is a CMS that has complete built-in SEO features, including:

Tags for Facebook’s Open Graph
Twitter Cards
XML Sitemap
Integration with Google AMP
Schema Markup

You can do all the SEO optimization steps without the need to install a plugin first. As a result, the opportunity for your blog to achieve the first ranking in search engines is increasing.

In comparison, SEO optimization in WordPress can only run optimally through third-party plugins, such as Yoast.

How to Install Ghost CMS

You already know what CMS Ghost is, its features, and the advantages of Ghost over other CMS. Now let’s follow how to install Ghost on hosting with these steps:

1. Get ready

Before entering the CMS Ghost tutorial, there are two things you must prepare, namely:

First, use a hosting service that supports Ghost CMS. In this tutorial, you can use a cloud hosting plan that supports CMS Ghost installation.

Second, uninstall other CMSs such as WordPress if any to avoid collisions.

2. OpenCPanel

You can open cPanel by:

Go to your services menu, then to hosting, and finally to hosting management.

3. Setup a Node.JS App

To set up a Node.js application, you can follow these steps:

First, find the Software category on the main cPanel page, then click on Setup Node.js Application.

Then, click the Create Application button, and a form will appear for detailed information on the installation to be carried out.

Next, fill in the information in the following sections:

Application root: The new folder where Ghost is installed. Here we create a folder called root-folder.

Application URL: URL to access the CMS Ghost admin panel. Customize it with your domain name.

Leave the Node.js version and application mode information at the default settings and leave the other fields blank. If you have clicked “Create,”

4. Open Terminal

Some scripts start with “source”. Well, this script works to enter the terminal. How:

Click on the script to copy it. Then open the main cPanel page and select the category Advanced > Terminal.

5. Install the Ghost CLI.

Next, you need to install Ghost-CLI first. CMS Ghost CLI is a tool to help install and configure CMS Ghost.

To install Ghost-CLI, run the following command:

ghost-cli@latest-g npm install

6. Setup CMS Ghost

To install CMS Ghost, make sure the root folder is empty. Therefore, run the following command to clear the root-folder stuffing:

*RM-RF

Then, install CMS Ghost by running the command: ghost install locally.

Please wait first; the installation will take a few minutes.

7. Make a file called config.production.json.

The Ghost installation process will automatically create a new file, namely config.development.json. This file serves to build the Ghost environment locally.

However, you still need one more new file, namely config.production.json. Use it to build a ghost environment online. For that, run the following command:

cp config.development.json cp.config.production.json

8. config.production.json should be edited.

After creating the config.production.json file, you will still need to edit its contents to match the domain URL. You can edit your file by doing:

Go to the main cPanel page. Look for the Files category > File Manager.

On the file manager page, open the root-folder folder. Then click the config.production.json file and select Edit.

9. Edit the Application Startup File

Next, continue with editing the Application Startup File fields so that CMS Ghost can run completely. Follow these steps:

Open the Node.js Application page. Change the application startup file form to current/index.js and save it. That means the CMS Ghost installation process is complete. But you still need to check if Ghost is accessible.

10. Open the CMS Ghost Admin Panel.

To make sure Ghost is running smoothly, open the CMS Ghost admin panel. All you have to do is add /ghost at the end of the domain URL.

Next, register a new account by clicking “Create a new account.” Fill in the required information such as the site name, your name, email address, and password. Then click finish.

If your blog is managed by several people, enter their email addresses and click Invite. If you manage it yourself, select I’ll do this later.

Well, you will see the appearance of the Ghost admin panel. Happy! All CMS Ghost installation processes have been completed.

Begin installing CMS Ghost.

From the explanation of the Ghost blogging platform and its various features and advantages, it can be concluded that CMS Ghost is a blogging platform for all of you who want:

A blogging platform with a simple and minimalistic interface.
A reliable performance and speed blogging platform.
Excellent SEO optimization
The ease of presenting content
Ease of getting money through membership

Does the Ghost blogging platform meet the criteria for an ideal CMS in your opinion? Are you interested in using Ghost as a CMS? You can follow the steps on how to install the Ghost blogging platform, which we have described above, correctly.

Before you use this blogging platform, what should be noted? Please make sure to use a hosting service that already supports Ghost installation. You can check whether your hosting service is already supported for Ghost Installation or not.

Conclusing

Now, you can find that the Business Unlimited Hosting package and Cloud Hosting service already support Ghost installation. The package supports the Node.JS runtime environment to run the server-side JavaScript that Ghost requires.

Is there any disadvantage to this blogging platform? The only disadvantage is that you must upgrade this blogging platform to Ghost Pro if you like to get more features and more benefits from this blogging platform. You can compare with other blogging platforms to find the best blogging platform that suits your needs. Blogging is a fun activity, and you must feel fun when you can get money from your hobby. To get the benefits of this blogging platform, you should implement some of the SEO tactics and strategies commonly used in Ghost SEO, which are as follows:

Choose correct meta titles and meta descriptions
Site speed optimization
Using a sitemap or an XML sitemap
Support rich text editing features to improve customer engagement even more.

Built on the NodeJS framework, CMS Ghost is a fairly powerful website and blog publishing tool that can be compared to other big-name CMSs.

Because the essence of creating an open-source CMS is to make it easy for anyone, both individuals and small businesses, then you can rely on Ghost CMS, which has been equipped with Ghost SEO without plugins, to develop content and introduce your brand and business.