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@johnonolan Seems great but I still have no idea what Ghost is or does...?

@jwcph @johnonolan

Ghost is a free open source blogging platform. You can host it yourself free of charge, but the developers also offer a paid service for those who don't want to self-host.

With Ghost getting ActivityPub support, it means people on Mastodon etc will be able to follow Ghost-powered blogs.

@FediTips So for the layman, is Ghosts (open-source) kind of like Substack (closed course) in a way?

Fedi.Tips

@scottytrees

It's more like WordPress I think? Substack sites all tend to look the same.

I guess Ghost's option for paid subs is substack-like though?

@FediTips I assume that given enough time to migrate, I hope I click less on links towards substack and click more on links that use Ghosts, but I guess time will tell how the adoption goes, but good luck to Ghosts for sure I hope they can make it.

@scottytrees @FediTips I'd say it's much more like Substack than Wordpress, it's just got theming and a different financial model, and it's open source. But Wordpress is a lot more general purpose than Ghost is.

@FediTips @scottytrees It's about half-way between Substack and WordPress. Like Substack, you can have a paywall and send email newsletters, but on the other hand you can create a custom theme for a Ghost site (unlike Substack). However, it's not a general-purpose CMS like WordPress increasingly is, and there probably won't ever be plugins either. But hey, everyone complains about WordPress's scope creep, so if you want *just* blogging, Ghost might work for you.

@kiranc @FediTips @scottytrees
I haven't heard of Ghost neither, but it seems to be interesting. I got a question,

Can it work as a personal webpage? With an associated personal email?

Maybe I transfer my wordpress there, with my dominion.

I use it to blog and to keep a record of my work

Thanks for your help

@copdeb @FediTips @scottytrees Ghost can't be used as a general-purpose email service, it can only send newsletters and announcements to subscribers of your blog. If you're self-hosting, you'll also need to check whether your host supports Node.js. Finally, you'll need to install a WordPress plugin to export content in a Ghost-compatible format.

If you want to try out Ghost on your own computer, you can follow their tutorial here: ghost.org/tutorials/local-ghos
Otherwise, you can sign up for a trial on their website.

Tutorials · How to install Ghost locallyGet ready to harness the power of Ghost right from your local machine! This tutorial guides you through installing Ghost CLI and Ghost, enabling real-time theme changes, idea testing, and bug-fixing.