1. It's easier to use than WordPress, Drupal etc. That's because it does much less than those platforms on purpose. The WordPress admin area has become a scary place for new users, particularly once they start to add plugins that litter the admin menu with extra entries.
2. The admin area is fast. Moving around feels slick – it is a desktop-like experience; hitting Command+S will save the draft you're working on, for example, rather than bringing up your browser's “Save Page As...” prompt. The Markdown preview is as-you-type, and they use the screen estate very well. It's a comfortable environment to write long posts in, and it hasn't been tacked on as an afterthought, like WordPress' full-screen editing mode.
3. The organisation behind Ghost, the "Ghost Foundation" is a non-profit. It doesn't have investors or shareholders; it is answerable only to its users and funded by those who pay for official Ghost hosting.
4. Pricing for official Ghost hosting is very reasonable ($5/month for 1 blog, $14/month for 5 blogs).
5. Although it's still in development, the proposed Dashboard looks far more useful than competitors. WordPress' Dashboard often looks like a wasteland once a few plugins have been installed – a mish-mash of "Upgrade to the PRO version!" prompts and RSS updates from the WordPress feed.
And from a developer perspective:
1. GitHub-based workflow.
2. MIT licence instead of GPL.
3. Less code debt (for now!).
4. Handlebars-based theme templates that enforce separation of presentation and logic. (It will be possible to add custom handlebars tags via the Ghost Apps API in the future for more advanced stuff, but it's already pretty solid.)
5. The official hosted version allows you to upload your own themes (unlike wordpress.com, for example).
As a developer and end-user, it's already a more enjoyable experience than competing platforms for simple blogs, and I think by the end of the year – once the app API has launched and developers are adding forum apps and more – it will be a real competitor for more complex sites too.
I guess we'll never get this horrible metaphor out of software development, but I keep trying:
It's not _reinventing_ the wheel. The wheel is an old concept, so are blogs. This is a new/different implementation of that wheel. "Reinventing the wheel" is as pointless as it sounds. But what about making new, better wheels? Maybe not everyone needs the same wheel?
(Edit: Just to clarify, I'm not exactly a fan of Ghost.)
It gained a lot of its initial traction by unveiling a very slick, built-in dashboard. This was a design concept, and hasn't materialized (yet).
In its current state, it's an extremely basic blogging platform with a built-in Markdown editor. For me, that was enough to become an early adopter, because I think it has more long-term potential for interesting new features than, say, Jekyll. That said, there are still a lot of rough edges.
Regarding the dashboard, there is lower-hanging fruit with greater payoff for Ghost, including the API (which is apparently a prerequisite to the dashboard anyway). They seem to be prioritizing the right things.
I signed up for a bunch of platforms just to cover all the bases and see the differences: Ghost, Medium, Silvrback, Svbtle, and Postagon.
I won't say which is my favorite, because I think everybody has different needs. But I found a decent Medium article which compares most of the big platforms. Might be of help to anyone else looking for a new blog home: https://medium.com/blogging-and-seo-tips/d62682d9b0aa
I gave it a shot for a month. So far there was nothing that could convince me that goes beyond a fancy look & feel. Feature-wise it's ages behind WordPress (not suprisingly, WordPress is a huge eco system).
It's missing several fundamental features that make it unusable (in my opinion) for any serious user, such as user management.
Just as an aside. If you're looking for something built in Node that's more of a CMS, my Kickstarter for Webhook recently hit it's goal. I really like Ghost as a blog service, but you might like our system if you need to build a more customized CMS experience for multiple editors.
I have multiple client sites I'm currently designing with yeoman (and dreading converting to Wordpress). Just sent you $20 - can't wait to kick the tires.
I did the same thing - They didn't have the "coming soon" banner on their website back then. Kinda scummy marketing if you ask me. FOSS is awesome, just don't overpromise and underdeliver or you'll burn goodwill.
curious about what happened from current tagline and differentiating point from wordpress: 'Just a blogging platform.', to the statement here: 'Ghost has the potential to be far more than just a blogging platform' ?
Please don't rewrite titles unless they're linkbait or misleading. ("Ghost blogging platform, future." wasn't even intelligible.) The post's title, when combined with the site name, is fine.
Ghost promised to be a simple blogging platform. It's simple if you use it as installed. It's not so straightforward to tweak and upgrade. I'm not very excited about it anymore.
Does anyone have any recommendations for comment systems on Ghost? It looks like they themselves are using Disqus and Jeff Atwood is using Discourse (obviously) are there any other contenders?
I was confronted with this problem myself and decided to code up a jquery plugin that would let me add comments using firebase, so I wouldn't have to rely on a third party commenting system.
It's really basic right now, but I'm planning to extend it's functionality in the future significantly.
I wanted something I could host myself, which rules out Disqus and LiveFyre. And while Discourse lets you show the comments on the blog page, people have to go to the forum page if they want to comment.
I didn't think another blogging platform was really needed, but their stats and revenue make it sound successful. Congrats, they succeeded where I didn't think it could be done, or would have just hosted WordPress and tweaked it if I was doing it myself.
[+] [-] drivingmenuts|12 years ago|reply
Seems to me it's just reinventing a many times reinvented wheel (except this one is hip and popular).
[+] [-] modernerd|12 years ago|reply
1. It's easier to use than WordPress, Drupal etc. That's because it does much less than those platforms on purpose. The WordPress admin area has become a scary place for new users, particularly once they start to add plugins that litter the admin menu with extra entries.
2. The admin area is fast. Moving around feels slick – it is a desktop-like experience; hitting Command+S will save the draft you're working on, for example, rather than bringing up your browser's “Save Page As...” prompt. The Markdown preview is as-you-type, and they use the screen estate very well. It's a comfortable environment to write long posts in, and it hasn't been tacked on as an afterthought, like WordPress' full-screen editing mode.
3. The organisation behind Ghost, the "Ghost Foundation" is a non-profit. It doesn't have investors or shareholders; it is answerable only to its users and funded by those who pay for official Ghost hosting.
4. Pricing for official Ghost hosting is very reasonable ($5/month for 1 blog, $14/month for 5 blogs).
5. Although it's still in development, the proposed Dashboard looks far more useful than competitors. WordPress' Dashboard often looks like a wasteland once a few plugins have been installed – a mish-mash of "Upgrade to the PRO version!" prompts and RSS updates from the WordPress feed.
And from a developer perspective:
1. GitHub-based workflow.
2. MIT licence instead of GPL.
3. Less code debt (for now!).
4. Handlebars-based theme templates that enforce separation of presentation and logic. (It will be possible to add custom handlebars tags via the Ghost Apps API in the future for more advanced stuff, but it's already pretty solid.)
5. The official hosted version allows you to upload your own themes (unlike wordpress.com, for example).
As a developer and end-user, it's already a more enjoyable experience than competing platforms for simple blogs, and I think by the end of the year – once the app API has launched and developers are adding forum apps and more – it will be a real competitor for more complex sites too.
[+] [-] fhd2|12 years ago|reply
It's not _reinventing_ the wheel. The wheel is an old concept, so are blogs. This is a new/different implementation of that wheel. "Reinventing the wheel" is as pointless as it sounds. But what about making new, better wheels? Maybe not everyone needs the same wheel?
(Edit: Just to clarify, I'm not exactly a fan of Ghost.)
[+] [-] freyr|12 years ago|reply
In its current state, it's an extremely basic blogging platform with a built-in Markdown editor. For me, that was enough to become an early adopter, because I think it has more long-term potential for interesting new features than, say, Jekyll. That said, there are still a lot of rough edges.
Regarding the dashboard, there is lower-hanging fruit with greater payoff for Ghost, including the API (which is apparently a prerequisite to the dashboard anyway). They seem to be prioritizing the right things.
[+] [-] sergiotapia|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] beachwood23|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] icelanddev|12 years ago|reply
I signed up for a bunch of platforms just to cover all the bases and see the differences: Ghost, Medium, Silvrback, Svbtle, and Postagon.
I won't say which is my favorite, because I think everybody has different needs. But I found a decent Medium article which compares most of the big platforms. Might be of help to anyone else looking for a new blog home: https://medium.com/blogging-and-seo-tips/d62682d9b0aa
[+] [-] bunkerbewohner|12 years ago|reply
It's missing several fundamental features that make it unusable (in my opinion) for any serious user, such as user management.
[+] [-] EC1|12 years ago|reply
And sometimes that's all it takes.
[+] [-] snide|12 years ago|reply
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1749618880/webhook
[+] [-] subpixel|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] egeozcan|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] cpr|12 years ago|reply
Any plans for a self-hosted version?
[+] [-] dewey|12 years ago|reply
I'm really excited for that one, that was the reason I installed it in the first place only to realise it's not available yet.
[+] [-] AhtiK|12 years ago|reply
Is "(Pro)" indicating that the dashboard component will be available only for paying/hosted customers and will not be open-sourced?
[+] [-] RKoutnik|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] unknown|12 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] abeh|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dang|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Naushad|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] thkim|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] coherentpony|12 years ago|reply
On the other hand, there's also the paid service, which you don't have to manage at all.
[+] [-] JamesBaxter|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] TarpitCarnivore|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ximi|12 years ago|reply
It's really basic right now, but I'm planning to extend it's functionality in the future significantly.
You can check it out here: https://github.com/ximi/jquery-firecomments
[+] [-] jdp23|12 years ago|reply
I wanted something I could host myself, which rules out Disqus and LiveFyre. And while Discourse lets you show the comments on the blog page, people have to go to the forum page if they want to comment.
[+] [-] snide|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] barsky|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] lnanek2|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] unknown|12 years ago|reply
[deleted]