A Year to The Day

http://blog.ghost.org/a-year-to-the-day/

by Naushad • 12 years ago

81 52 12 years ago

blog.ghost.org

barsky• 12 years ago

I'm really glad that Ghost is progressing nicely — I've used it for a small project, and it was a really nice experience.

JamesBaxter• 12 years ago

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?

snide5• 12 years ago

Some people like Livefyre, which can add some more real-time abilities if you happen to have a large user base.

jdp23• 12 years ago

I'm using NodeBB -- https://nodebb.org/

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.

TarpitCarnivore• 12 years ago

I saw this one tweeted out yesterday by one of the Ghost devs. Integrated commenting similar to what Medium does. http://ouija.io/

ximi• 12 years ago

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.

You can check it out here: https://github.com/ximi/jquery-firecomments

drivingmenuts• 12 years ago

Is there anything about Ghost that, intrinsically, makes it better than other blogging platforms?

Seems to me it's just reinventing a many times reinvented wheel (except this one is hip and popular).

sergiotapia2• 12 years ago

It's main selling point is that it's fast and uses Markdown for writing posts. It's perfect for a developer blog.

platz• 12 years ago

For a developer blog, what would be the advantage of Ghost over a static site generator?

beachwood23• 12 years ago

I thought the same. What is the advantage of this platform over something equally simple like Jekyll or Octopress?

snide5• 12 years ago

Not a great comparison. Ghost has an admin that's pretty nice. While it might be easy for all of us to jump into code to compose our posts, with Ghost you can jump in on your mobile device, make some edits and hit save.

EC1• 12 years ago

except this one is hip and popular

And sometimes that's all it takes.

fhd2• 12 years ago

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.)

icebraining3• 12 years ago

That's the point: while Ghost claims to be a new, better wheel, it actually seems (to some people) to be reinventing it.

freyr2• 12 years ago

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.

modernerd4• 12 years ago

From an end-user perspective:

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.

mcherm• 12 years ago

Hey, that was actually a pretty clear and detailed answer. Thank you for not treating it as a rhetorical question.

jackpirate• 12 years ago

I've been looking to switch away from wordpress for awhile, but I don't know of an easy migration path that transfers all my data. Is this possible?

dotBen2• 12 years ago

disclosure: I'm a former founder of a successful WordPress hosting platform and spent many years in the WP space.

I'll take the opportunity to counter, if I may...

1a. It's easier to use than WordPress, Drupal etc. That's because it does much less than those platforms on purpose.

A key stumbling issue with Ghost is writing in Markdown - most non-tech people use WordPress's WYSIWYG editor because they don't understand markup as a concept. That's a BIG barrier to entry that Ghost needs to address or remain niche.

The other big barrier to entry with Ghost is that it's super difficult to install compared to WP - requires Node.JS which doesn't run on most shared accounts (where most people host blogs). The average non-technical person shouldn't be trying to manage a VPS or server.

Yes, there are hosted Ghost services but those cost money, hosted WordPress starts a $free on wordpress.com.

1b. 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.

Most plugins don't abuse the addition of menu items - most of the ones that create a new root-level menu item do so because they have sophisticated/deep enough configuration that requires it. I'm not sure that added menu items makes WordPress particularly "difficult to use" especially if the alternative is that functionality isn't available in the first place.

WordPress's /wp-admin/ can be super fast - that's down to where you are running it. Drafts are saved automatically and with browsable history so the need for Command-S is removed.

Materially, that's no different to the WordPress Foundation.

4. Pricing for official Ghost hosting is very reasonable ($5/month for 1 blog, $14/month for 5 blogs).

Pricing for official WordPress hosting is even more reasonable - free. But also has a clear path to scalability via various Managed WordPress Providers if needs be.

The "Upgrade to Pro" part is a bit of a straw-man argument. I'm sure there must be some WP plugins that do that but not many, and any widget on the Dashboard can be easily moved or removed. Users can customize their dashbord with what they want, and a reasonable counter-perspective would be that a small RSS feed of WordPress news and articles isn't a negative.

---

At the end of the day, debating WordPress vs Ghost is like debating Python vs Rails or Debian vs Centos. Differently philosophies - Ghost is certainly more focused on attractive features for developers, WordPress is focused on mainstream adoption. Makes sense given their relative positions in the market.

I think HN gives WordPress a hard time, applying niche values like code elegance and utilization of the latest technologies and ignoring in plain sight the fact that both of those are actually WordPress's advantage. Anyone can create a plugin, and while many of them are utter shite, there is an amazing breadth of quality ones out there. And PHP, while derided mostly on HN, actually is one of the most prevalent languages in terms of install base and suitability to low-resource shared-environment mainstream use.

A key strategic issue Ghost will need to deal with is that the use-cases for "blogging" have polarized over the years. People run a blog either as part of a wider site - which is where WordPress wins given it evolved into a site CMS. Or blogs are written to be part of a content network - which is where Medium and Subtle are playing where you get a "Ghost" like experience but the distribution network to go with it.

icelanddev• 12 years ago

I was wondering the same thing a while back.

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

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.

dewey• 12 years ago

- Ghost Dashboard

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

-> "Very soon you’ll be seeing a fresh, slick Ghost(Pro) dashboard"

Is "(Pro)" indicating that the dashboard component will be available only for paying/hosted customers and will not be open-sourced?

freyr2• 12 years ago

I doubt it, since the dashboard was a main selling feature of its Kickstarter campaign. A move like that would probably sacrifice any goodwill its garnered among early adopters.

RKoutnik• 12 years ago

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.

snide5• 12 years ago

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.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1749618880/webhook

cpr• 12 years ago

Nifty!

Any plans for a self-hosted version?

snide5• 12 years ago

Yes. By end of the year. Check the updates, I explain the reasoning there.

egeozcan2• 12 years ago

Why Firebase + static pages instead of, say, varnish? (Honest question)

snide5• 12 years ago

Because people who know HTML and CSS don't know how to set up or manage a database locally. Even worse, they'd have no idea how to port that data onto a live production server. Firebase makes the install pretty painless. Our only dependency is Node. Right now that means even windows users can get up in running in less than a minute.

As a designer I really like the ease of systems like Jekyll, but it was a dead stop as soon as I wanted those sites to be editable by other users. This way we get the best of both systems.

subpixel• 12 years ago

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.

abeh• 12 years ago

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' ?

thkim• 12 years ago

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.

coherentpony• 12 years ago

They may improve the upgrade process for users. It's also open source, I'm sure they'd love to hear about your upgrading concerns.

On the other hand, there's also the paid service, which you don't have to manage at all.

dang• 12 years ago

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.

Naushad• 12 years ago

Got it.

lnanek2• 12 years ago

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.

A Year to The Day

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