Why I Left WordPress For Ghost CMS
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 3 ก.ค. 2024
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🗂 CHAPTERS
00:00 - Start
02:26 - Similarities between WordPress & Ghost
03:43 - Where Ghost Wins
11:56 - Where WordPress Wins
15:57 - Conclusion
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#profitabletools #blogging #ghostcms #wordpress - บันเทิง
DUDE.. you actually made a video based on my comment. ANNND I’ve never even heard of this tool. Sick video Dave. Thank you!!!
Thanks for the inspiration, Michael! I hope your MacBook is doing ok :)
@@dave-swift hahaha🤣
Easily one of the most helpful and straightforward video for non-tech content creator like me. Thanks Dave
OK I just hopped on ghost moving from WordPress and after being on WordPress for close to a decade I can say that I am truly impressed and thankful that there is an easier way to blog. I was not aware of that snippet option that is in the ghost editor, so thank you for letting me know about that!
Glad you're enjoying Ghost! Thanks for the comment.
Thank you for mentioning the sidebar feature in Ghost! As a WordPress user of many years, with many websites hosted on that platform, I'm considering migrating my content to Ghost. But for the life of me, I couldn't find an option for backdating my posts. I searched Google and TH-cam. Your video here is the only place I was able to find that information. If I wasn't able to backdate my content, that was going to be a deal-breaker for me. So, THANK YOU for illustrating that valuable information.
Hey Tracy! So glad it was helpful.
I have a big Ghost course I'm releasing at the end of the month, it might be helpful to you: profitabletools.com/ghost-5-mastery/
Really great video Dave, really appreciate this as someone who's considering newsletter/publishing options. I have a long history with Wordpress but I'd like something more streamlined with subscriber options.
bookmarked Ghost a few weeks ago! am definitely interested in the Webflow + Ghost mashup. am trying to learn these systems to help other content creators choose the most usable option for the function they need. your videos are super helpful & detailed, thanks
Glad to hear it! Thanks taychilla.
Really helpful thanks! Have decided to go with Ghost :)
Yes would love to see more options for blogging - Ghost seems pretty cool! And the idea of adding webflow to the mix sounds intriguing. Looks forward to more content.
Thanks for the comment, Amit! I will report back on the Webflow combo. 👍
@@dave-swift Would the whole website + newsletter + blog be less of a headache with Webflow? (For people who don't know how to code and are not designers)
I am running ghost self hosted for one of my blogs. Using mailgun for transactional emails and newsletters.
I have used Wordpress for 10 years and I still use it.
I think both ghost and wp have their own advantages.
However Ghost self hosted version is quite cheaper compared to their managed ghost plans but it comes with few caveats.
I like that you explored ghost and a made video about it.
I agree, WordPress isn’t going anywhere.
Self hosted ghost is great and I might move to that someday, but right now I like the support, security, and automatic updates from managed.
I manage a lot of servers, some of them are volatile, like Mautic, so making the Profitable Tools blog something that doesn’t require maintenance is 🔑 to me keeping it updated with new content.
This is awesome! I'm going to try it
Do it! Let me know if you run into any questions. I want to make more Ghost videos.
Great video! Thank you. I would like to see more content about Ghost.
Thanks Stella! It's coming, I'm still really enjoying Ghost.
Great insights on GCMS. I am trying to create a Personal Website/blog, so I would definitely appreciate more related content. However, I am mostly interested in setting up and editing a website on Ghost with the paid option (not the selfhosted option). I have seen most of the content refer to setting up Ghost via selfhosted platforms.
Thanks for the feedback.
I'm working on a lot more Ghost content.
Ghost self-hosted and Ghost Pro are extremely similar to setup, besides email sending (I have a video coming up on that early next week).
Basically everything comes down to customizing the theme. The best way to do this is to install Ghost locally to modify a theme, then when you're happy, sync changes to Github.
I'll be posting videos on this subject.
I do really want to see more of your Ghost content please - I came here today for that reason, liked and subscribed 😉 I’ve just moved to it from WP for my new newsletter/blog and will set up two tiers of membership. I’ll write in Ulysses and commit from there. Specifically, I’m interested in the little things to polish my site. I’m not interested in the big bells and whistles (I can use WP for that). So, for more stuff I’d like to see, what about creating a ‘contents list’? You mentioned a few things and I liked all those. The. There’s the issue of #tags vs #tags and #categories in WP: I’m going to miss categories, so any advice? Some simple css injection to unpick font size and colour in menus/header/footer and so forth? Anyway, excited to see where you go with Ghost on your chin 🎉
Thanks, I'm going back to regular content production next week and I have a lot of Ghost ideas planned. I appreciate the sub! Hopefully you'll see some videos from me that are right up your ally soon :)
Great intro, thanks! 👻
Glad you like it!
Just subbed, More Ghost content!
100% coming.
Loved the video! Could you create a tutorial on how you setup their self-hosted version?
Glad you liked the video and thanks for the request!
I have self hosted ghost before, but honestly their managed hosting is the way to go, IMO. It includes backups, updates, security, CDN, and email support.
Check out the nice little comparison chart on this page: ghost.org/docs/hosting/?via=dave61
All that said, if you really want to self host it's not too bad to setup if you already have some devops chops. Keep in mind you'll need a Mailgun or SES account for sending.
The easy way to self-host, is to install Ghost using Cloudron.
Check out this video for directions on Cloudron: th-cam.com/video/IewnxUAgsLc/w-d-xo.html
Yes please, more videos on ghost
You bet. The ghost team is crushing. So many features added since this video was released (and it's not that old).
Super interesting! REQUEST: Whenever you do some kind of thing, i.e., change, re-arrange, add 3rd-party with Ghost, can you please include how it affects Page Speed.
Will definitely do. I'm only running Google Analytics right now. Here is GTmetrix with GA on. share.cleanshot.com/HcHm5u
Yesterday I added a commenting system. Still screaming fast. share.cleanshot.com/ZJl519
Great video! Thank you so much. Could you do an video on the 2023 updates. Thank you
This is coming! Thanks for asking.
Yes please keep writing about ghost. I have a Wordpress website and two editor x websites. I just what a simple website for a blog i am making. Ghost sounds perfect. Thanks for the advice.
Thanks @leighreynolds8761 I have made several videos about Ghost and even released 3 courses about Ghost since this video was made!
Here are some of the videos: th-cam.com/play/PLwEpIoHuBTzhT-bhDSWDf673zjRJEP6Jq.html
thank you!
You're welcome!
Man I feel that comment. Wordpress is so the worst. I recently swapped to Ghost and it’s so much more user friendly. It isn’t as flexible as Wordpress, but that’s the point! Let’s me focus on the content instead of fiddling around with the back end.
Yep, you can't complain that Ghost is not flexible enough and then complain that WordPress is too complex :)
I think it's a great point. I'm at the same stage where I'm paying a lot of rupees to developers and SEO people for WP websites. I might as well want to focus on content and make money and then worry about aesthetics
@@dave-swift Dave, didn't you say in your video that adding tabs or making changes to some pages of the website part of Ghost is not easy and needs code?
This was helpful, I appreciate how you showcased Ghosts capabilities. If possible, I’d love to see a video on integrating both Ghost and Wordpress together? Basically using Ghost as the blogging platform but then attached to a core domain through Wordpress. Is that something you have done before? Curious what your thoughts on that are.
Hey @rosalitalyn it's what I'm currently doing for profitabletools.com
My Ghost courses are hosted on wordpress at courses.profitabletools.com
I also use Ghost for my personal site at daveswift.com but no wordpress component :)
Since this video has come out I've built several Ghost sites for customers and everyone loves how simple it is to create content. Customization is more difficult, so it's not a great platform for the non-coder than wants all the features or everything to look "just so" without either investing in a developer or some time to learn new skills.
Thanks Mr. Swift. You have perked my interest.
Ghost reminds me of user-friendly blogspot in 2008 (for me a plus). After Blogger was bought by Google they closed both my blogs because apparently I violated the never-stated broad particulars of its TOS (nothing illegal, just controversial). Still considering many alternatives to WordPress or WP itself. I'm brand new to web publishing. I wrote up a wishlist of 20 factors, so will contact Ghost about my dealmaker/breakers...
1. Very little corporate 'censorship' of content beyond what is legal in jurisdiction (presumably somewhere in USA)
2. Can use my own domain name
3. 24/7 phone customer support when hosted
4. Works well on a Mac
Already I see downsides though - not much opportunities for support on Fiverr and none of my friends use it.
Hey Hermes, glad you liked the video.
No corporate sponsorship.
You can use your own domain name, check daveswift.com for an example.
Support is via email (people talk on the phone?)
I only use Macs, nothing about it gets in the way of me using Ghost.
Thanks a lot, very helpful.
Could it be that chosing the header style "Highlight" and activating "Show publication info sidebar" overwrite custom CSS?
I would love to see your take on Webflow + Ghost.
It will be a little bit before I get to this video, if you're anxious to check it out yourself the company that does it has a free trial: daveswift.com/get/udesly
Very excited and yes to more Ghost content :)
Great! Thanks for the feedback Devesh.
Thank you for the video, it would be good to see a follow up video with your impressions after using ghost for a few months. Do you like it more than WordPress?
I am not a pro designer and have no desire or ability to learn the coding languages. have used weebly for many years for a few simple websites which was manageable yet limiting as well (pro account without e-commerce). have been trying to learn Divi for WP and omg it's been such a struggle overall, as there are so many techy things to know about updates, backups, plugins, and other things which spin my head. Sadly can't afford to hire a pro however appreciate more and more that such people do exist. I would not recommend a beginner entrepreneur who needs one or a few websites to go my route. it took a ton of precious time!
Anyways, looking for ways to optimize. however need a blog feature as well.
Hey Tatiana,
I am going to be release a ton of ghost videos over the next month as I really fell in love with the platform.
Do I like it more than WordPress? For some things, certainly. Like membership sites, blogging, and newsletters. It's hands down a better experience and runs with less overhead.
I have a course coming out at the end of the month, so I'll be making a lot of ghost videos to promote the course. Expect a ton of value on my channel even if you don't buy the course!
Here is the pre-sale:
profitabletools.com/ghost-5-mastery/
Thanks, and yes...more Ghost help would be appreciated. I want to create a site that is nearly all text, but can't really find one that also has an attractive home page.
More ghost content is high on my priorities list.
I would start with one of the official themes and customize it to your needs. Casper is the default theme and it's very flexible.
@@dave-swift Exactly what I’ll do. Thanks a lot.
Hi. Thanks for the video. The footage of the Ghost interface was extremely helpful. I'm wondering about two things I'm not clear about. Perhaps you have answers? Is there a limit to how many photos you can upload using Ghosts own hosting? Most hosts have tiers based on space and transfer but Ghost does not mention these things in their pricing, only members. This is my second question: is a member just whoever signs up to your mailing list? If so, does that mean views / GB transferred via the website don't count at all and that pricing is simply based on how many subscribers you have? Wouldn't this allow someone to theoretically have a resource-intensive website with no subscribers for extremely cheap?
Thank you.
Hey @vlvr, glad you liked the video.
With Ghost Pro there is no limits on the number of files you add, but there is a limit on the file size. If you have the lowest plan you can upload 5mb files and if you have the creator plan you can upload 100mb files.
Members are anyone who signs up, paid or unpaid.
Yes, this theoretically means you can have unlimited traffic to your site for cheap :)
Great video! A quick question, how do you manage affiliate links on Ghost? I find it very hard to handle.
Thanks for the comment!
I was using a link shortening plugin in WordPress, so those are now all redirects. Going forward, I’ll be using a SaaS for link shortening.
I’m using PixelMe at the moment (profitable.tools/get/pixelme)
Great vid. Thoughts on WP vs Beehiiv vs Ghost?
WP is WP. Love it or hate it, it can do anything.
Behiiv is more of a direct comparison to Ghost, but I prefer Ghost because it's open source.
Wow ... an awesome alternative. Just wondering, does it works with WPML as well? How about custom post types?
You can have multi-lingual support, but not WPML as Ghost doesn't support WordPress plug-ins (it's not WordPress).
As for custom post types, not exactly. You can have different post templates for different types of post, but it's not the exact same as WordPress.
The email newsletter feature do I need to upgrade to see that. I don’t have that on my ghost pro level
Newsletters are on every plan! You should see it in the gear icon (lower left hand corner) then under members you should see "Email Newsletter".
I agree w/ that first comment, that Wordpress seems old & clunky compared to the new shiny and EASY options out there. Especially when you're brand new to the whole online content creation thing.
Great video, thanks for sharing! Are you still using Ghost since it seems the website (profitable tools) is not live right now. And if you backed off from Ghost, can you share with us why?
Hey Jasper, I moved my website to daveswift.com and WordPress.
Profitable Tools will return.
Ghost is still amazing and I will be doing more with it in the near future.
Dope post indeed. Can you do one on the best white label retail apps that is an all in one platform?
What do you mean by retail app? Like ecomm?
@@dave-swift yeah.
Great there are the obvious candidates like Woo, Shopify, Magento... those not interesting to you?
Why is the user experience similar for Ghost and Notion?
looking to build a bussiness site, was edging more towards wordpress since every example id seen so far with Ghost is mostly blog/newsletter related, is it still possible to make a bussiness site with ghost easily (services offered, information, contact etc)?
Hey Jordan,
Yes, you could use Ghost to build a business website. It does have Pages & Posts, just like WordPress.
But I'm not sure I would.
What you won't find is an ecosystem of marketing plug-ins and page builders like you will with WordPress.
Ghost is first and foremost a content publishing platform.
You can sign-up for a free trial of Ghost Pro and play around with it to see if it's what you're looking for. They ask for a credit card to verify your identity but they do not automatically charge your card at the end of the trial. (My aff link -- profitabletools.com/get/ghost)
Thanks for the video! How do I move my WordPress site to Ghost without losing the url paths and content?
I will make a video on this but the short answer is use the Ghost plugin: wordpress.org/plugins/ghost/
Please note that the migration will not include custom fields, metadata, shortcodes, custom post types, taxonomies, or binary files-only posts, pages, text, and images will be migrated.
Yes yes yes. I want to know more about Ghost. Is there a way to import WordPress blog posts into it?
Yes, there is! They have a guide on how to do it and they will also migrate you for free if you get a paid plan. ghost.org/docs/migration/wordpress/?via=dave61
@@dave-swift It all imported quite easily. Woohoo
@@DarrinRich That's great. Thanks for following up.
Nice video Dave. Would it be fair to say that Ghost is a email sending provider that also allows to create your business website?
Hmm, no I don't think so.
Ghost is really a blog first.
The ability to create landing pages is limited.
The email capabilities are limited to newsletters and there isn't much in terms of analytics. Most marketers are still going to want to pair Ghost with something like ConvertKit (in fact they have a zapier integration to keep members in sync with ConvertKit).
Think of Ghost as a Patreon or Substack replacement. Something that is open source and lower fee for the creator.
Or it could just be your business blog, like how Cloudflare, DuoLingo Unsplash, & OpenAI use it.
Got it. I believe it's the editor which steals the show, and probably that's why so many big companies prefer to use Ghost over anything else, including WordPress.
@@tovishalck it's also super lightweight and easier to maintain than WP. Loading times are bonkers fast with zero optimization.
@@dave-swift True.
is there a way to blog anonymously on ghost?
Thanks, is Ghost GDPR compliant?
Yes, it is. You can find the GDPR details under the FAQ section on their website.
How to add schema mark up for 'how to' guides on my blog? Can you help?
Are you using Ghost? If so this will have to be done manually. I bet you could get ChatGPT to write the schema for you or use one of the free online schema generation tools that asks you to complete a form (probably more likely to be validated with this method).
Then use the code injection feature found in Ghost's post sidebar under "Code Injection".
If you're using WordPress, try Schema Pro from my friends at Brainstorm Force (daveswift.com/get/schema-pro affiliate link)
@@dave-swift Thanks Dave:) That will be helpful
Has commenting been added to ghost since this video came out?
Yes, it has! And it's really good.
Ghost added native comments in August of 2022, just as a heads up.
Yes, Ghost is crushing it.
I have yet to find a successful affiliate ghost blog.
Do you think that has anything to do with the volume of users?
Does GhostCMS have the native support for multilingual websites?
Great question, themes can be multilingual in ghost. It’s definitely doable, but not as simple as a checkbox. Lots of guides if you google, I don’t have any personal experience translating a ghost theme yet.
@@dave-swift I go through the web today, the answer turns out to be no. No native support for multi-language sites and it's not a priority for the official, though there are one or two partial solutions you could find to get the content translated.
I hate to pick up a 3rd-party translation plugin like we usually do in WordPress. That's why I've been looking for a quality alternative for so long.
@@stephenzhao9773 it is doable, but like I said not as easy as people want. Multi-lingual websites don't seem to have a good out of the box solution.
So I just checked the website and it seems like you're selling it? So it's no longer on Ghost? Did you manage to modify it at the end?
Love the idea of using Webflow with Ghost so would love to see that.
Hi Joe... website isn't for sale. Why do you think that?
I did eventually switch back to WordPress but continue to follow Ghost. They have improved a lot since my video (native comment system, audience feedback, improved analytics). I will still be producing more Ghost content.
@@dave-swift Well, because when I go to the link it says "I'll be back" and in a footer is a tool that helps people sell websites. Basically, there's nothing on the website, that's why I'm asking :).
And yeah, Ghost has improved quite a bit, trying to learn it right now and see if I can use it for starting something new from scratch and find different ways of hosting as I don't wanna pay 11 dollars a month with 0 audience for this project and for the fact I won't be using the features yet. I did find some nice ways to start, just figuring out the best ones, and finding all the different limitations with them and potential workarounds (eg. Newsletter and community not working, etc,)
@@JoeShowCheek I see the confusion. moved the content on this channel to my name Dave Swift.
The service in the footer is my company and we build websites, not sell them :)
Self-hosted ghost works great on a $5-6 month VPS, but you'll still need to pay for an email sending service (Mailgun). I think the cheapest route for most people is starting off on ghost.org and migrating as their list gets bigger.
You can use the Github integration to develop your theme and have full control of the hosted version, just as you would the self-hosted.
@@dave-swift I got excited reading your comment yesterday so I tried to use the Github Actions today and I failed.
The problem is that both Ghost (Pro) as well as the hosting I use (Free tier of DigitalPress) don't allow Custom Theme upload on lower tiers so it'd get even more pricey with the higher tiers. Basically my Github action failed to upload. Granted, maybe I made a mistake somewhere...but it did work on a self-hosted server.
And yeah, Mailgun is very expensive ($35 - though apparently there is a way to secretely downgrade to their Flexible billing plan which could be free if you don't send any emails) and without it Memberships won't work on self-hosted solution :/.
I guess what I'm gonna do it go with the free DigitalPress for now cause at least Membership will work there.
My self-hosting is also free so maybe I would move there when I manage to make some nice theme somehow 🤔.
@@dave-swift Why did you move back to WordPress? Dave, does making changes to Ghost tabs/pages need to know code? Isn't it drag abd drop?
What do you think about zyro?
I'm not familiar! Is it good?
anyone's ghost keeps crashing once a month on lightsail?
This could very likely be a lightsail issue. They have a CPU credit system where they will throttle your server if you use it too much. Maybe checkout Hetzner? It's a lot better value. You get €20 in cloud credits with my referral link: hetzner.cloud/?ref=TZJZO2vYfjyq
@@dave-swift nmeh, we are all in on aws
Then overspec your server significantly so your CPU don't ever go over your CPU burst threshold! Or use EC2.
@@dave-swift maybe
Makes me want to stay with Wordpress
What does?
Need a bit more clarity.. Does Ghost replace my hosting? Presently using WP with Hostinger. Will Ghost replace Hostinger?
Yes, I recommend using Ghost Pro which is a fully managed (hosted with support) version of Ghost. It includes a CDN. Starts at $9 a month!
This would fully replace the need for other hosting. They will even help you migrate your WordPress posts.
Here is my referral link: get.profitable.tools/ghost
My PSI on WordPress was great, but I had a $50/month server and Cloudflare Pro ($20/month) and I spent a ton of time building the site with Elementor Flexibox containers.
It looks like medium in a way
Agreed! Obviously you can change themes and style it any way you want.
How can you have a blob centric site that doesn't support comments out of the box?
I was seriously considering Ghost, but the lack of ootb comments is concerning....
Ghost added comments within a few weeks of me releasing this video!
There is a lot of wanna be WordPress CMS look like but there is only few Wordpress sites plugins and thèmes …
WordPress is great.
I think I just got burned with the options.
Ghost limits options and sometimes that's a good thing too.
I see that your profitable tools site is hosted with WordPress and not Ghost...?
Ah, but my daveswift.com site is on Ghost. I have several ghost videos coming up on the channel and two full ghost courses in production. I really love this platform.
The non-native commenting thing is kind of a turn off to me =/
They have native comments now! ghost.org/changelog/native-comments/?via=dave61
i don t know hw much squrespace costs but ghost probably helps you save a lot ! wordpress looks like a scam with free download and then every single optionnal feature is sold at a super expensive price.
WordPress is not the future but ghost is definitely not!
Try tools like hugo