TL;DR
Ghost 1.0.0-alpha.12 introduces custom redirects via file, improved session handling to prevent admin logouts, and sets MySQL as the default production database. This alpha release continues the weekly build series leading to Ghost 1.0.0, bringing important improvements for developers and site administrators while maintaining the focus on testing and development environments.
Highlight of the Release
- Custom redirects can now be defined in a JSON file within the content folder
- Improved session handling with increased token expiry to prevent unwanted admin logouts
- MySQL is now the default production database in production environments
- Fixed subscriber CSV export to properly include all subscribers
- ServiceWorker support for the
/ghost/ scope to enable offline capabilities
Migration Guide
Database Configuration Changes
The default database configuration has been updated. There is no longer a default database configuration, and in production environments, MySQL is now the default database. If you're upgrading from a previous alpha version, ensure your database configuration is properly set up for your environment.
Redirects Middleware Renamed
The redirects middleware has been renamed from redirects to custom-redirects to avoid confusion with the existing url-redirects middleware. If you have custom code that interacts with the redirects middleware, you'll need to update your references:
custom-redirects.js: Define custom redirects for your blog in a JSON fileurl-redirects.js: Ghost's built-in handling of admin URL or SSL redirects
URL Redirects Behavior Change
The URL redirects behavior has been modified. Ghost no longer forces redirects to the blog URL, as the URL has a canonical meaning. If you rely on automatic redirects to your blog URL, you may need to implement custom redirects.
Upgrade Recommendations
This is an alpha release intended for development and testing purposes only. Do not use this release in production environments.
If you're already testing Ghost 1.0.0-alpha.11, upgrading to alpha.12 is recommended to test the new features and provide feedback. The upgrade process should be straightforward, but be aware of the database configuration changes and redirects middleware renaming if you have custom implementations.
For production sites, continue using the stable LTS version (0.11.x) until Ghost 1.0.0 is officially released.
Bug Fixes
Fixed Subscriber CSV Export
Fixed an issue where only a subset of subscribers were being exported via CSV. The export now uses .findAll() instead of .findPage(), ensuring all subscribers are included in the export.
Fixed API Notifications Test Failures
Resolved an intermittent failure in the API notifications integration test. The issue was caused by multiple tests using the notifications API with a shared local notification store. Tests now properly reset the store after each test iteration.
Fixed Content Deletion with Subscriber Associations
Fixed a bug where content deletion would fail if a subscriber was associated with a post. The system now correctly deletes subscribers before deleting the associated posts.
Fixed Email Validation for Profile Updates
Added proper email validation when updating user profiles, ensuring that existing email addresses are validated correctly during the update process.
New Features
Custom Redirects via File
Ghost now supports defining redirects in a custom JSON file within the content folder. This feature allows administrators to manage redirects more efficiently without needing to modify code. The redirects are defined in JSON format, making them easy to create and maintain.
ServiceWorker Support for /ghost/ Scope
ServiceWorkers can now control the /ghost/ scope, enabling offline capabilities for the Ghost admin interface. Previously, ServiceWorkers were limited to the asset folder scope, but this change allows them to provide offline functionality across the admin area.
LTS Parameter for Update Check Service
The update check service now supports an LTS option. When sending lts=false, the service will search for the latest non-LTS release. This provides more flexibility in how Ghost instances receive update notifications.
Security Updates
No specific security fixes were mentioned in this release. However, the multiple dependency updates likely include security patches from the updated packages.
Performance Improvements
Dependency Updates
Multiple dependency updates have been implemented to improve performance and security:
- Updated ghost-ignition to version 2.8.4
- Updated nock to version 9.0.4
- Updated html-to-text to version 3.1.0
- Updated supertest to version 3.0.0
- Updated fs-extra to version 2.0.0
- Updated express to version 4.14.1
- Updated multer to version 1.3.0
- Updated sanitize-html to version 1.14.1
- Updated mysql to version 2.13.0
- Updated body-parser to version 1.16.0
- Updated should to version 11.2.0
- Updated bcryptjs to version 2.4.3
- Updated bson-objectid to version 1.1.5
- Updated superagent to version 3.4.1
- Updated amperize to version 0.3.4
- Updated should-http to version 0.1.0
- Updated knex-migrator to version 2.0.6 and 2.0.7
Removed Unused Dependencies
Several unused dependencies have been removed from the project, reducing the overall package size and improving load times.
Impact Summary
Ghost 1.0.0-alpha.12 continues to build toward the stable 1.0.0 release with several important improvements. The addition of file-based custom redirects provides a more flexible and maintainable way to manage URL redirects. The improved session handling addresses a common pain point for users by preventing unwanted admin logouts.
The change to MySQL as the default production database reflects Ghost's focus on providing a robust solution for production environments, while the ServiceWorker improvements enhance the offline capabilities of the admin interface.
Bug fixes for subscriber exports and content deletion ensure more reliable operation, particularly for sites with larger subscriber bases. The extensive dependency updates keep the platform current with the latest improvements from the ecosystem.
Overall, this alpha release represents another solid step toward Ghost 1.0.0, with meaningful improvements for developers and administrators while maintaining the focus on testing and development environments.
Full Release Notes
This is the twelfth in a series of weekly alpha builds we'll be releasing as we work towards Ghost 1.0.0.
This release is strictly for development and testing only, and must not be used for production blogs
This alpha contains:
- ✨redirects can now be specified via a file
- improved session lengths / session handling to prevent unwanted admin logouts
- default production database is now MySQL
You can read more about our plans for Ghost v1.0 and the v0.11 LTS version in the lts blog post. There's also more information on the alpha page.
You can see the full change log for the details of every change included in this release.
