Ghost Release: 1.0.0-alpha.2

TL;DR

Ghost 1.0.0-alpha.2 introduces the first iteration of the new Mobiledoc-based editor and transitions from Grunt to Gulp for development tooling. This alpha release also includes important dependency updates to lodash, knex, and bookshelf that resolve a previous memory leak issue. As the second weekly alpha build towards Ghost 1.0.0, this release is strictly for development and testing purposes, not for production environments.

Highlight of the Release

• First iteration of the new Ghost editor based on Mobiledoc
• Transition from Grunt to Gulp for development tooling
• Updated dependencies (lodash, knex, bookshelf) resolving a memory leak issue
• New Gulp commands for improved developer experience
• Separation of invites from user model for better code organization

Migration Guide

Development Workflow Migration

Developers will need to adapt to the new Gulp-based workflow:

1. Replace any grunt commands with their gulp equivalents
2. Use gulp dev instead of previous development commands
3. For server-only development, use gulp server
4. For setup and dependency management, use the new gulp setup command with appropriate flags

Editor Testing

Content creators testing this alpha release should be aware that:

1. The new Mobiledoc editor is in its first iteration and may have limitations
2. The legacy editor is still available for fallback
3. Any content created with the new editor should be considered experimental during the alpha phase

Upgrade Recommendations

This is an alpha release and must not be used in production environments. It is strictly for development and testing purposes only.

For developers and testers:

• Upgrade from 1.0.0-alpha.1 to test the new features and provide feedback
• Be prepared for potential breaking changes and instability
• Report any issues encountered to help improve future releases

For production sites:

• Continue using the stable v0.11.x LTS release
• Monitor the alpha releases to prepare for eventual migration to 1.0.0

Bug Fixes

Theme Asset Hash Refresh

Fixed an issue where the asset hash wasn't being refreshed on theme override (#7430). This extends the dirty theme override cache clear hack to also reset the asset hash, bringing the alpha branch in line with the LTS branch. This is a temporary fix that will need a proper rewrite for Ghost 1.0.0.

New Features

New Mobiledoc-based Editor

The first iteration of the new Ghost editor based on Mobiledoc has been introduced. This is a significant step toward the modern editing experience planned for Ghost 1.0.0. The legacy Showdown editor is still available during this transition phase.

Gulp Development Tooling

Ghost has transitioned from Grunt to Gulp for development tooling, offering improved workflows:

• gulp dev - Starts development mode with livereload for both client and server changes
• gulp server - Starts server development mode with livereload for server changes only
• gulp setup - New command with multiple options:
  • Default: Updates dependencies and submodules for current branches
  • --force: Deletes and reinstalls all dependencies
  • Branch selection: --ghost branch-name --admin branch-name --casper branch-name
  • PR testing: --admin pr/123 --ghost pr/1234 --casper pr/123

Invite Model Separation

Invites have been separated from the user model, creating a dedicated invite model. This improves code organization and makes the invite logic for team members more maintainable.

Security Updates

No specific security fixes were mentioned in this release.

Performance Improvements

Memory Leak Resolution

The memory leak that occurred after upgrading to knex 0.11.x has been resolved with the update to knex 0.12.x. This is due to knex reverting their pool logic (see knex PR #1665).

Impact Summary

Ghost 1.0.0-alpha.2 represents a significant step in the development journey toward Ghost 1.0.0, with two major focus areas: the introduction of the Mobiledoc-based editor and the transition to Gulp for development tooling.

The new editor framework lays the groundwork for a more powerful and flexible content creation experience, though it's still in its early stages. Meanwhile, the move to Gulp modernizes the development workflow and provides more intuitive commands for developers.

The resolution of the memory leak issue through dependency updates is particularly important for system stability, addressing a pain point from previous versions.

This alpha release continues to build the foundation for Ghost 1.0.0 while maintaining compatibility with existing content. As an alpha, it introduces changes that will evolve through the development cycle before reaching production readiness.

Full Release Notes