Ghost Release: 1.0.0-alpha.4

TL;DR

Ghost 1.0.0-alpha.4 brings significant improvements to the editor with a new floating toolbar, comprehensive error handling with Bunyan logging, and removes deprecated features as we move closer to the 1.0.0 release. Internal tags are now a standard feature rather than experimental, and the codebase has undergone substantial refactoring with a new database versioning system based on Ghost versions.

Highlight of the Release

• New editor with floating toolbar and basic image uploading
• Comprehensive error handling overhaul with Bunyan logging
• Internal tags are now a standard feature (no longer in labs)
• New database versioning system based on Ghost version
• Removal of deprecated theme features and helpers

Migration Guide

for Theme Developers

Removed Deprecated Body Classes

• .archive-template has been removed
• .page has been removed
• .post-template is no longer output on pages
• Use page-slug instead of page-template-slug
• page-slug is always output regardless of custom template presence

Deprecated Helper Removal

• The pageUrl helper has been removed after being deprecated for over 2 years
• Use page_url helper instead

for Developers

• Error handling now uses an options object pattern instead of ordered arguments
• All errors now inherit from GhostError
• Environment variables for configuration now require __ separator instead of :
  • Example: Use database__connection__host=127.0.0.1 instead of database:connection:host=127.0.0.1
• Asset paths have changed to /ghost/assets

Upgrade Recommendations

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

If you're a developer or theme creator interested in preparing for Ghost 1.0.0, we recommend:

1. Set up a separate development environment to test this alpha release
2. Review the breaking changes, particularly around theme development and error handling
3. Update any custom themes to remove usage of deprecated features
4. Test your integrations with the new logging system and error handling

For production sites, continue using the latest stable release or consider the LTS version (v0.11) if you need long-term support.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed broken troubleshooting link in contributing.md
• Fixed argv config overrides (temporary solution)
• Set NODE_ENV in config handler
• Fixed fork config in tests
• Fixed short log format to include data.msg
• Temporary fix for info, warn and debug logging when no stdout stream is available
• Return errorDetails to Ghost-Admin for theme error handling

New Features

Editor Improvements

• Added a new floating toolbar (called "Owesome bar") to the editor
• Basic image uploading capability in the mobile doc editor
• Ghost Server now pulls configuration from Ghost-Editor

Logging and Error Handling

• Configurable logging with Bunyan replacing Morgan
• Added GhostLogger class for setup of Bunyan
• PrettyStream for stdout logging
• Support for short one-line log format
• Express error handler for HTML/JSON responses

Internal Tags

• Internal tags are now a standard feature (removed from labs)
• Refactored visibility filter into a single utility

Database and Configuration

• New database versioning scheme based on Ghost version
• Added independent migration runner
• Added support for __ separator in nconf for environment variables
• Operating on separate nconf instance to avoid conflicts

Security Updates

No specific security fixes were mentioned in this release.

Performance Improvements

• Extended file rotation to 1 week
• Using nullable(false) for knex schema builder
• Updated dependencies:
  • sqlite3 to version 3.1.6
  • lodash to version 4.16.4
  • bookshelf to 0.10.2
  • gulp-nodemon to version 2.2.1
  • moment-timezone to version 0.5.6
  • knex to version 0.12.3

Impact Summary

Ghost 1.0.0-alpha.4 represents a significant step toward the final 1.0.0 release with major architectural improvements. The editor enhancements with a new floating toolbar and image uploading capabilities provide a more intuitive content creation experience. The complete overhaul of error handling and logging with Bunyan offers developers better debugging tools and more consistent error management.

The removal of deprecated theme features enforces cleaner theme development practices, while the new database versioning system based on Ghost versions makes database management more intuitive. Internal tags moving out of labs into core functionality gives content creators more organizational tools by default.

This alpha release continues the codebase cleanup with significant refactoring (8,914 changes across 220 files), removing technical debt, and establishing more consistent patterns throughout the codebase. While not production-ready, it provides developers and theme creators an opportunity to prepare for the upcoming stable 1.0.0 release.

Full Release Notes