Ghost Release: 1.17.0

TL;DR

Ghost 1.17.0 introduces a new reading time helper for themes, increases tag description length limits, and fixes several bugs including RSS feed excerpt handling. This release focuses on improving theme capabilities and fixing user experience issues in the admin interface, with significant internal code refactoring to prepare for future enhancements.

Highlight of the Release

• New {{reading_time}} theme helper for displaying estimated reading time on posts
• Increased maximum tag description length from 200 to 500 characters
• Fixed custom excerpts not appearing in RSS feeds
• Fixed password fields not clearing when navigating away from team/user pages

Migration Guide

No migration steps are required for this release. The changes are backward compatible and will work automatically after upgrading.

Upgrade Recommendations

This release is recommended for all Ghost users as it includes new features and bug fixes without breaking changes. The upgrade process should be straightforward with no special considerations required.

Bug Fixes

RSS Feed Excerpt Handling

Fixed an issue where custom excerpts (custom_excerpt) were not being used in RSS feeds. The system now properly prioritizes custom excerpts before falling back to meta descriptions in RSS feeds.

Admin Interface Fixes

Fixed a bug where password fields were not being cleared when navigating away from team/user pages in the admin interface, which could lead to confusion when returning to these pages.

New Features

New Reading Time Helper

Ghost now includes a new {{reading_time}} theme helper that automatically calculates and displays the estimated reading time for posts. This helper:

• Calculates reading time based on 275 words per minute
• Adds 12 seconds when a post has a feature image
• Displays in the format "x min read" (or "< 1 min read" for very short posts)

This makes it easy for theme developers to add reading time estimates to their themes without custom code.

Increased Tag Description Length

The maximum length for tag descriptions has been increased from 200 to 500 characters, allowing for more detailed explanations of tag categories and topics.

Security Updates

No specific security fixes were included in this release.

Performance Improvements

Ghost 1.17.0 includes several internal code refactoring improvements that, while not directly impacting performance metrics, have improved code quality and maintainability:

• Increased URL utility test coverage to 100%
• Refactored channel representation to use class instances instead of plain objects
• Split the renderChannel functionality into separate controller and renderer components

These changes provide a more solid foundation for future performance optimizations.

Impact Summary

Ghost 1.17.0 enhances the theming capabilities with the new reading time helper, which will be particularly valuable for blogs and publications where indicating article length is important for readers. The increased tag description length provides more flexibility for content organization and SEO.

Bug fixes for RSS feeds ensure that custom excerpts are properly utilized, improving the experience for subscribers consuming content through feed readers. The admin interface improvements address usability issues with password fields.

Behind the scenes, significant code refactoring has been done to prepare for future enhancements, particularly around URL handling and channel representation. These changes don't directly impact users now but lay groundwork for future improvements.

Overall, this is a solid incremental release that improves both the developer and end-user experience without introducing breaking changes.

Full Release Notes