Ghost Release: 1.20.3

TL;DR

Ghost 1.20.3 is a minor maintenance release that fixes issues with release notifications in the admin panel, improves user deletion warnings, and introduces developer tools for the experimental Koenig editor. This update ensures a smoother admin experience and lays groundwork for future editor improvements.

Highlight of the Release

• Fixed issue with outdated release notifications persisting in the admin panel
• Improved warning messages when deleting users who have authored content
• Added experimental Koenig editor access for developers
• Updated setup tooling to use yarn setup instead of yarn init
• Updated Casper theme to version 2.1.9

Migration Guide

Setup Command Change

If you're using Ghost for development purposes, note that the command for initial setup has changed:

• Old command: yarn init
• New command: yarn setup

Global Dependencies

Global dependencies now need to be installed manually rather than automatically. This provides more flexibility and transparency in the development environment.

Accessing Experimental Koenig Editor

To access the experimental Koenig editor (for development purposes only):

1. Add the following to your config.development.json file:

   "enableDeveloperExperiments": true
   

2. Restart your development server

3. Go to the Labs screen in Ghost Admin

4. You'll see a new section with a Koenig Editor checkbox to enable/disable the editor

⚠️ Note: The experimental editor is in a very early state and should not be used with production data.

Upgrade Recommendations

This is a minor maintenance release that fixes several bugs and improves the developer experience. It's recommended for all Ghost users to upgrade to version 1.20.3, especially if you've experienced issues with persistent release notifications after updates.

The update process should be straightforward with no breaking changes for regular users. Developers should note the changes to the setup process and the availability of experimental features.

Bug Fixes

• Release Notification Fix: Fixed an issue where outdated release notifications would continue to display in the about page even after updating to the newer version.

• Notification Version Handling: Improved handling of release notifications to properly compare against the blog version and protect against wrong formats.

• User Deletion Warning: Enhanced the warning message displayed when attempting to delete a user who has authored posts, making it clearer what will happen to their content.

New Features

Developer Experiments

• Experimental Koenig Editor Access: Developers can now access the alpha version of the Koenig editor by enabling the enableDeveloperExperiments flag in their config file. This is strictly for development and testing purposes.

• Improved Setup Tooling: The setup process has been streamlined with yarn setup replacing yarn init to avoid confusion with grunt init. This change makes the initial setup more intuitive.

• HTML Card Improvements: The experimental Koenig editor now allows any HTML payload through the HTML mobiledoc card, using the same approach as the markdown card for better flexibility.

Security Updates

No specific security fixes were included in this release.

Performance Improvements

• HTML Parsing: Removed unnecessary SimpleDOM parsing in the experimental Koenig editor's HTML card, which was prone to breaking due to limited parsing and error handling abilities.

• Setup Process: Streamlined the setup process by automatically including knex-migrator in the setup command rather than requiring it as a separate step.

Impact Summary

Ghost 1.20.3 focuses on quality-of-life improvements for both administrators and developers. The fix for persistent release notifications resolves a confusing user experience issue where admins would continue to see update prompts even after updating.

For developers, the experimental Koenig editor access provides a glimpse into Ghost's future editing experience, though it's emphasized that this is strictly for development purposes and not production-ready.

The changes to the setup tooling (yarn setup instead of yarn init) create a clearer distinction between Ghost's setup process and other common development commands, reducing potential confusion.

Overall, this release represents incremental improvements to Ghost's stability and developer experience rather than introducing major new features for end users.

Full Release Notes