Ghost Release: 2.37.0

TL;DR

Ghost 2.37.0 Release

This release focuses on fixing critical bugs related to content editing and URL handling. It addresses issues with markdown card content appearing corrupted during post editing and prevents errors when saving or importing posts with invalid URLs. Additionally, it introduces new member subscription settings for better control over self-signup and email communications. These improvements enhance content editing reliability and provide more flexibility for managing member subscriptions.

Highlight of the Release

• Fixed markdown card content corruption when editing posts
• Prevented errors when saving or importing posts with invalid URLs
• Added new member subscription settings for self-signup control and email sender address customization
• Updated URL utilities to better handle parsing errors

Migration Guide

Migration Notes

The new member subscription settings (allowSelfSignup and fromAddress) are automatically configured with default values during the upgrade process. The migration:

1. Sets allowSelfSignup to true by default
2. Sets fromAddress to noreply by default
3. Cleans up any intermediate naming for the allowSelfSignup setting

No manual action is required for these new settings after upgrading.

Upgrade Recommendations

This release is recommended for all Ghost users, especially those who:

• Use markdown cards in their content
• Import posts from other platforms
• Work with posts containing various URL formats
• Manage member subscriptions

The bug fixes address important content editing issues that could affect your workflow, and the new member subscription settings provide additional flexibility for site management.

Standard upgrade procedures apply - backup your database before upgrading and test in a staging environment if possible.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed markdown card content corruption: Resolved an issue where markdown card content would appear corrupted when editing a post. This was fixed by updating the @tryghost/url-utils package with an improved markdownRelativeToAbsolute method.

• Fixed errors with invalid URLs: Addressed problems that occurred when saving or importing posts containing invalid URLs. The updated @tryghost/url-utils package now catches parsing errors and returns the original URL argument instead of failing.

• Re-enabled previously skipped test: A previously skipped test has been restored now that the underlying issue has been fixed.

New Features

New Member Subscription Settings

Two new member subscription settings have been added to provide more control over member registration and communication:

• allowSelfSignup: Controls whether visitors can register as members on their own. Default value is true.
• fromAddress: Determines the email address used as the sender for member communications. Default value is noreply.

These settings come with sensible defaults and include a migration to ensure existing installations are properly configured when updating to this version.

Security Updates

No specific security fixes were included in this release.

Performance Improvements

• Added guards to prevent unnecessary processing of markdown and HTML, which helps improve performance when handling content.
• Updated the aggregate download count calculation for better efficiency.
• Various dependency updates to improve overall system performance.

Impact Summary

Ghost 2.37.0 delivers important fixes for content editing reliability while adding new features for member management. The markdown card corruption fix resolves a frustrating issue that could affect content quality, while the improved URL handling prevents errors during content saving and importing. These changes ensure a smoother editing experience for content creators.

The new member subscription settings provide administrators with more control over how members join and interact with their site. The allowSelfSignup setting enables or restricts self-registration, while the fromAddress setting allows customization of the sender email address for member communications.

Under the hood, improvements to URL handling and markdown processing contribute to a more stable and efficient platform. The update to @tryghost/url-utils is particularly important as it now gracefully handles URL parsing errors instead of failing.

Full Release Notes