Ghost Release: 3.13.4

TL;DR

Ghost 3.13.4 introduces email personalization with dynamic content replacements like {first_name}, fixes structured metadata for images, improves tag taxonomy redirects, and enhances spam prevention for private sites. This release focuses on email functionality improvements and bug fixes to ensure a smoother experience for content creators and site administrators.

Highlight of the Release

• Email personalization with dynamic content replacements like {first_name}
• Fixed structured metadata for images
• Fixed tag taxonomy redirects for the /edit route
• Improved spam prevention for private sites
• Email-only card content support in member emails

Migration Guide

No migration steps are required for this release. The update from 3.13.3 to 3.13.4 should be straightforward with no breaking changes.

For users who have been using {subscriber_firstname} in their email templates, note that this has been changed to the simpler {first_name} format. Existing templates using the old format should be updated accordingly.

Upgrade Recommendations

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

1. Use the email newsletter functionality and want to take advantage of the new personalization features
2. Run private sites and have experienced issues with spam prevention
3. Use tag taxonomies and have encountered redirect issues with the /edit route
4. Have experienced issues with structured metadata for images

The update contains important bug fixes and enhancements with no breaking changes, making it a safe and beneficial upgrade.

Bug Fixes

Fixed Structured Metadata for Images

• Fixed an issue where the logo object was incorrectly positioned in the metadata structure

Fixed Tag Taxonomy Redirects

• Fixed the /edit route redirect for tag taxonomies that was landing on a 404 page
• When using the /edit route at the end of tag taxonomy, it now correctly redirects to /#/tags/getting-started instead of /#/settings/tags/getting-started

Fixed Spam Prevention

• Fixed spam prevention for private sites by resolving a discrepancy between private_blog in the code and private_block in the default config
• Switched the code to use block to avoid breaking existing configurations

Other Bug Fixes

• Fixed {subscriber_firstname} not picking up member's name in emails (replaced with simpler {first_name})
• Fixed "view sent email" showing Mailgun template variables
• Fixed in-browser email preview showing raw replacement strings
• Added custom json-string format to AJV validator to prevent 500 errors with invalid JSON

New Features

Email Personalization

• Added support for dynamic content replacements in emails using syntax like {first_name} with fallbacks
• Email previews now show personalized content with fallbacks instead of raw replacement strings
• Added email card and replacement handling to member emails
• Test emails now fetch real member data if the email matches a member in the database
• Fixed plaintext templates being word wrapped and breaking across replacement strings

Email Content Improvements

• Adjusted post serializer to fetch mobiledoc from the API rather than pre-rendered content
• Re-generate email HTML using the mobiledoc renderer with an "email" target to include email-only card content
• Added acceptance test for email preview with email card and replacements

Security Updates

No specific security fixes were mentioned in this release.

Performance Improvements

Testing and CI Improvements

• Enabled Ghost-CLI tests for v2->v3 upgrade
• Moved Ghost-CLI tests to main testing workflow to keep all testing in one place
• Enabled Ghost-CLI testing on Renovate branches
• Enabled FORCE_COLOR for CI tests

Code Improvements

• Swapped reduce for a plain loop in email replacement handling for easier readability
• Updated eslint-plugin-ghost and fixed linting errors

Impact Summary

Ghost 3.13.4 significantly enhances the email newsletter functionality with personalization features that allow content creators to create more engaging, personalized content for their audience. The addition of dynamic content replacements like {first_name} with fallback options makes newsletters more personal and professional.

Several important bug fixes address issues with structured metadata for images, tag taxonomy redirects, and spam prevention for private sites. These fixes improve the overall stability and user experience of the platform.

The email preview functionality has been improved to accurately show how personalized content will appear to recipients, including email-only card content and proper replacement of variables with fallback values.

For developers, the release includes multiple dependency updates and improvements to the testing infrastructure, making the codebase more robust and maintainable.

Overall, this release focuses on enhancing the email functionality of Ghost while fixing several important bugs, resulting in a more stable and feature-rich publishing platform.

Full Release Notes