Ghost Release: 3.31.0

TL;DR

Ghost 3.31.0 introduces significant improvements to the member management system, particularly for subscription handling. Site owners can now edit member subscriptions directly from the admin interface, including cancellation capabilities. This release also fixes several critical bugs affecting member data handling, email display in Outlook, and API responses. These changes enhance both the admin experience and member communication reliability.

Highlight of the Release

• New admin endpoint for editing member subscriptions
• Added subscription cancellation button to member page
• Fixed bookmark card display in member emails for Outlook users
• Fixed member data handling for created_at and subscribed fields
• Added newsletter customization options via configuration

Migration Guide

No migration steps are required for this release. The new features and bug fixes are available immediately after upgrading.

If you want to take advantage of the new newsletter customization options, you can add the following to your Ghost configuration:

members: {
  emailTemplate: {
    showSiteHeader: true, // or false to hide site header in emails
    showPoweredBy: false // or true to show "Publish with Ghost" in email footer
  }
}

Upgrade Recommendations

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

• Manage paid memberships with Stripe integration
• Need better control over member subscriptions
• Have experienced issues with member data handling
• Have members who use Outlook for email

The upgrade provides important fixes for member management and improves the overall reliability of the membership system. There are no breaking changes, making this a safe upgrade for all installations.

Bug Fixes

Member Management Fixes

• Fixed issue preventing deletion of members when Stripe is connected
• Fixed ignored created_at and subscribed fields in Members API when:
  • Adding new members through POST /members API
  • Importing members with CSV importer via POST /members/upload API
  • Updating members with PUT /members/:id API

Email and API Fixes

• Fixed bookmark card display in member emails when using Outlook email client
• Fixed response format for members API update endpoint, ensuring complete member data is returned
• Fixed email newsletter error that occurred when a post has no content

New Features

Member Subscription Management

• Subscription Editing Endpoint: Added new editSubscription endpoint for the members admin API that allows updating individual subscriptions for members via PUT /members/:id/subscriptions/:subscription_id/
• Cancellation Toggle: Admins can now toggle cancellation at period end for active subscriptions
• Subscription Cancellation UI: Added a subscription cancellation button to the member page in the admin interface

Newsletter Customization

• Added members:emailTemplate configuration options:
  • showSiteHeader - Controls visibility of site title and icon in member emails (defaults to true)
  • showPoweredBy - Adds a "Publish with Ghost" button to member email footer (defaults to false)
• Updated member newsletter email template to support these new configuration options

Security Updates

No security fixes were mentioned in this release.

Performance Improvements

No specific performance improvements were mentioned in this release.

Impact Summary

Ghost 3.31.0 significantly enhances the membership management capabilities of the platform. The addition of subscription editing features gives site owners more control over member subscriptions, allowing for better customer service and subscription management.

The bug fixes address several important issues that affected member data integrity, email display, and API functionality. These improvements ensure that member data is correctly stored and managed, emails display properly across different email clients, and API responses contain complete information.

The new newsletter customization options provide more flexibility in branding member emails, allowing site owners to control the visibility of site headers and "powered by" messaging.

Overall, this release strengthens Ghost's membership capabilities, improves reliability, and enhances the admin experience for managing members and their subscriptions.

Full Release Notes