Ghost Release: 4.0.0-alpha.2

TL;DR

Ghost 4.0.0-alpha.2 introduces significant infrastructure for member analytics with new event tables and stats endpoints, improved theme management with GitHub installation support, enhanced content rendering with better header ID generation, and various dependency updates. This alpha release focuses on building the foundation for improved member management and analytics in Ghost 4.0.

Highlight of the Release

• New member analytics infrastructure with event tables and stats endpoints
• GitHub theme installation support via Admin API
• Improved header ID generation for better anchor links
• Mobiledoc versioning to maintain rendering consistency across Ghost versions
• Width and height attributes added to image cards for better layout stability

Migration Guide

Migration Notes

1. Settings Structure Change

   • The slack setting has been refactored into separate slack_url and slack_username settings
   • Compatibility is maintained for v3 & canary/v4 Admin APIs, but v2 Admin API will only see the slack setting

2. Mobiledoc Content

   • All existing content will have ghostVersion: '3.0' added to maintain consistent rendering
   • The card-markdown card type is being transformed to markdown
   • HR cards with accidental payloads are being cleaned up

3. URL Transformation

   • All post content URLs are being transformed from absolute to relative format
   • This normalizes data across old and new posts

4. Member Status

   • A new "comped" status has been added for members
   • The members_status_events table now uses from_status and to_status columns instead of a single status column

Upgrade Recommendations

As this is an alpha release (4.0.0-alpha.2), it is not recommended for production environments. This release is intended for testing tooling and migrations only.

If you're a developer or tester interested in the upcoming Ghost 4.0 features, you can install this alpha to provide feedback, but be aware that:

• The release is not fully tested
• Breaking changes may still occur before the final 4.0.0 release
• Data migrations may be refined in future pre-releases

Wait for the stable 4.0.0 release before upgrading production sites.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed inactive themes not loading in the new boot process
• Fixed EADDRINUSE error handling on NodeJS >=13 by using error.code instead of error.errno
• Fixed attempts to stop server that isn't listening
• Fixed incorrect volume delta selection in query for gross volume aggregation
• Updated status population to handle comped member status
• Fixed duplicate migration number issues

New Features

Member Analytics Infrastructure

• Added new database tables to track member events:

  • members_payment_events for tracking payment attempts
  • members_login_events for auditing member logins
  • members_email_change_events for storing email history
  • members_status_events for tracking status changes
  • members_paid_subscription_events for subscription tracking

• Added new stats endpoints for member dashboard:

  • /members/stats/mrr for tracking MRR over time
  • /members/stats/subscribers for tracking subscribers over time
  • /members/stats/gross_volume for tracking gross volume
  • /members/stats/count for tracking member count

Theme Management

• Added ability to install themes directly from GitHub via Admin API
  • New endpoint: admin/canary/themes/install
  • Requires source=github and ref={org}/{repo} parameters

Content Rendering Improvements

• Added mobiledoc.ghostVersion to track content creation version
• Improved header ID auto-generation for better anchor links
• Added width & height attributes to image card HTML output

Configuration Enhancements

• Added portal URL to Ghost configuration
• Refactored "slack" setting into separate slack_url and slack_username settings

Security Updates

No specific security fixes were mentioned in this release.

Performance Improvements

• Improved database schema for member analytics with optimized tables for aggregation queries
• Enhanced data storage with normalized URL handling (transforming absolute URLs to relative)
• Optimized member status tracking with from/to status columns for easier delta calculations

Impact Summary

Ghost 4.0.0-alpha.2 lays the groundwork for significant improvements to member management and analytics. The addition of member event tables and stats endpoints will enable site owners to track important metrics like MRR, subscriber growth, and payment volume over time.

The release also improves content rendering with better header ID generation and image handling, while adding new capabilities like GitHub theme installation. Under the hood, there are important structural changes to settings and content storage that maintain backward compatibility while enabling future improvements.

This alpha release represents a substantial step toward Ghost 4.0's focus on improved membership features, analytics, and developer experience. While not ready for production use, it provides a preview of the powerful new tools coming in the stable release.

Full Release Notes