Ghost Release: 4.1.1

TL;DR

Ghost v4.1.1: Bug Fix Release

This patch release addresses several critical bugs from v4.1.0, including a performance regression, image rendering issues, and URL handling problems. Key fixes include resolving incorrect URL handling in plaintext and excerpts after domain changes, fixing contributor unsuspension issues, and correcting image srcset and sizes attributes. The update also resolves admin redirects for email settings and fixes persistent upgrade notifications.

Highlight of the Release

• Fixed performance regression introduced in v4.1.0
• Corrected URL handling in plaintext and excerpts after domain changes
• Fixed image rendering with proper srcset and sizes attributes
• Resolved persistent upgrade notifications after upgrading to v4.0
• Fixed admin redirects for newsletter/support email updates

Migration Guide

No migration steps are required for this patch release. Simply update to v4.1.1 to receive all the bug fixes and performance improvements.

Upgrade Recommendations

This is a recommended upgrade for all Ghost 4.x users, especially those experiencing:

• Performance issues after upgrading to v4.1.0
• Problems with image rendering
• Issues with URLs in plaintext content after domain changes
• Persistent upgrade notifications
• Problems with contributor management

The update addresses several critical bugs and a performance regression, making it an important patch for maintaining site performance and functionality. As a patch release, the upgrade process should be straightforward with minimal risk.

Bug Fixes

• URL Handling: Fixed plaintext and excerpt fallbacks having incorrect URLs after domain changes. Previously, absolute URLs were being stored in the database rather than __GHOST_URL__ URLs, causing links to reference old domains after URL configuration changes.

• Image Rendering: Resolved issue where images were missing srcset and sizes attributes, affecting responsive image loading.

• Admin Redirects: Fixed redirect URLs for newsletter/support email updates. When site owners updated their email settings, the confirmation link was directing to an outdated admin path due to changes in v4.

• Upgrade Notifications: Fixed persistent upgrade notifications that continued to show even after upgrading to v4.0, caused by notification filtering not properly handling version comparisons.

• User Management: Corrected an issue where contributors couldn't be unsuspended due to incorrect staff limit checks. The system now properly recognizes that contributors don't count toward staff limits.

• Email Templates: Fixed email preheaders by removing member import related content from invite, reset password, and welcome emails.

New Features

No new features were introduced in this patch release. This update focuses exclusively on bug fixes and performance improvements to address issues introduced in v4.1.0.

Security Updates

No security fixes were included in this release.

Performance Improvements

A significant performance regression introduced in v4.1.0 has been fixed. The issue was related to Bookshelf's .format() method being called more frequently than expected:

• The previous implementation misunderstood when Bookshelf calls .format(), which happens not only on save operations but also during fetching and eager loading.
• Since .format() performs heavy operations like parsing and serializing HTML and markdown, this caused unnecessary processing.
• The fix overrides the sync() method in the base model to call a custom .formatOnWrite() method that transforms attributes only during update and insert operations.
• This approach ensures heavy transform operations only occur when writing to the database, not during read operations.

Impact Summary

Ghost v4.1.1 is a maintenance release that addresses several important bugs introduced in v4.1.0. The most significant fix resolves a performance regression that could impact site speed and resource usage. Other fixes improve image rendering, URL handling after domain changes, and administrative functions.

The performance improvement is particularly notable as it fixes a fundamental misunderstanding of how Bookshelf's .format() method works, preventing unnecessary heavy processing during read operations. This should result in better overall performance compared to v4.1.0.

For site owners who have changed their domain, this update ensures that plaintext content and excerpts properly reflect the new domain rather than continuing to reference the old one. This eliminates the need to manually re-save posts to update URLs.

The release also includes several quality-of-life improvements for administrators, such as fixing persistent upgrade notifications and correcting redirect paths after email setting changes.

Full Release Notes