Ghost Release: 4.18.0

TL;DR

Ghost v4.18.0 introduces email-only posts as a general availability feature, allowing publishers to send newsletter content that doesn't appear publicly on their site. This release also includes significant internal refactoring, replacing the deprecated i18n package with the tpl package across the codebase, and adds groundwork for a new Offers feature. Several bugs were fixed, including issues with email scheduling, alert notifications, and UI improvements.

Highlight of the Release

• Email-only posts promoted to general availability - send newsletter content without publishing it on your site
• Fixed issue where scheduling email-only posts would send them immediately
• Alert notifications now only sent to active users
• Extensive internal refactoring replacing deprecated i18n package with tpl package
• Groundwork for upcoming Offers feature with new models and API endpoints

Migration Guide

Email-only Posts

Email-only posts are now generally available and no longer require any feature flags to be enabled. If you were previously using this feature with the experimental flag, your existing email-only posts will continue to work as before.

i18n to tpl Migration

This release includes extensive internal refactoring, replacing the deprecated i18n package with the tpl package. If you've built custom code that extends Ghost and uses the i18n package, you should update your code to use the tpl package instead.

Theme Settings

If you're a theme developer who uses custom theme settings, this release includes fixes for inconsistent theme settings state when toggling the customThemeSettings labs flag. Your theme will now be properly re-activated when this flag is toggled, ensuring settings are correctly included or excluded based on the flag value.

Upgrade Recommendations

This is a recommended upgrade for all Ghost users, especially those who use email newsletters. The release includes important bug fixes for email scheduling and notification delivery, as well as making the email-only posts feature generally available without requiring feature flags.

The upgrade process should be straightforward with no breaking changes for most users. Theme developers and those who have built custom extensions to Ghost should review the migration guide for information about the i18n to tpl transition.

Bug Fixes

Email and Notification Fixes

• Fixed issue where email-only posts would send immediately when scheduled instead of at the scheduled time
• Fixed alert notifications being sent to non-active users
• Fixed 404 error when email-only posts have been enabled
• Fixed "reschedule" option appearing in Post Settings Menu after a post is already sent

UI and Template Improvements

• Fixed copy-to-clipboard buttons in Chrome and Firefox
• Updated newsletter emails template to use accent color as links in post content
• Fixed typo in default About page
• Updated text in unsubscribe.hbs template

Other Fixes

• Fixed inconsistent theme settings state after toggling customThemeSettings labs flag
• Fixed errors when syncing theme settings
• Fixed Stripe Checkout for Offers with monthly cadence

New Features

Email-only Posts Now Generally Available

Email-only posts have been promoted from an experimental feature to general availability. This feature allows publishers to create posts that are sent only as email newsletters and are not publicly visible on the website. The posts are still accessible via a direct, undiscoverable URL (similar to preview posts), but they don't appear in any public feeds or listings.

Groundwork for Offers Feature

This release includes significant backend work for an upcoming Offers feature:

• Added model for offers table
• Created Offers service with initial API endpoints
• Added support for Offers with Stripe Checkout
• Implemented support for fixed-amount & forever Offers
• Added support for repeating Offers for monthly cadence
• Wired up Offer redirects to the site app

Security Updates

No specific security fixes were included in this release.

Performance Improvements

Database Optimization

• Optimized database integrity check during boot process
  • Reduced the number of database queries from 79 to 1 by grouping together database entries
  • This results in faster startup times for Ghost instances

Impact Summary

Ghost v4.18.0 significantly enhances the newsletter capabilities of the platform by promoting email-only posts to general availability. This feature allows publishers to create content exclusively for their email subscribers without publishing it on their website, providing more flexibility in content distribution strategies.

The release also includes important bug fixes for email scheduling and notification delivery, ensuring a more reliable experience for both publishers and administrators. The extensive internal refactoring replacing the deprecated i18n package with the tpl package improves code maintainability and sets the foundation for future enhancements.

Additionally, the groundwork laid for the upcoming Offers feature suggests that Ghost will soon provide more advanced monetization options for publishers. The database optimization improvements will result in faster startup times, particularly beneficial for larger Ghost installations.

Full Release Notes