Ghost Release: 5.108.1

TL;DR

Ghost v5.108.1 introduces important security measures to block spammy email domains during member signups, along with several critical bug fixes. The update addresses UI issues with tags and authors in the editor, fixes newsletter rendering in Portal Email Preferences, and resolves database performance degradation when using Post Analytics. The release also includes significant improvements to ActivityPub design, reading progress indicators, and note display in feeds.

Highlight of the Release

• Added email domain blocking capability to prevent spam signups
• Fixed UI issues with tags and authors input fields in the editor
• Resolved newsletter rendering issues in Portal Email Preferences
• Fixed database performance degradation with Post Analytics
• Improved ActivityPub design with consistent styling
• Added truncation and 'Show more' button for long notes

Migration Guide

No specific migration steps are required for this update. The new email domain blocking feature is optional and can be configured as needed.

If you've been experiencing performance issues with Post Analytics, this update should automatically resolve those problems without requiring any configuration changes.

The new blocked_email_domains database setting is added automatically through migration, with an empty array as the default value.

Upgrade Recommendations

This update is highly recommended for all Ghost users, especially for those experiencing:

1. Performance issues when using Post Analytics
2. Problems with newsletter rendering in Portal Email Preferences
3. Difficulties with tag and author input fields in the editor
4. Spam signups from problematic email domains

The security enhancements and bug fixes in this release address several critical issues that could impact site performance and user experience. The update is backward compatible and should not disrupt existing functionality.

Bug Fixes

Fixed Newsletter Rendering in Portal

Fixed an issue where newsletters would not render in Portal Email Preferences when the Default recipients setting was set to anything other than "Whoever has access to the post". This bug was introduced in v5.106.0 and has been fixed with improved logic that only hides the newsletter list if editor_default_email_recipients is explicitly set to 'disabled'.

Fixed Tag and Author Input Fields

Input fields for tags and authors in the post sidebar were hard to use as they became scrollable after adding more than one line of content. This update makes the input fields grow in size to accommodate the number of tags or authors entered, significantly improving the editing experience.

Fixed Database Performance Issues

Resolved degraded database performance when using the Post Analytics screen. This fix reverts an automatic refresh interval that was causing an increase in requests to the /ghost/api/admin/members/events/ endpoint, which is particularly database-intensive. The change significantly reduces database load for sites with large email_recipients tables.

Fixed Reading Progress Indicator

When an entire article fits into the viewport height, the reading progress indicator previously showed 0%. This has been fixed to correctly display 100% for short articles that don't require scrolling.

Fixed Post Opening from Profile Feed

Fixed an issue where posts would not open when clicked from the profile feed.

New Features

Email Domain Blocking for Spam Prevention

Ghost now includes a powerful spam prevention feature that allows blocking specific email domains during member signups. This helps protect your site from spam accounts by preventing signups from known problematic domains.

• Added a blocklist at the email domain level for free member signups
• Configurable via "spam.blocked_email_domains": ["blocked-domain.com"]
• Added a new database setting: blocked_email_domains (array, default: [])
• Improved error messages when email providers are blocked

Note Display Improvements

• Added truncation for long notes, limiting displayed text to 10 lines
• Added "Show more" button to indicate and access additional content
• Improves feed readability by preventing long notes from dominating the viewport

Updated Article Design on Profiles

• Redesigned article presentation in profiles to be more consistent with the new publishing flow
• Fixed images from Thread notes not showing properly
• Added more useful alt descriptions for better accessibility

Security Updates

Spam Prevention Measures

This release includes important security enhancements to protect Ghost sites from spam:

• Added capability to block specific email domains during free member signups
• Implemented a configurable blocklist at the email domain level
• Added a new database setting (blocked_email_domains) to manage blocked domains
• Improved error messaging when blocked domains attempt to register

These measures help prevent spam accounts from being created on your site, reducing the risk of abuse and protecting your member community.

Performance Improvements

Database Performance Optimization

The update includes a significant performance improvement by reverting an automatic refresh interval on the Post Analytics screen. This change reduces the number of requests to the database-intensive /ghost/api/admin/members/events/ endpoint, resulting in lower database load and better overall performance, especially for sites with large email_recipients tables.

Improved UI Rendering

Several UI components have been optimized for better performance:

• More efficient rendering of notes with truncation
• Improved handling of article design in profiles
• Better management of input fields that dynamically resize

Impact Summary

Ghost v5.108.1 delivers significant improvements across multiple areas of the platform. The addition of email domain blocking provides administrators with a powerful tool to combat spam signups, enhancing site security. Critical bug fixes address UI issues in the editor, fix newsletter rendering problems in Portal, and resolve database performance degradation that was affecting sites with large email recipient tables.

The release also includes thoughtful UX improvements, such as truncation for long notes, better reading progress indicators, and enhanced article design in profiles. These changes collectively create a more polished and performant experience for both content creators and members.

For developers, the update includes infrastructure improvements for the Shade framework and React Router testing in the Post analytics prototype, laying groundwork for future enhancements. The removal of the i18n toggle from labs UI reflects the successful promotion of internationalization to general availability.

Overall, this release balances security enhancements, bug fixes, and user experience improvements that benefit all types of Ghost users.

Full Release Notes