Ghost Release: 5.30.0

TL;DR

Ghost 5.30.0: Enhanced Email Management & Member Filtering

Ghost 5.30.0 brings significant improvements to email delivery with a new suppressions feature that automatically manages bounced emails and spam complaints, helping to maintain healthy delivery rates. Publishers can now filter members by redeemed offers, test newsletters with specific templates, and enjoy improved Portal functionality. This release also fixes several bugs including dark mode feedback buttons and Azure MySQL connection issues.

Highlight of the Release

• New email suppressions feature automatically manages bounced emails and spam complaints
• Filter members by which offer they redeemed when subscribing
• Send test emails with specific newsletter templates
• Improved mobile experience for post feedback popups

Migration Guide

Removed {{lang}} Helper

The {{lang}} helper has been completely removed in this version. This helper was already deprecated since Ghost 5.0, and when used in themes with 5.x backend, it would output empty content. Theme developers should ensure they are not using this helper in their themes.

Email Stability Flag

The email stability flag has been bumped to beta status, which means it can now be enabled without requiring developer experiments to be turned on. This is part of the gradual rollout of the new email system.

Upgrade Recommendations

This upgrade is recommended for all users, especially those who rely heavily on newsletters and email functionality. The improvements to email delivery rates and suppression handling will benefit all newsletter publishers.

For sites experiencing issues with Azure MySQL DB connections, this update includes a critical fix that resolves ECONNRESET errors.

Theme developers should check their themes for any usage of the now-removed {{lang}} helper and update accordingly.

As always, make a backup of your database and files before upgrading.

Bug Fixes

Email and Newsletter Fixes

• Fixed storing email recipient failures that previously only stored one failure in the database
• Fixed variable date formatting in the new email flow to consistently use DD MMM YYYY format
• Fixed a bug where more than 2 authors were displayed as 'undefined & 2 others' in emails
• Removed the possibility to use {uuid} replacements in email content for security reasons
• Fixed Portal failure when opening email preferences for logged-out members

UI and Display Fixes

• Fixed feedback buttons for dark mode
• Fixed hidden free tier in Portal settings when Stripe connection is disconnected
• Improved mobile popup interface for post feedbacks to be more thumb-friendly
• Removed www prefix from newsletter link table for cleaner display
• Fixed error message display bug in video card

Technical Fixes

• Fixed ECONNRESET error when connecting to Azure MySQL DB by updating the mysql2 package
• Fixed TypeError in filter-value that sometimes occurred when setting filters from URL parameters

New Features

Email Suppressions Management

Ghost now automatically unsubscribes members from newsletters when their email is added to the suppression list in Mailgun. This typically happens when emails permanently bounce or when members make spam complaints. Both members and administrators can see when an email has been added to the suppression list, and members can request removal via Portal. This feature helps improve overall newsletter delivery rates and maintains the domain's sending reputation.

Redeemed Offers Filtering

Publishers can now filter members based on which offer they redeemed when subscribing to a paid membership. On the offers page, the redemption count number links directly to the members page with the filter pre-applied, making it easy to gain insights into which members used specific offers or coupons.

Test Emails with Chosen Newsletter Templates

Publishers can now send test emails using specific newsletter templates. This allows for better testing and previewing of different newsletter designs before sending them to subscribers.

Improved Portal Functionality

Several improvements have been made to the Portal experience, including better handling of email preferences for logged-out members and fixing issues with hidden free tiers when Stripe is disconnected.

Security Updates

• Updated dependency luxon to v3.2.1 to address security vulnerabilities
• Removed the ability to use {uuid} replacements in email content, which was not intended for general use outside of internal features like link click tracking and feedback buttons

Performance Improvements

Email Delivery Improvements

The new suppressions feature significantly improves email delivery performance by automatically managing bounced emails and spam complaints. This helps maintain a healthy sending reputation for your domain and ensures better delivery rates for your newsletters.

Testing and Coverage

Several components now have 100% test coverage, including:

• BatchSendingService
• EmailEventStorage
• SendingService
• Email renderer

The email-service package is now fully covered by tests, and this release enforces 100% test coverage for future changes, which will help maintain code quality and prevent regressions.

Impact Summary

Ghost 5.30.0 significantly enhances email management capabilities with the introduction of automatic suppression handling, which will help maintain healthy delivery rates for newsletters. Publishers gain more insights with the ability to filter members by redeemed offers, and can better test their newsletters with template-specific test emails.

The release addresses several important bugs, including Azure MySQL connection issues and dark mode feedback button display problems. It also improves the mobile experience for post feedback popups and fixes Portal functionality for logged-out members.

For theme developers, the complete removal of the previously deprecated {{lang}} helper requires attention to ensure themes remain compatible.

Overall, this release focuses on improving email delivery reliability, enhancing member management capabilities, and fixing various UI and technical issues to provide a more stable and feature-rich publishing platform.

Full Release Notes