Ghost Release: 5.40.0

TL;DR

Ghost 5.40.0 introduces three major features to enhance newsletter functionality: subscription details display, latest posts section, and milestone emails for member engagement. The update also fixes critical issues with link tracking in newsletters, UI bugs in email recipient selection, and editor navigation problems. These improvements give publishers more tools to create engaging newsletters and provide subscribers with better information about their membership status.

Highlight of the Release

• Added subscription details display in newsletters showing membership status and expiry dates
• Added latest posts section to newsletters to showcase recent content
• Introduced milestone emails to celebrate member achievements
• Fixed broken link tracking in newsletters that was causing certain links to break
• Fixed UI bug when choosing email recipients that prevented deselecting all recipients
• Fixed editor navigation issues when opening new posts from analytics

Migration Guide

Latest Posts in Newsletters

The latest posts feature is enabled by default but can be toggled on/off for each newsletter. To manage this setting:

1. Go to the Newsletter settings
2. Find the "Show latest posts" toggle
3. Enable or disable as desired for each newsletter

Subscription Details in Newsletters

The subscription details feature is enabled by default. To manage this setting:

1. Go to the Newsletter settings
2. Find the "Show subscription details" toggle
3. Enable or disable as desired for each newsletter

Milestone Emails

Milestone emails are now generally available. Members can control whether they receive these emails:

1. Members can manage their notification preferences through their account settings
2. The "Milestone notifications" toggle allows them to opt in or out of these celebratory emails

No additional configuration is required from administrators as this feature is ready to use out of the box.

Upgrade Recommendations

This release includes significant enhancements to newsletter functionality and fixes several important bugs. We recommend all Ghost users upgrade to v5.40.0 to take advantage of these improvements.

The upgrade should be straightforward with no breaking changes reported. As always, it's recommended to:

1. Back up your database before upgrading
2. Test the new features in a staging environment if possible
3. Schedule the upgrade during a low-traffic period

For those using the Ghost(Pro) managed service, the upgrade will be automatically applied.

Bug Fixes

Fixed Broken Link Tracking in Newsletters

Fixed an issue where link tracking in newsletters was breaking certain links. When rendering mobiledoc to HTML, it automatically escapes HTML entities, causing URLs with query parameters to be encoded (e.g., ?code=test became ?code&#x3Dtest). The link tracking system was using these encoded URLs as redirect URLs, causing links to break. This has been fixed by decoding the URLs before storing them as redirect URLs.

Fixed UI Bug When Choosing Email Recipients

Fixed a UI bug that occurred when trying to deselect all recipients for an email. Previously, when deselecting all recipients, the UI would pass null as the filter to publish-options, which would then fallback to the default options (all recipients). This made it impossible to deselect all recipients. The fix ensures that when recipients are explicitly set to null, the UI correctly reflects this choice.

Fixed Broken Editor Breadcrumbs

Fixed an issue where opening a new post from the analytics page would cause incorrect breadcrumb navigation. Previously, the breadcrumbs would point back to Analytics instead of the Posts list view, and going back to Analytics would show analytics for the newly created post (which likely hadn't been published yet). This has been fixed by setting fromAnalytics = false when transitioning to a new Post.

Fixed Email Template Issues in Outlook

Fixed issues with the email template in Outlook where:

• Latest post links couldn't be clicked due to <a> tags wrapping around tables
• Post metadata wouldn't display properly when centered

New Features

Subscription Details in Newsletters

Ghost now allows publishers to display subscription details in newsletters, giving subscribers clear information about their membership status. This feature shows:

• Membership status (free, paid, or trialing)
• Subscription expiry date for paid members
• Member creation date
• Member email address

This helps subscribers stay informed about their membership status directly within the newsletter.

Latest Posts in Newsletters

Publishers can now include a section showcasing the latest posts at the bottom of newsletters. This feature:

• Displays up to three recent posts (excluding the current newsletter post)
• Shows post feature images at 100x100 resolution
• Includes truncated post titles and excerpts
• Adapts layout for mobile and desktop viewing

This helps drive additional traffic to recent content and keeps subscribers engaged with the publication.

Milestone Emails

Ghost now supports automated milestone emails to celebrate member achievements. This feature:

• Sends customized emails for different member milestones
• Allows members to toggle milestone notifications on/off
• Provides professionally designed email templates
• Helps build community and engagement with subscribers

This feature has moved from public beta to general availability in this release.

Security Updates

No significant security fixes were included in this release.

Performance Improvements

Improved Development Workflow

• Migrated from nodemon to native Node --watch for more reliable reloading during development
• Added .eslintcache caching to CI to speed up linting
• Added pre-push hook to run unit tests on changed packages before pushing to main
• Added missing eslint --cache flag to dramatically speed up linting by only checking changed files

Reduced Database Queries

• Added autoRefresh option to edit model method to disable auto-refresh in Bookshelf when not needed
• Disabled model auto-refresh when triggering a webhook, saving an extra SQL query

Impact Summary

Ghost 5.40.0 significantly enhances the newsletter experience for both publishers and subscribers. The addition of subscription details, latest posts sections, and milestone emails provides publishers with powerful new tools to engage their audience and provide valuable information directly within newsletters.

The subscription details feature increases transparency by showing members their current status and expiry dates, potentially reducing support inquiries about subscription status. The latest posts feature helps drive additional traffic to recent content by showcasing it within newsletters. Milestone emails create moments of celebration and connection with members at key points in their membership journey.

Bug fixes for link tracking ensure that all newsletter links work correctly, improving the reader experience and maintaining the effectiveness of link analytics. UI improvements for email recipient selection and editor navigation enhance the content creation workflow.

Overall, this release strengthens Ghost's newsletter capabilities, making it a more powerful tool for publishers to communicate with and engage their audience.

Full Release Notes