Ghost Release: 5.41.0

TL;DR

Ghost v5.41.0 introduces significant enhancements to newsletter customization, allowing publishers to personalize email designs with color options for background, borders, and titles. The update also adds file upload support in the Lexical editor, improves post analytics exports, and includes Portal translations for Hungarian, German, Dutch, Mongolian, and Afrikaans. Several bug fixes address issues with link handling, email templates, and metrics reporting.

Highlight of the Release

• Newsletter color customization with options for background, border, and title colors
• File upload support in the Lexical editor for any file type
• Portal translations for Hungarian, German, Dutch, Mongolian, and Afrikaans
• Improved post analytics export functionality
• New Migrate app for self-serve migrations

Migration Guide

No breaking changes were introduced in this release that would require migration steps. The new features like newsletter color customization and file upload support in the Lexical editor are opt-in and don't affect existing functionality.

For developers working with the codebase:

• Note that the email template rendering has been updated with a feature flag to switch between old and new designs
• The newsletter customization data structure has been added to templates
• Several column names in post metrics export have been renamed for clarity

Upgrade Recommendations

This is a feature release that adds valuable enhancements for newsletter publishers and content creators without introducing breaking changes. The upgrade is recommended for all users, especially those who:

1. Use newsletters and want more design customization options
2. Need to upload various file types in the editor
3. Have international audiences and would benefit from the new Portal translations
4. Use post analytics exports regularly

The release includes numerous bug fixes that improve the stability and user experience of Ghost, making it a worthwhile upgrade for all installations.

Bug Fixes

Link Handling Fixes

• Fixed a LinkReplacer bug that was causing broken links on published posts and pages by properly decoding URLs with HTML entities
• Added www.federalreserve.gov to the blockedReferrerDomains list to prevent breaking links to the Federal Reserve website due to query parameter issues

Email Template Fixes

• Fixed the footer of newsletter clicks breaking at certain browser widths by adding extra media queries
• Fixed plaintext formatting for mentions email reports to include all unique mentions in a list format
• Fixed batch sending snapshot date matching that didn't match dates with only one number

Export Functionality Fixes

• Fixed exporting post metrics without email by improving the detection of posts with associated emails
• Fixed snapshots for post stats export e2e-api test by handling the dynamic date in the exported CSV filename
• Renamed several columns in post metrics export for clarity:
  • "newsletter" to "newsletter_name"
  • "paid_signups" to "paid_conversions"
  • "reacted_with_more/less_like_this" to "feedback_more/less_like_this"

Other Fixes

• Fixed self-serve API key type that had an incorrect type assigned
• Fixed admin coverage reporting by pinning the version of ember-cli-code-coverage
• Fixed prevention of git submodules from being committed

New Features

Newsletter Color Customization

Ghost now offers enhanced newsletter customization options, allowing publishers to personalize their email designs with color settings. You can now customize:

• Background color (light/dark)
• Border color (with option for no border)
• Title color (with auto option that adapts to background)

The color picker UI provides both preset swatches and custom color selection with a color wheel.

File Upload Support in Lexical Editor

The Lexical editor now supports a generic "file" type for uploading any non-specific file type. This bypasses validation when a file gets uploaded, making it more flexible for various content needs.

Portal Translations

Portal now supports multiple new languages:

• Hungarian
• German
• Dutch
• Mongolian
• Afrikaans

Post Analytics Export

A new UI for post analytics export has been added to Settings > Analytics, making it easier to access and export post metrics data.

Migrate App

A new Migrate app has been added with UI for self-serve migrations, simplifying the migration process.

Security Updates

No significant security fixes were mentioned in this release.

Performance Improvements

Testing and Error Logging

• Added 100% unit test coverage for PostsExporter
• Added E2E tests for post export endpoint
• Set the log level for test environments to log errors, significantly reducing the number of error logs in test suites
• Replaced environment variable with config option for enabling developer experiments in browser-based tests

Email Template Rendering

• Improved email template rendering by moving inline Koenig styles to dedicated style files
• Removed caching of the render function to allow dynamic switching between old and new email designs without requiring a restart

Impact Summary

Ghost v5.41.0 significantly enhances the newsletter experience with customizable colors for background, borders, and titles, giving publishers more control over their email designs. Content creators benefit from expanded file upload capabilities in the Lexical editor and improved analytics exports. International users will appreciate the addition of five new language options for Portal.

The release addresses several important bugs, particularly in link handling and email templates, which improves the reliability of published content and email communications. Developers gain from better testing tools, error logging, and the new Migrate app for self-serve migrations.

Overall, this update focuses on enhancing customization options, expanding language support, and improving the stability of core features without introducing breaking changes, making it a solid upgrade for all Ghost users.

Full Release Notes