Ghost Release: 5.53.0

TL;DR

Ghost v5.53.0 introduces the new signup card feature in the beta editor, allowing content creators to embed customizable signup forms directly within their posts. This release also includes several UI improvements, bug fixes for newsletter duplication, revision handling, and accessibility enhancements. The update focuses on improving the content creation experience while addressing critical issues that affected publishing workflows.

Highlight of the Release

• New signup card feature in the beta editor
• Improved copy for page and post revisions
• Fixed newsletter post duplication issues
• Better handling of draft pages with forced revisions
• Enhanced accessibility for signup form success messages

Migration Guide

No migration steps are required for this update. The new features are available immediately after updating, with the signup card being accessible in the beta editor.

For those using the beta editor, the signup card will appear as a new card option when adding content to posts.

Upgrade Recommendations

This update is recommended for all Ghost users, particularly those who:

1. Use the beta editor and want access to the new signup card feature
2. Have experienced issues with newsletter post duplication
3. Have encountered problems with draft pages not saving properly with forced revisions
4. Have seen incorrect free trial messages in the portal

The update includes important bug fixes that improve the reliability of core publishing workflows, making it a valuable upgrade for most Ghost installations.

Bug Fixes

• Newsletter Post Duplication: Fixed an issue where duplicating a newsletter (email-only post) would erroneously copy over fields related to the newsletter (like newsletter_id). This caused the duplicated post to appear as if it had already been sent to subscribers when it hadn't.

• Draft Pages and Forced Revisions: Resolved a problem where draft pages weren't saving properly when forced revisions were enabled. This was caused by a missing option in the API endpoint configuration.

• Revision Save Reverting Published Posts: Fixed a critical issue where the revision save task could revert a newly published post back to draft status. The system now performs an additional check during task execution to ensure it's still appropriate to save a revision.

• Portal Free Trial Message: Corrected an issue where the portal free trial message was incorrectly showing when users were signing up for free plans. This was happening because the pageQuery wasn't being properly passed down the call stack to getSiteProducts.

• Unicode File Uploads: Improved handling of BOM (Byte Order Mark) characters in Unicode encoded file uploads, preventing potential issues when processing these files.

New Features

Signup Card in Beta Editor

The most significant addition in this release is the new signup card feature in the beta editor. Content creators can now embed customizable signup forms directly within their posts, making it easier to convert readers into subscribers at the most relevant points in their content.

The signup card allows for:

• Embedding signup forms anywhere within post content
• Customizing the appearance and messaging
• Creating more targeted conversion opportunities

This feature is part of the ongoing improvements to the Lexical editor beta, which aims to provide a better writing experience with more powerful content creation tools.

Security Updates

No specific security fixes were mentioned in this release.

Performance Improvements

No specific performance improvements were highlighted in this release. The focus appears to be on new features, bug fixes, and UI enhancements rather than performance optimizations.

Impact Summary

Ghost v5.53.0 delivers significant improvements to the content creation experience with the introduction of the signup card in the beta editor. This feature empowers publishers to grow their audience by strategically placing signup forms within their content.

The release also addresses several critical bugs that affected publishing workflows, particularly around revisions and newsletter functionality. These fixes ensure more reliable operation when working with drafts, revisions, and newsletter posts.

UI improvements to copy and messaging throughout the system enhance the user experience for both administrators and readers, while accessibility fixes ensure the platform remains usable for all visitors.

Overall, this update strengthens Ghost's capabilities as a professional publishing platform while fixing important issues that could impact content workflows.

Full Release Notes