Ghost Release: 5.84.0

TL;DR

Ghost v5.84.0: Enhanced Post Excerpts and Editor Experience

This release introduces significant improvements to how post excerpts are managed and displayed in Ghost. The major highlights include a new beta feature that moves the excerpt field directly into the editor for a more streamlined writing experience, and a newsletter design setting that allows excerpts to be displayed as subtitles in email newsletters. Additionally, several bugs have been fixed, including issues with the Slack integration, internal linking, and Content API performance.

Highlight of the Release

• New beta feature that moves the excerpt field directly into the editor for a more streamlined writing experience
• Added newsletter design setting to display post excerpts as subtitles in email newsletters
• Significant performance improvement for Content API requests with included relations
• Fixed Slack integration to prevent member-only content from appearing in excerpts
• Improved excerpt field with validation, TK support, and better styling

Migration Guide

Migration Notes

• Terminology Change: The feature previously referred to as "subtitle" has been renamed to "excerpt" throughout the codebase to better reflect the underlying property name and align with themes and historical usage.

• Database Changes:

  • Added post_revisions.custom_excerpt column to the schema
  • Renamed the show_subtitle newsletter setting to show_excerpt

• API Changes:

  • The default sort for Content API posts endpoint with included relations has changed slightly. The default sort is now published_at desc with a secondary sort of id desc instead of the previous published_at desc, updated_at desc, id desc. This change should be imperceptible for most use cases.

These changes should not require any action from most users, as they are handled automatically during the upgrade process.

Upgrade Recommendations

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

• Manage newsletters and want more control over how excerpts appear in emails
• Use Ghost as a headless CMS and make heavy use of the Content API with included relations
• Create content and want a more streamlined editing experience with the excerpt field in the editor

The upgrade process should be smooth with no breaking changes. As always, it's recommended to backup your database before upgrading and test the upgrade in a staging environment if possible.

Bug Fixes

• Content API Performance: Fixed default sort for the Content API posts endpoint when including relations, resulting in significant performance improvements for sites with large amounts of data.
• Slack Integration: Fixed an issue where member-only content could appear in excerpts sent to Slack via webhooks. Also ensured that post authors are correctly displayed in Slack notifications.
• Internal Linking: Fixed mailto: links not being recognized in the internal-linking search functionality.
• Browser Compatibility: Replaced Array.at() method with more compatible alternatives for better support in older browsers (e.g., Safari < 15.4).
• Error Handling:
  • Fixed unhandled errors when saving member data fails validations
  • Improved error messages when fetching resources fails
  • Fixed ember concurrency cancellation errors that were being unnecessarily surfaced
  • Updated error message shown when trying to overwrite a default theme to follow writing guidelines
• Excerpt Field Issues:
  • Fixed subtitle not fully collapsing for auto-expansion due to CSS min-height conflicts
  • Fixed subtitle error state being sticky after edits
  • Fixed unwanted period being added to the end of subtitle in newsletters

New Features

Post Excerpt Management Improvements

• In-Editor Excerpt Field (Beta): A new beta feature toggle in Labs settings that moves the excerpt input field directly below the post title in the editor, creating a more streamlined writing experience.
• Newsletter Excerpt Display: Added a newsletter design setting that allows post excerpts to be displayed as subtitles in email newsletters.
• TK Support for Excerpts: Added TK notation support to the excerpt field, matching the functionality available in the title field. Excerpts with TK markers will be included in pre-publish TK checks.
• Post Revision Support for Excerpts: Added custom excerpt data to post revisions, allowing users to preview and restore excerpts when viewing or restoring previous versions of posts.
• Event Tracking for Feature Toggles: Added tracking for feature toggle usage to better understand feature adoption.

UI Improvements

• Improved Excerpt Field Styling: Adjusted excerpt font sizing to better harmonize with body font and improved error message placement.
• Better Cursor Movement: Fixed cursor movement across title, excerpt, and editor to match previous behavior when navigating with arrow keys, Tab, and Enter.
• Refined Newsletter Typography: Updated the subtitle/excerpt style in newsletters to connect with the title style rather than body style for better visual consistency.

Security Updates

No specific security fixes were included in this release.

Performance Improvements

• Content API Optimization: Significantly improved performance for Content API requests that include relations. This change particularly benefits sites with large amounts of data, especially those using Ghost as a headless CMS or using theme {{#get}} helpers with includes.

• Task Execution Management: Fixed ember concurrency cancellation errors by properly handling task cancellations, preventing unnecessary error surfacing when multiple executions of the same task are attempted.

Impact Summary

Ghost v5.84.0 brings significant improvements to the content creation workflow by introducing a more integrated approach to managing post excerpts. The new beta feature that moves the excerpt field directly into the editor creates a more cohesive writing experience, while the ability to display excerpts as subtitles in newsletters provides publishers with enhanced formatting options.

Performance improvements to the Content API will be particularly valuable for sites with large amounts of content or those using Ghost as a headless CMS. The fix ensures faster response times when including related data in API requests.

The various bug fixes address issues across different areas of the platform, from the editor experience to integrations with services like Slack. The terminology standardization from "subtitle" to "excerpt" brings more consistency to the platform's language.

Overall, this release enhances both the content creation experience and the delivery of that content to audiences, while also improving system performance and reliability.

Full Release Notes