Anyone tried Ghost?

[nixnerd]

I’m looking for a new blogging platform for my personal site. I say blogging platform because I don’t need a CMS. I thought I did but I don’t. I simply will not be changing the VAST majority of the content very often. Plus, why add another layer of complexity and abstraction that will only slow performance for no reason?

I’ve come to the conclusion that I just need a blogging platform. That is it. I’m looking for something that I can plug into a static site and it will just work. Ghost looks really attractive but I wonder how hard it is to theme. It needs to look exactly like the rest of my site.

Thoughts? Have you tried Ghost? Did you like it? How hard is it to theme?

Also, I know some people on these forums use Kirby. I’m not interested in paying for a blogging tool. Also, I would prefer open source. And lastly, I don’t want to deal with PHP for this project and node.js intrigues me. That’s why Ghost might be the way I need to go.

But again… I’m open to suggestions!

[Alen]

I personally prefer to own my content, so I’m in the middle of process developing personal “blog” using Laravel / AngularJS… PHP framework might be overkill but I’m learning APIs and etc., so there’s that. Ghost seems legit, but I’m not a fan of posting to ‘platforms’. So my advice is little skewed.

If you’re into Node check out http://www.nodeframework.com, you might also try some static site generators.

Or if you’re still undecided, think of it this way:

What do you need to know right now that would make you developer you want to be? Put that at the top priority and start doing… don’t get hang up on the tech, just do. So for example, if at your current job, or in your personal development, you need to learn Kirby… choose that, and go with it. Don’t contemplate too much. The important thing is what you have to say while sharing it with the world. Underlying tech is just that some tech mambo-jumbo…

[nixnerd]

Ghost seems legit, but I’m not a fan of posting to ‘platforms’. So my advice is little skewed.

Me neither. That’s one of the only things I didn’t like is that you have to have an account and all that nonsense. I would prefer to have full control over everything.

The only thing I care about is lightweightedness… if that’s a word. Anything beyond that is negotiable. Being that this is a personal project, I’d prefer to not work with PHP simply because I don’t derive any joy from it.

I suppose the #1 thing that would make me the developer I want to be is a more comprehensive understanding of Django. Therefore, I should probably use that.

We talked on another thread about using Django (the framework, NOT Django CMS) to sort of hack together a homebrew CMS of sorts. Obviously, it doesn’t have the bells and whistles of a CMS but it allows you to create sort of a scaffold for managing content. I should probably start there.

Learning more Python is #1 on my list.

[Alen]

it doesn’t have the bells and whistles of a CMS but it allows you to create sort of a scaffold for managing content.

That’s basically where I’m at with my project, just a place to manage content, no special tagging, and all that non-sense. Just simple CRUD, user authentication stuff, and API for AngularJS.

Small and simple.

[nixnerd]

Nice! I’m going to explore that route. The benefit of that is that it will be EXACTLY what I need and nothing more. Plus… I’ll learn in the process.

[nixnerd]

I would like to maybe create a directory locally that I’ve setup to automatically git commit/push. I could write a script in Python that detects new files and automatically puts them on my site. Then, I would just have to somehow parse the markdown and BOOM! Ghetto CMS straight from my desktop!

Just for learning purposes, I could write a Python utility to parse what I will call “Joe Flavored Markdown” and turn it into beautiful markup.

[nixnerd]

I would like to maybe create a directory locally that I’ve setup to automatically git commit/push. I could write a script in Python that detects new files and automatically puts them on my site.

I can’t believe I didn’t think of this before now.

[Alen]

I can’t believe I didn’t think of this before now.

I think it’s a great idea, but very low on priority list IMO. To me that’s just the convenience thing. It’s not necessarily part of the thing that you are trying to build. I would put that on my backlog and complete it after some of the more pressing things.

Python -> Markdown

I know with Composer (PHP) you can pull in packages that get integrated into your project easily. So there are tools already that do the conversion, no need to reinvent the wheel. Not sure what Python offers. After quick Google, https://pypi.python.org/pypi/Markdown

[nixnerd]

I did a quick search on Github and found all kinds of utilities that already do all this stuff. I could probably snap it together like Legos in a few hours.

[nixnerd]

I think it’s a great idea, but very low on priority list IMO.

I would normally agree. However, I’m working on an embedded Linux project where I will need my device to automatically git-commit/push to a website every time a new photo is taken. A Shell/Python scripts seems like the most sensible way to go about this.

Therefore, learning to do basically the same thing for my blog and building the infrastructure could be profitable.

That being said… looks like there’s already a ton of projects that do this that I can piece together.

[Alen]

I’m working on an embedded Linux project

That sounds very interesting.

[nixnerd]

That sounds very interesting.

It’s fun. There’s no question about that. Can’t wait to get my hardware hack on tonight!

[Joe]

Ive tried Ghost – it’s ok, it’s a bit of a faff to set up if you aren’t used to running NodeJS and it’s very basic at the moment. I still personally think WordPress is the best blogging platform – yes it may be overkill but you can strip it down very easily and you know there’s a good community behind it.

[nixnerd]

I really think I’m going to rig together my own CMS/blogging platform.

For my very specific needs on this one project… it will be perfect.

For all others, I’ll probably just use WordPress. But, when I think about the amount of features WordPress has and the amount that I use… it’s really not worth it for my personal projects. It’s WAY overkill.

Plus, it really doesn’t go with my computing philosophy in general. Just feels forced for me.

[Joe]

May be overkill but it will also take a shed load of time to make your own. If you do make your own it’s probably a good idea to start with one of the PHP frameworks like cake.

[Author]

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