I have just finished setting up my first Ghost site and all I can say is, “That’s not what I expected”.
Ghost is the new blogging platform that took off like wildfire on KickStarter and after a few short months in in general backer release. (If you backed them you get an early release). And whilst it’s not quite WordPress just yet, there is still hope.
Unfortunately I thought I may be able to run this from one of my current shared platforms but because of the way it is currently running, you need a dedicated VPS (Virtual Private Server) So instead of losing several websites to test this new platform I headed over to Digital Ocean to get a VPS.
The benefits of doing it this way are that you can create a Virtual server for very short time frames. Chances are I don’t want to use this as my main blogging site yet (too infant) so paying for a whole year is madness. They allow you to create servers for a short time, I chose a month for $5.
If you do go via Digital Ocean please use this link Digital Ocean referral
After spending about 4 hours trying various flavours of Linux in multiple locations I eventually fond CentOS in Amsterdam worked the easiest. In fact there is a great guide by @CorbettBarr over at http://ghosted.co/install-ghost-digitalocean/ which basically walks you through the entire process.
If you do decide to try setup Ghost, don’t bother with Node.js version v0.10.19 just stick to v0.10.18. most of my 4 hours were spent troubleshooting a get npm ERR! cb() never called!
So far it’s a great looking and feeling blogging site and I’m enjoying the markdown style of editing but it is just too technical to use right now. WordPress just works, it just updates, and you can just blog. So far I have had to worry about Linux installs, making sure a I have a webserver running and that Ghost doesn’t stop when I close my SSH terminal.
HOWEVER I remember not so long ago WordPress was very young and given time, Ghost may just give them a run for their money IF they can get hosting providers on their side to include One-Click installs and updates are not painful.
All in all, I’m really looking forward to more updates and watching this platform grow.
After reading my post after writing, it is clear that I rely on auto correct and spell checker too much. Ghost is definitely going to need this feature.
Michael is a Technology & Digital Consultant to the Real Estate, Property, Travel and Tourism industies with over 13 Years of leading Technical teams & Programme Management. He has worked with agencies in multiple countries and cities from the UK, New York, Russia, France, Dubai to Australia and South Africa. In his spare time he is a commercial drone pilot that dabbles with Photography & Videography.
