Ghost hosting

Non-Profit, Open-Source, and Forward-Thinking

Ghost was launched in 2013, which makes it new enough to be based upon currently evolving technologies as the Internet migrates to HTML5 from older, outdated web standards while yet having a couple years of field testing under its belt to work out the kinks between what looks good in conceptual design and what actually works in practical use. Its relative youth has given it an advantage in being able to incorporate commonly desired blog features such as search engine optimization and social media integration into its core source code rather than adding extra layers of management to handle them as plugins. Additionally, its foundation in Javascript makes it more agile and extensible, meaning it has more ability to innovate and respond to changing conditions and users' needs, than older blogging platforms that are based on more cumbersome PHP coding instead.

Another notable distinction is that Ghost is run as a non-profit, open-source product. It maintains dedicated developers of its own while also remaining completely open to its user community for further input and contribution. Users can even create their own derivative products to work with Ghost code, so while the platform is designed to be simple enough to use without technical skill, there is also a lot of room to explore for those who can benefit from more technical involvement.

The Ghost Advantage

Founder John O'Nolan relates a story about American writer Jack Kerouac that provided much of the inspiration behind the Ghost editor's emphasis on the writing experience. Frustrated with losing momentum every time he had to load a new page in his typewriter, Kerouac started writing on long rolls of teletype paper so that he could keep writing in a continuous flow without being interrupted by his toolset. In doing so, he discovered the change not only allowed him to produce faster but also the quality of his work changed as well, giving his voice a more natural, spontaneous, and human feel. His mind was untapped and freer to flow when he was able to get away from managing his tools during the process, and this is exactly what Ghost was designed to achieve. Its purpose is to serve those who are more interested in writing itself than in managing a web site to display it.

However, this doesn't mean that your site will end up looking second-rate while you're focused on your writing instead. Actually, it is the opposite. Ghost web hosting is meant to help you manage your site so you can still look professional without having to divide your attention and workflow learning extra skillsets that have less relevance and interest to you. Layouts are easy to develop and manage as you go along, and if you don't find stock options for what you need, you can easily import custom themes offered by the user community.

Getting Started With Ghost Hosting

If your main interest and talents lie in writing and not so much in website management or publishing layout, then you will find our Ghost host plans to be easier to learn and more satisfying to build and maintain than just about any other solution. Even if you do have more technical skills, if your main plan is to just set up your layout once and then focus primarily on content afterward, then Ghost is also a superior option. Why have extraneous formatting tools in your workspace if you're not going to be making regular use of them? It makes more sense to optimize for what you will spend the most time doing.

Interested in hosting a different blog solution? Here are some alternatives to Ghost:

• WordPress
• b2evolution
• FlatPress