Ghost CMS vs Wordpress

Ghost is a CMS (Content Management System) that is gaining popularity amongst webmasters. Ghost was launched in 2013 and is written in Javascript and based on node.js framework and uses SQLite3 for the database. What this means is that Ghost cms is very fast for performance and the software itself is very very light. Ghost was founded by John O'Nolan whom was working on Wordpress on the user interface aspects of the software. He came up with an idea of a simple CMS that was light and not as cluttered as Wordpress has become. So should you consider using Ghost for your next website? Of course that always depends on your needs.

The more customization you need for your website, the more likely you won't want or need Ghost. You can at least consider using Ghost for the blogging part of your website if you have a more data driven website that uses features like geo targeting for example. Many webmasters use Wordpress for the basics of blog posts and pages and if this is all you need to do, Ghost can do the same as well.

Markdown Editor

Most of us webmasters are used to the standard WYSIWYG editors that include the kitchen sink. Without a doubt they work but leave it to geeks to try to make a better interface for writing and editing, and I think they have done that. So if you have heard of Markdown then this is what it is, it's a simpler way of writing and editing where rather than highlighting text and clicking to make it a link, bold or manually coding html, you can replace all of that with a few basic keystrokes. You can learn more about Markdown here at http://support.ghost.org/markdown-guide/

Ghost vs Wordpress Summary

If you are comfortable working with Wordpress then you might not need to change anything. Ghost has it's pros and cons and the 2 big takeaways for choosing Ghost over Wordpress is speed and security. Now just using Ghost isn't automatically making your site more secure but you are indirectly blocking exploits that Wordpress is getting known for. The problem is that with Wordpress being the #1 CMS, it's the #1 target as well for hackers and as soon as you add in more features, more plugins and make it bigger, there are just more ways to break into the system. Wordpress is great for customization and support so if you need themes, free themes, plugins, Wordpress just has the most options and dedicated developers. That said many believe Ghost is the next big CMS. If your blogging needs are simple then Ghost wins on being faster, a bit more secure and overall I'd call it a simpler CMS where I'd have an easier time teaching a newbie to use it for the first time over Wordpress. Sometimes by having less choices that you have with Wordpress, less is more.

When you look under the hood and inspect the files of a ghost template, it is a lot easier to follow than Wordpress. Maybe you'll have less free templates to choose from but the ones you will find usually have a simple interface.

Ghost.org Hostings vs DigitalOcean

If you are making the choice to try out Ghost you have a few options where you can download the site and install it but keep in mind your average hosting company might not be setup for node.js. You can use Ghost.org's hosting which at the moment is $19/month for a single site the process of signing up is very easy. If you are a bit computer savvy then you might want to consider using another host and setting up Ghost on your own where you can do that on digitalocean.com using a $5/month droplet. I helped setup gambleinsider.com on Ghost and the installation process was fairly quick. It just required configuring the dns settings and connecting Mailgun.

Visit ghost.org if you want to learn more or get started. That's it for our KickStartMonday so enjoy your week filled without Pokemon Go.

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