How to Host a Website with Ghost CMS on Ubuntu 22.04

Introduction

In this guide, I will walk you through how to configure Ghost on Ubuntu in the best way possible. In a previous article, we learned how to install Ghost on Ubuntu. Ghost CMS is a wonderful blogging platform, but it is a bit complicated due to JavaScript and NodeJS. I am using Ubuntu 22.04 LTS while writing this guide.

Prerequisites

You will need to have ghost installed on your server or local environment first. To install Ghost CMS, you should first install the following packages.

$ sudo apt install node

$ sudo apt install npm

$ sudo apt install mysql

After that install Ghost globally

$ sudo npm install ghost-cli@latest -g

At this point, you are all set to access the Ghost instance.

Accessing Ghost CMS

Apply the following command to access your Ghost instance if it is offline:

$ ghost start

As you have already installed Ghost on your Ubuntu server, you can access it via browser. We will figure out how to make the dashboard better and integrate it with other services in this tutorial.

Once accessed in browser and logged in click on More button to access the settings in sidebar as shown below:

Settings Dashboard

You will have the opportunity to update the following four sections and a lot more.

Step 1. General Settings

In general settings, you can update metadata, Twitter, and Facebook cards for better search engine rankings.

Metadata Example

When you expand the settings, it will look like as same as shown in the following screenshot. You can set and update available data as you like.

Step 2. Brand Settings

In the branding section, you will update all about your appearance. It includes publication cover, logo, and primary link colours.

Step 3. Theme Settings

In the themes section, you can update, upload, and preview new themes. Ghost CMS supports handlebar themes that can easily be developed. Ghost marketplace has an abundance of themes to use.

Step 4. Menubar Setting

In our final step, I am going to update the navigation of our publication. It is simple and easy to get done. Go back to main settings, click on

Navigate and update any available link as you like.

Conclusion

In our guide, we went through a thorough review of Ghost CMS’s advanced configuration after installation. We looked at how to edit and update certain settings, so the publication looks unique. If you have any confusion, we welcome you to share your feedback in the comments section.