Journal
Notes from an independent studio building Ghost themes.
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Structured data and llms.txt in a Ghost theme
GhostGhost already writes most of the structured data a publication needs. A good theme adds only what Ghost leaves out, mainly breadcrumbs, and takes care not to break what Ghost
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Designing a theme around a writer who doesn’t exist
FrontendFor a newsletter-focused Ghost theme, I wrote a full fake publication with a fake author. That fictional writer broke the grid and forced more honest design decisions.
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Sounding is out.
Build in publicSounding is the third Aftertype theme: a Ghost theme for podcasts, with the episode player at the top of every page and a button to the private Transistor feed.
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Azimuth is out
AzimuthThe second Aftertype theme, for newsletters where the email is the publication and the site is the archive.
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Deriving a Ghost theme palette from one accent color
FrontendGhost gives themes a single accent color, but you can still get a full palette out of it using CSS color-mix() and oklch for hover, border and background states.
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Azimuth, week one
AzimuthThe second theme is for people whose publication is really the email. First notes.
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Northline: notes on the first theme
NorthlineWhy the first Aftertype theme is an editorial theme, and what I decided not to build.
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From 95 to 100: an accessibility pass on a Ghost theme
AccessibilityNorthline shipped at 95 for accessibility. Here is what was actually wrong, what it took to reach 100, and why you should calculate contrast ratios instead of trusting your eyes.
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What Aftertype is
StudioA one-person studio making Ghost themes. This is the journal that goes with it.
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Using the Ghost forum to earn trust before selling themes
Build in publicUsing the Ghost forum as groundwork for a theme studio: picking your questions, avoiding self-promotion, and living with the tension between helping and selling.
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Pricing Northline and Azimuth as a new Ghost studio
Build in publicHow I priced Northline and Azimuth for Aftertype’s launch as an unknown Ghost theme studio, and why copying established makers’ prices felt wrong.
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I started a studio for Ghost themes
Build in publicOn 2 September I registered a company. On 6 September, four days later, the first product went on sale. The company is called Aftertype, it is a one-person studio in Maastricht, and it makes premium themes for Ghost.
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