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From an end-user perspective: 1. It's easier to use than WordPress, Drupal etc. That's because it does much less than those platforms on purpose. The WordPress

From an end-user perspective: 1. It's easier to use than WordPress, Drupal etc. That's because it does much less than those platforms on purpose. The WordPress admin area has become a scary place for new users, particularly once they start to add plugins that litter the admin menu with extra entries. 2. The admin area is fast. Moving around feels slick – it is a desktop-like experience; hitting Command+S will save the draft you're working on, for example, rather than bringing up your browser's “Save Page As...” prompt. The Markdown preview is as-you-type, and they use the screen estate very well. It's a comfortable environment to write long posts in, and it hasn't been tacked on as an afterthought, like WordPress' full-screen editing mode. 3. The organisation behind Ghost, the "Ghost Foundation" is a non-profit. It doesn't have investors or shareholders; it is answerable only to its users and funded by those who pay for official Ghost hosting. 4. Pricing for official Ghost hosting is very reasonable ($5/month for 1 blog, $14/month for 5 blogs). 5. Although it's still in development, the proposed Dashboard looks far more useful than competitors. WordPress' Dashboard often looks like a wasteland once a few plugins have been installed – a mish-mash of "Upgrade to the PRO version!" prompts and RSS updates from the WordPress feed. And from a developer perspective: 1. GitHub-based workflow. 2. MIT licence instead of GPL. 3. Less code debt (for now!). 4. Handlebars-based theme templates that enforce separation of presentation and logic. (It will be possible to add custom handlebars tags via the Ghost Apps API in the future for more advanced stuff, but it's already pretty solid.) 5. The official hosted version allows you to upload your own themes (unlike wordpress.com, for example). As a developer and end-user, it's already a more enjoyable experience than competing platforms for simple blogs, and I think by the end of the year – once the app API has launched and developers are adding forum apps and more – it will be a real competitor for more complex sites too.

mcherm 12y ago
Hey, that was actually a pretty clear and detailed answer. Thank you for not treating it as a rhetorical question.
jackpirate 12y ago
I've been looking to switch away from wordpress for awhile, but I don't know of an easy migration path that transfers all my data. Is this possible?
- modernerd 12y ago
  Not at the moment, but there will be an official importer app later this year – it's one of the major items on the roadmap: https://github.com/TryGhost/Ghost/wiki/Roadmap#importer-part-1 https://github.com/TryGhost/Ghost/wiki/Roadmap#importer-part...
dotBen 12y ago
disclosure: I'm a former founder of a successful WordPress hosting platform and spent many years in the WP space. I'll take the opportunity to counter, if I may... 1a. It's easier to use than WordPress, Drupal etc. That's because it does much less than those platforms on purpose. A key stumbling issue with Ghost is writing in Markdown - most non-tech people use WordPress's WYSIWYG editor because they don't understand markup as a concept. That's a BIG barrier to entry that Ghost needs to address or remain niche. The other big barrier to entry with Ghost is that it's super difficult to install compared to WP - requires Node.JS which doesn't run on most shared accounts (where most people host blogs). The average non-technical person shouldn't be trying to manage a VPS or server. Yes, there are hosted Ghost services but those cost money, hosted WordPress starts a $free on wordpress.com. 1b. The WordPress admin area has become a scary place for new users, particularly once they start to add plugins that litter the admin menu with extra entries. Most plugins don't abuse the addition of menu items - most of the ones that create a new root-level menu item do so because they have sophisticated/deep enough configuration that requires it. I'm not sure that added menu items makes WordPress particularly "difficult to use" especially if the alternative is that functionality isn't available in the first place. 2. The admin area is fast. Moving around feels slick – it is a desktop-like experience; hitting Command+S will save the draft you're working on, for example, rather than bringing up your browser's “Save Page As...” prompt. The Markdown preview is as-you-type, and they use the screen estate very well. It's a comfortable environment to write long posts in, and it hasn't been tacked on as an afterthought, like WordPress' full-screen editing mode. WordPress's /wp-admin/ can be super fast - that's down to where you are running it. Drafts are saved automatically and with browsable history so the need for Command-S is removed. 3. The organisation behind Ghost, the "Ghost Foundation" is a non-profit. It doesn't have investors or shareholders; it is answerable only to its users and funded by those who pay for official Ghost hosting. Materially, that's no different to the WordPress Foundation. 4. Pricing for official Ghost hosting is very reasonable ($5/month for 1 blog, $14/month for 5 blogs). Pricing for official WordPress hosting is even more reasonable - free. But also has a clear path to scalability via various Managed WordPress Providers if needs be. 5. Although it's still in development, the proposed Dashboard looks far more useful than competitors. WordPress' Dashboard often looks like a wasteland once a few plugins have been installed – a mish-mash of "Upgrade to the PRO version!" prompts and RSS updates from the WordPress feed. The "Upgrade to Pro" part is a bit of a straw-man argument. I'm sure there must be some WP plugins that do that but not many, and any widget on the Dashboard can be easily moved or removed. Users can customize their dashbord with what they want, and a reasonable counter-perspective would be that a small RSS feed of WordPress news and articles isn't a negative. --- At the end of the day, debating WordPress vs Ghost is like debating Python vs Rails or Debian vs Centos. Differently philosophies - Ghost is certainly more focused on attractive features for developers, WordPress is focused on mainstream adoption. Makes sense given their relative positions in the market. I think HN gives WordPress a hard time, applying niche values like code elegance and utilization of the latest technologies and ignoring in plain sight the fact that both of those are actually WordPress's advantage. Anyone can create a plugin, and while many of them are utter shite, there is an amazing breadth of quality ones out there. And PHP, while derided mostly on HN, actually is one of the most prevalent languages in terms of install base and suitability to low-resource shared-environment mainstream use. A key strategic issue Ghost will need to deal with is that the use-cases for "blogging" have polarized over the years. People run a blog either as part of a wider site - which is where WordPress wins given it evolved into a site CMS. Or blogs are written to be part of a content network - which is where Medium and Subtle are playing where you get a "Ghost" like experience but the distribution network to go with it.

mcherm 12y ago

Hey, that was actually a pretty clear and detailed answer. Thank you for not treating it as a rhetorical question.

jackpirate 12y ago

I've been looking to switch away from wordpress for awhile, but I don't know of an easy migration path that transfers all my data. Is this possible?

modernerd 12y ago
Not at the moment, but there will be an official importer app later this year – it's one of the major items on the roadmap: https://github.com/TryGhost/Ghost/wiki/Roadmap#importer-part-1 https://github.com/TryGhost/Ghost/wiki/Roadmap#importer-part...

dotBen 12y ago

disclosure: I'm a former founder of a successful WordPress hosting platform and spent many years in the WP space. I'll take the opportunity to counter, if I may... 1a. It's easier to use than WordPress, Drupal etc. That's because it does much less than those platforms on purpose. A key stumbling issue with Ghost is writing in Markdown - most non-tech people use WordPress's WYSIWYG editor because they don't understand markup as a concept. That's a BIG barrier to entry that Ghost needs to address or remain niche. The other big barrier to entry with Ghost is that it's super difficult to install compared to WP - requires Node.JS which doesn't run on most shared accounts (where most people host blogs). The average non-technical person shouldn't be trying to manage a VPS or server. Yes, there are hosted Ghost services but those cost money, hosted WordPress starts a $free on wordpress.com. 1b. The WordPress admin area has become a scary place for new users, particularly once they start to add plugins that litter the admin menu with extra entries. Most plugins don't abuse the addition of menu items - most of the ones that create a new root-level menu item do so because they have sophisticated/deep enough configuration that requires it. I'm not sure that added menu items makes WordPress particularly "difficult to use" especially if the alternative is that functionality isn't available in the first place. 2. The admin area is fast. Moving around feels slick – it is a desktop-like experience; hitting Command+S will save the draft you're working on, for example, rather than bringing up your browser's “Save Page As...” prompt. The Markdown preview is as-you-type, and they use the screen estate very well. It's a comfortable environment to write long posts in, and it hasn't been tacked on as an afterthought, like WordPress' full-screen editing mode. WordPress's /wp-admin/ can be super fast - that's down to where you are running it. Drafts are saved automatically and with browsable history so the need for Command-S is removed. 3. The organisation behind Ghost, the "Ghost Foundation" is a non-profit. It doesn't have investors or shareholders; it is answerable only to its users and funded by those who pay for official Ghost hosting. Materially, that's no different to the WordPress Foundation. 4. Pricing for official Ghost hosting is very reasonable ($5/month for 1 blog, $14/month for 5 blogs). Pricing for official WordPress hosting is even more reasonable - free. But also has a clear path to scalability via various Managed WordPress Providers if needs be. 5. Although it's still in development, the proposed Dashboard looks far more useful than competitors. WordPress' Dashboard often looks like a wasteland once a few plugins have been installed – a mish-mash of "Upgrade to the PRO version!" prompts and RSS updates from the WordPress feed. The "Upgrade to Pro" part is a bit of a straw-man argument. I'm sure there must be some WP plugins that do that but not many, and any widget on the Dashboard can be easily moved or removed. Users can customize their dashbord with what they want, and a reasonable counter-perspective would be that a small RSS feed of WordPress news and articles isn't a negative. --- At the end of the day, debating WordPress vs Ghost is like debating Python vs Rails or Debian vs Centos. Differently philosophies - Ghost is certainly more focused on attractive features for developers, WordPress is focused on mainstream adoption. Makes sense given their relative positions in the market. I think HN gives WordPress a hard time, applying niche values like code elegance and utilization of the latest technologies and ignoring in plain sight the fact that both of those are actually WordPress's advantage. Anyone can create a plugin, and while many of them are utter shite, there is an amazing breadth of quality ones out there. And PHP, while derided mostly on HN, actually is one of the most prevalent languages in terms of install base and suitability to low-resource shared-environment mainstream use. A key strategic issue Ghost will need to deal with is that the use-cases for "blogging" have polarized over the years. People run a blog either as part of a wider site - which is where WordPress wins given it evolved into a site CMS. Or blogs are written to be part of a content network - which is where Medium and Subtle are playing where you get a "Ghost" like experience but the distribution network to go with it.