After playing around for a bit, this really looks like the best option. I will wait until federation support gets added to the self-hosted version though.
2 days ago from a contributor on the Ghost GitHub Issuetracker:
ActivityPub is currently not supported for self hosted setups, we're working on getting everything working smoothly internally first before adding official support for self hosted setups!
I should clarify, I suppose. "Available" as in you can go into the settings and turn it on. I assumed there was something wrong with my personal install when it didn't work but I guess it's just not finished yet. Sorry about that.
Some people use Lemmy. If you create a community and set it to moderator only mode you'll be able to post updates as new threads that are federated without random people starting conversations outside of the posts.
I wanted to try WriteFreely, but their federation seems to be broken according to this ticket. And the fediverse observer shows 0 WriteFreely comments since January 2025.
I’m not sure what version they’re running on their flagship but I last posted from there on March 20th and my blog federated to Mastodon.
More for the OP but if you’re looking for a blog with a comment section, I wouldn’t recommend WriteFreely at present. Customization is also unnecessarily painful.
It does federate. Social features are rudimentary. I end up using my existing microblogs to promote the posts anyway.
I knew all that going in and chose it anyway. It’s not for everyone but it does what I need it to at a price I’m fine with.
For me federation is working to mastodon, but I don't think comments are really out yet, but I use cactus comments for it, but that doesn't federate to mastodon, it federates to matrix. It also requires a matrix server, which was a total pita to set up.
Eh... Wordpress isn't that heavy. Probably not as heavy as matrix or even Mastodon. It's a very versatile, expandable and easy to use platform which I'd strongly recommend.
Sure, it's fine. But if I'm only publishing text and photos, and I don't need tons of specialized plugins, and I'm dealing with things myself - then personally I will go with a static-site generator every time. It's at least as fast, and more secure by design.
27 Comments
RayJW@sh.itjust.works · 22 pts · 1y
I think Ghost might be the best option. They just launched their beta Fediverse integration a few days ago.
dfyx@lemmy.helios42.de · 9 pts · 1y
After playing around for a bit, this really looks like the best option. I will wait until federation support gets added to the self-hosted version though.
Ulrich@feddit.org · 9 pts · 1y
It's already available
E: "available" but not yet functional. Sorry.
dfyx@lemmy.helios42.de · 6 pts · 1y
Oh, thanks for the heads up, I didn't notice.
squirrel@discuss.tchncs.de · 6 pts · 1y
Apparently not.
2 days ago from a contributor on the Ghost GitHub Issuetracker:
Ulrich@feddit.org · 5 pts · 1y
I'm telling you as someone that self-hosts it that it is available.
squirrel@discuss.tchncs.de · 4 pts · 1y
Hmm... interesting. I don't understand that GitHub comment then.
Ulrich@feddit.org · 7 pts · 1y
I should clarify, I suppose. "Available" as in you can go into the settings and turn it on. I assumed there was something wrong with my personal install when it didn't work but I guess it's just not finished yet. Sorry about that.
muntedcrocodile@lemm.ee · 4 pts · 1y
Did u end up making it work?
FrostyTrichs@crazypeople.online · 12 pts · 1y
Some people use Lemmy. If you create a community and set it to moderator only mode you'll be able to post updates as new threads that are federated without random people starting conversations outside of the posts.
QuentinCallaghan@sopuli.xyz · 11 pts · 1y
There's WriteFreely for example. There's also Plume, but looks like it's not actively maintained anymore.
squirrel@discuss.tchncs.de · 9 pts · 1y
I wanted to try WriteFreely, but their federation seems to be broken according to this ticket. And the fediverse observer shows 0 WriteFreely comments since January 2025.
haverholm@kbin.earth · 2 pts · 1y
Wtf, how have I not heard that writefreely hasn't federated since Xmas?
Paid_in_cheese@lemmings.world · 2 pts · 1y
I’m not sure what version they’re running on their flagship but I last posted from there on March 20th and my blog federated to Mastodon.
More for the OP but if you’re looking for a blog with a comment section, I wouldn’t recommend WriteFreely at present. Customization is also unnecessarily painful.
It does federate. Social features are rudimentary. I end up using my existing microblogs to promote the posts anyway.
I knew all that going in and chose it anyway. It’s not for everyone but it does what I need it to at a price I’m fine with.
RagingHungryPanda@lemm.ee · 1 pts · 1y
For me federation is working to mastodon, but I don't think comments are really out yet, but I use cactus comments for it, but that doesn't federate to mastodon, it federates to matrix. It also requires a matrix server, which was a total pita to set up.
JubilantJaguar@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 1y
Even more interesting IMO: what are the options that do not involve self-hosting (thus avoiding the PITA of babysitting a domain and server security)?
Ulrich@feddit.org · 10 pts · 1y
You don't have to self host Ghost. They charge a very reasonable flat fee.
JubilantJaguar@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 1y
Did not know that. Useful.
Microw@lemm.ee · 2 pts · 1y
Hosted Wordpress with ActivityPub plugin
JubilantJaguar@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 1y
Full DB-driven monster for a few bytes of text. Sledgehammer to crack a nut if you ask me. But sure, this is the obvious answer.
Flax_vert@feddit.uk · 3 pts · 1y
Eh... Wordpress isn't that heavy. Probably not as heavy as matrix or even Mastodon. It's a very versatile, expandable and easy to use platform which I'd strongly recommend.
JubilantJaguar@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 1y
Sure, it's fine. But if I'm only publishing text and photos, and I don't need tons of specialized plugins, and I'm dealing with things myself - then personally I will go with a static-site generator every time. It's at least as fast, and more secure by design.
brot@feddit.org · 1 pts · 1y
Yeah, but other people have other use cases and Wordpress is a good option for them
Flax_vert@feddit.uk · 4 pts · 1y
Wordpress (with plugin)
Binette@lemmy.ml · 3 pts · 1y
there's also plume: https://joinplu.me/
atro_city@fedia.io · 1 pts · 1y
Wordpress supports federation. Or are you looking for something else?