General Documentation

1. Download the .zip file from your purchase confirmation email (via Lemon Squeezy).
2. Log in to your Ghost Admin panel at yourdomain.com/ghost/.
3. Go to Settings → Design → Change theme.
4. Click Upload theme and select the .zip file.
5. Once uploaded, click Activate.

When a new version is released, you'll receive an email with the updated .zip file. To update:

1. Download the new .zip file.
2. Go to Settings → Design → Change theme.
3. Click Upload theme and select the new zip.
4. Ghost will replace the existing theme files automatically.

Need to re-download your theme? You can always get the latest version from your Lemon Squeezy account: How to download from Lemon Squeezy.

All CCLY Studio themes require Ghost 5.0 or later. We recommend Ghost 6.x for the best experience.

To check your Ghost version, go to Settings → About in Ghost Admin.

If you're self-hosting, you can update Ghost with:

ghost update

If you're on Ghost(Pro), updates are applied automatically.

Go to Settings → General to set:

• Site title — Displayed in the header and browser tab.
• Site description — Shown in the footer and used for SEO meta descriptions.

For branding, go to Settings → Design → Brand:

• Publication logo — Replaces the text title in the header. Recommended: SVG or PNG, max height 40px.
• Publication icon — Displayed as a favicon and next to the site title when no logo is set. Recommended: square PNG, at least 60×60px.
• Publication cover — Used as a fallback Open Graph image for social sharing.
• Accent color — Used by Ghost's built-in portal modals (signup, signin). This does not affect the theme's color palette.

Ghost supports two navigation menus, configured in Settings → Navigation:

• Primary navigation — Displayed in the site header. Keep it to 4–6 items for best results.
• Secondary navigation — Displayed in the site footer.

Each nav item has a Label (display text) and URL (link target). You can link to:

• Internal pages: /about/, /tag/essays/, /author/name/
• External URLs: https://twitter.com/yourhandle
• Ghost special pages: #/portal/ (signup), #/portal/signin (login)

Go to Settings → General → Social accounts to add your Facebook and X (Twitter) URLs.

CCLY themes display these as icon links in the site footer. If no social URLs are set, only the RSS feed icon is shown.

For additional social links (Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, etc.), add them to your secondary navigation menu with the full URL.

Each CCLY theme includes custom settings accessible in Settings → Design → Theme (or click Change theme → Customize on your active theme).

Common settings across themes include:

• Color scheme — Light, Dark, or Auto (follows system preference).
• Dark mode toggle — Show/hide the sun/moon toggle in the header.
• Reading time — Show/hide estimated reading time on posts.

Theme-specific settings (testimonials, logos, layout options) are documented on each theme's dedicated documentation page.

Ghost distinguishes between posts and pages:

• Posts — Blog articles. Appear in feeds, tag archives, and author pages. Have tags, authors, and featured flags.
• Pages — Static content (About, Contact, etc.). Do not appear in feeds. Access via navigation links.

Featured posts: Toggle the star icon in the post editor to mark a post as featured. Most CCLY themes display the latest featured post in a prominent hero section on the homepage.

Tags: Tags organize content into categories. Create tags in Tags in the Ghost Admin sidebar. Each tag gets an archive page at /tag/slug/. Add a description to each tag for best results — themes display these in navigation dropdowns and archive headers.

1. Go to Settings → Membership.
2. Choose your access model:
   • Nobody — Memberships disabled. Subscribe buttons hidden.
   • Free — Readers can sign up for free. No paid tiers.
   • Paid — Readers can subscribe for free or pay for premium content.

Once enabled, CCLY themes automatically show:

• Subscribe button in the header (for non-members).
• Sign in link in the header (for non-members).
• Account link in the header (for signed-in members).
• Subscribe email forms in the CTA section and social proof area.

To accept payments, connect Stripe:

1. Go to Settings → Membership → Stripe.
2. Click Connect with Stripe and follow the authorization flow.
3. Once connected, configure your pricing tiers under Settings → Membership → Pricing.

Ghost handles all billing, receipts, and subscription management. Members can manage their subscription from their account page.

Control who can read each post using the Post access setting in the post editor:

• Public — Visible to everyone. No paywall.
• Members only — Free and paid subscribers can read. Non-members see the paywall.
• Paid members only — Only paid subscribers can read. Free members and non-members see the paywall.

CCLY themes display a styled paywall component with:

• A blurred content preview above the paywall.
• A lock icon next to gated post titles on listing pages.
• An adaptive CTA button: "Subscribe now" for non-members, "Upgrade your plan" for free members.

No code changes are needed — just set the access level per post and the theme handles everything automatically.

Ghost Portal is the built-in signup/login UI. It appears as a modal overlay when readers click Subscribe, Sign in, or Account links.

Configure Portal in Settings → Membership → Portal:

• Name field — Optionally ask for a name during signup.
• Signup notice — Custom text shown after signup (e.g., "Check your inbox!").
• Portal button — Ghost can show a floating button in the bottom-right corner. CCLY themes have their own subscribe buttons, so you can disable this if it feels redundant.

routes.yaml controls Ghost's URL routing. It defines:

• Routes — Custom URLs that render a specific template (e.g., /newsletter/ renders a filtered collection).
• Collections — Groups of posts filtered by tag, author, or other criteria.
• Taxonomies — URL patterns for tags and authors (usually left as defaults).

1. Go to Settings → Labs in Ghost Admin.
2. Under Routes, click Upload routes YAML.
3. Select your routes.yaml file.

Example 1: Newsletter archive filtered by tag

collections:
  /newsletter/:
    permalink: /newsletter/{slug}/
    filter: tag:newsletter
  /:
    permalink: /{slug}/
    filter: tag:-newsletter

This creates a separate /newsletter/ section for all posts tagged "newsletter", and excludes them from the main homepage feed.

Example 2: Custom page with a specific template

routes:
  /portfolio/:
    template: custom-portfolio
    data: page.portfolio

This renders the custom-portfolio.hbs template at /portfolio/ and injects data from a Ghost page with the slug "portfolio".

Yes. All CCLY themes work with Ghost(Pro) hosted plans. Upload the .zip file in Ghost Admin just like any other theme.

Yes. Any Ghost 5.0+ installation supports CCLY themes. We recommend Ghost 6.x for the latest features.

Each theme has a carefully designed color palette. Ghost's accent color setting (in Design → Brand) controls the Portal modals but does not change the theme's colors.

To customize theme colors, you can add custom CSS via Settings → Code Injection → Site Header:

<style>
  :root {
    --color-accent: #your-color;
    --color-link: #your-color;
  }
</style>

Each theme's documentation includes a full Design System section listing every CSS variable with its default value, a color swatch, and usage notes. See: Vestige Design System.

Yes. Ghost 6 includes a built-in font picker in Settings → Design → Brand → Typography. Changing fonts there automatically overrides the theme's heading and body fonts.

For custom web fonts not in Ghost's picker, use Code Injection to load them and override the CSS variables:

<link href="https://fonts.googleapis.com/css2?family=YourFont&display=swap" rel="stylesheet">
<style>
  :root {
    --font-heading: 'YourFont', serif;
    --font-body: 'YourFont', sans-serif;
  }
</style>

You'll receive an email from Lemon Squeezy when a new version is released. Download the new .zip and upload it in Ghost Admin → Design → Change theme → Upload theme.

You can also download the latest version anytime from your Lemon Squeezy account. See How to download the latest theme versions from Lemon Squeezy for a step-by-step guide.

Updates never overwrite your content, members, or site settings. Only the theme's template files are replaced.

Email us at p@ccly.dev with your order number and a description of the issue. We typically respond within 24 hours on business days.

Support includes: installation help, bug fixes, and questions about documented features.

Support does not include: custom CSS modifications, new feature development, or third-party integration setup.

We offer a 14-day refund policy. If the theme doesn't work for your use case, email us within 14 days of purchase for a full refund. No questions asked.

Each license covers one Ghost site:

• Standard ($89) — 1 site, lifetime updates, 6 months support.
• Pro ($119) — 3 sites, lifetime updates, 12 months support.

"Lifetime updates" means you receive every future version of the theme at no additional cost. Support can be renewed after expiry for $29 per 6 months.