> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.ectobuilder.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Newsletter Theme for Ghost: A Substack-Style Site With Paid Plans, /p/ Links and Comments - URL: https://www.ectobuilder.com/blog/newsletter-ghost-theme/ - Published: 2026-10-19T16:40:26.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-19T16:49:37.000Z - Description: A step-by-step guide to the Newsletter theme for Ghost: a Substack-style homepage and reading page, then newsletters, paid plans, /p/ addresses, Plans, Welcome and About pages, comments and recommendations. - Author: Michal Wlosik - Tags: Guides, Themes The **Newsletter** theme is an Ectobuilder theme for writers who publish a newsletter on Ghost and want their site to feel like Substack: a clean masthead, the latest letter up top, a reading column built for long posts, a subscribe box after every post, comments, recommendations and Substack-style `/p/` addresses. The demo is "The Long Table", a weekly food letter, but every word, photo and colour can be changed. ![The Newsletter theme homepage: a centred masthead with Home, Archive and About tabs, a lead story with a photo of a long dinner table, a list of recent posts, and a sidebar with a subscribe box and recommendations](https://www.ectobuilder.com/content/images/2026/10/image-mvfgw0l1.webp) The Newsletter homepage: lead story, latest posts, subscribe box and recommendations. If you only want the look, our guide on [how to make Ghost look like Substack](https://www.ectobuilder.com/blog/make-ghost-look-like-substack/) explains the ideas behind it. This post is the hands-on version: start from the theme and set Ghost up so it works the way a Substack reader expects. Here's what the theme gives you: - **Homepage**: the newest post as a big lead story, then a *Latest / Archive* feed, with a sidebar that has your logo, description, a sign-up box and your recommendations. - **Post page**: a big serif title, subtitle, author line, comment and share buttons, a comfortable reading column, a "Thanks for reading" subscribe box, an upgrade box for free members, the discussion and more posts. - **Archive**: every post in one list, with tabs for your tags. - **Three page templates**: *Plans* for your paid tiers, *Welcome* for new visitors, and *About* for you and your publication. The design is ready as it is. Most of the setup happens in Ghost, in six parts: - [Make it yours](#part-1-make-it-yours) - [Turn on the newsletter](#part-2-turn-on-the-newsletter) - [Add paid subscriptions](#part-3-add-paid-subscriptions) - [Use Substack-style addresses](#part-4-use-substack-style-addresses) - [Create the Plans, Welcome and About pages](#part-5-create-the-plans-welcome-and-about-pages) - [Turn on comments and recommendations](#part-6-turn-on-comments-and-recommendations) Moving from Substack? There's a section on [bringing your posts and subscribers](#moving-from-substack) at the end. To follow along, open the theme from the [Ectobuilder theme gallery](https://www.ectobuilder.com/themes/) and connect your Ghost site under **Settings → Integrations → Ghost Admin API**. ****Want this theme for your site?** Open the Newsletter theme in Ectobuilder and make it yours. Starting is free, and you only pay if you’re happy with the design. [Start with the Newsletter theme ](https://editor.ectobuilder.com/start/efbf5bad-ee52-4eea-9f09-afee5681a182?ref=ectobuilder.com) ## Part 1: Make it yours Your publication's name, description and icon come from Ghost, so set them there first: **Settings → Title & description** for the name and the one-line description, and **Settings → Design & branding** for the icon. The masthead, the sidebar box and the footer all read them, so you change them once. Then open **Style** in Ectobuilder. The demo uses a warm orange with Spectral for headings and Inter for everything else. Pick your own accent colour, change the fonts if you like, and keep *Compact* spacing if you want the dense, list-like feel of Substack. ![The Ectobuilder editor with the Style panel open on the left: Colour, Typography, Shape and space, Shadows, Labels and tags, next to the Newsletter homepage](https://www.ectobuilder.com/content/images/2026/10/image-mvfgw6hc.webp) Colours, fonts and spacing apply to every page at once. The posts, photos and recommendations you see in the editor are samples. On your live site they're replaced by your own posts and recommendations after you click **Deploy**. The theme is built for phones too: the sidebar moves below the feed and the masthead shrinks. ![The Newsletter theme on a phone: masthead with a Subscribe button, the lead story and the latest posts](https://www.ectobuilder.com/content/images/2026/10/image-mvfgw20d.webp) The homepage on a phone. ## Part 2: Turn on the newsletter Every subscribe box in the theme signs people up as free members of your Ghost site. For those members to get your posts by email, newsletter sending has to be on. 1. In Ghost Admin, go to **Settings → Newsletters**. 2. Check that **Newsletter sending** is enabled. 3. Under **Newsletters**, click **Edit** next to your newsletter. Give it your publication's name, a sender name and a reply-to address, and set the header image and fonts so the email matches the site. 4. Leave **Default recipients** on *Whoever has access to the post*. Free posts then go to everyone, and paid posts go to paying members only. ![Ghost Admin Settings, Newsletters: Newsletter sending enabled, and Default recipients set to Whoever has access to the post](https://www.ectobuilder.com/content/images/2026/10/image-mvfgxr69.webp) Settings → Newsletters in Ghost Admin. When you publish a post, Ghost asks whether to send it by email as well. That's how a letter goes out. **If you host Ghost yourself**, sending to many people needs a bulk email service. Ghost uses Mailgun, which you set up under **Settings → Newsletters → Mailgun**. On [Ghost(Pro)](https://ghost.org/pricing/?via=michal-207c22&ref=ectobuilder.com), email is included and works from day one, which is the easiest route if you're coming from Substack and don't want to look after a server. Compare the options in [Ghost(Pro) vs other Ghost hosting](https://www.ectobuilder.com/blog/ghost-pro-vs-other-hosting/). ## Part 3: Add paid subscriptions Like Substack, Ghost lets readers pay for your newsletter. Unlike Substack, it takes no cut: payments go through your own Stripe account and you keep everything except Stripe's fee. See [Ghost vs Substack](https://www.ectobuilder.com/blog/ghost-vs-substack/) for how the costs compare. ### Step 1: Connect Stripe and create a tier 1. In Ghost Admin, go to **Settings → Tiers** and click **Connect with Stripe**. 2. Add a paid tier. The demo has *Paid* at $8 a month or $80 a year, and *Founding member* at $25 a month or $250 a year. 3. For each tier, fill in a one-line description and a short list of benefits. The theme shows them on your Plans page. One paid tier is plenty to start with. Substack's "founding member" idea works well as a second, higher tier for readers who want to support you more. ### Step 2: Lock posts for paying members 1. Write a post as usual. 2. Open **Post settings** (the panel icon at the top right) and set **Post access** to *Paid-members only*. 3. To choose where the free preview ends, click **+** on an empty line and insert a **Public preview** divider. Readers see everything above it, then an invitation to subscribe. The theme marks locked posts with a small lock next to the date, in the feed and in the archive, so readers can tell at a glance what's for paying members. Free members who reach the end of a post see an **upgrade box**: "You're reading the free edition of…" with a button that opens your plans. Visitors who aren't signed in see the subscribe box instead, and paying members see neither. ## Part 4: Use Substack-style addresses Substack posts live at `yourname.substack.com/p/post-name`, and the full list at `/archive`. Ghost's default is `/post-name/`. If you're moving from Substack, keep the Substack shape: every link people have shared, and every search result, keeps working with no redirects to maintain. ### Step 1: Choose /p/ addresses in Ectobuilder In Ectobuilder, open **Settings → Ghost Settings**. Under **Routes**, the Newsletter theme already has **Post addresses** set to */p/post-name (Substack)*. Click **Download** next to **routes.yaml**. ![Ectobuilder Ghost Settings: Post addresses set to /p/post-name (Substack), and a Download button for routes.yaml](https://www.ectobuilder.com/content/images/2026/10/image-mvfgw5fy.webp) Settings → Ghost Settings in Ectobuilder. The file is short. It keeps the homepage at `/`, puts every post at `/p/post-name/` and the full list at `/archive/`: ```yaml routes: /: template: home collections: /archive/: permalink: /p/{slug}/ template: index taxonomies: tag: /tag/{slug}/ author: /author/{slug}/ ``` ### Step 2: Upload it in Ghost Ghost doesn't read routes from the theme, so this is one manual step: 1. In Ghost Admin, go to **Settings → Labs** and click **Open**. 2. Next to **Routes**, click the **⋯** button and choose **Upload file**. 3. Pick the `routes.yaml` you downloaded. ![Ghost Admin Labs settings: the Routes row with its menu open, showing Upload file and Download file](https://www.ectobuilder.com/content/images/2026/10/image-mvfgxsdc.webp) Settings → Labs → Routes → Upload file. Before you upload, it's worth choosing **Download file** first to keep a copy of your current routes, just in case. ### Step 3: Set up the navigation The tabs under the masthead are your Ghost navigation. In **Settings → Navigation**, add: - **Home**: `/` - **Archive**: `/archive/` - **About**: `/about/` (you'll create this page in the next part) The archive lists every post, with tabs for your tags. Use three or four tags for your regular series, such as *Recipes*, *Places* or *Q&A*, so the tabs stay short. ![The Newsletter theme archive page with a list of posts and tag tabs](https://www.ectobuilder.com/content/images/2026/10/image-mvfgvz9l.webp) The archive at /archive/. If some of your old links still don't match, for example custom Substack pages, add them one by one as described in [how to add redirects in Ghost](https://www.ectobuilder.com/blog/ghost-migration-redirects/). ## Part 5: Create the Plans, Welcome and About pages The theme comes with three page templates. Each is an ordinary Ghost page that uses a template from the theme: 1. In Ghost Admin, go to **Pages → New page**. 2. Give it a title, for example *Plans*. The title sets the address, here `/plans/`. 3. Open **Page settings** and choose the matching **Template**: *Plans*, *Welcome* or *About*. 4. Click **Publish**. ### Plans The Plans page lists your tiers side by side, with prices and benefits. Its buttons open Ghost's sign-up window for each plan. Link to it from your navigation, from your welcome email, or from the end of a paid post's preview. ![The Plans page: Pull up a chair, with Free, Paid at $8 a month and Founding member at $25 a month](https://www.ectobuilder.com/content/images/2026/10/image-mvfgw345.webp) The Plans page. For more ideas, read [how to build a pricing page in Ghost](https://www.ectobuilder.com/blog/ghost-pricing-page/). ### Welcome Substack shows new visitors a simple page: your logo, your name, one line about the newsletter and an email box. The Welcome template is the same thing. Share its address on social media or in your bio, where people decide in a few seconds whether to subscribe. ![The Welcome page: the publication icon, The Long Table, a one-line description, an email box with a Subscribe button and By Maya Ellis, Join 8,000+ readers](https://www.ectobuilder.com/content/images/2026/10/image-mvfgw7jq.webp) The Welcome page. ### About The About template shows your publication's name, description and a sign-up box, followed by a card about you. The card reads your name, photo and bio from your Ghost staff profile, so fill those in under **Settings → Staff**. Name this page *About* so it matches the `/about/` link in your navigation. ![The About page: the publication icon and name, a one-line description, an email box, and an About the writer card with a photo, name and short bio](https://www.ectobuilder.com/content/images/2026/10/image-mvfhon6t.webp) The About page. ## Part 6: Turn on comments and recommendations ### Comments Each post has a comment button under the title and a discussion at the end. They use Ghost's own comments, which only members can write: 1. In Ghost Admin, go to **Settings → Access**. 2. Set **Commenting** to *All members*, or to *Paid-members only* if you want discussion to be a paid benefit. Comparing Ghost's comments with Disqus and others? See [comments for Ghost](https://www.ectobuilder.com/blog/ghost-comments/). ### Recommendations The sidebar lists newsletters you recommend, just like Substack. In Ghost Admin, go to **Settings → Recommendations** and add the sites you like. The theme shows them on the homepage, with a link to the full list. Ghost also suggests your recommendations to new subscribers when they sign up, which helps the writers you recommend, and they can recommend you back. ## Moving from Substack If you already have a Substack, bring everything with you: - **Posts**: export them from Substack and import them in Ghost under **Settings → Import/Export → Substack**. With the `/p/` routes from Part 4, they keep their old addresses. - **Subscribers**: import your subscriber list as members. Paying subscribers can move with their Stripe subscriptions, so nobody has to pay again. - **Your domain**: point your custom domain at Ghost, and links to your old posts keep working. The whole process, step by step, is in [how to move from Substack to Ghost](https://www.ectobuilder.com/blog/migrate-substack-to-ghost/). Still deciding? Read our list of [Substack alternatives](https://www.ectobuilder.com/blog/substack-alternatives/). ## Next steps - Publish three or four posts before you launch, so the homepage, the archive and the "More from" list aren't empty. - Use the subtitle (Ghost's excerpt) on every post. The theme shows it under the title, in the feed and in the lead story. - Write a welcome email under **Settings → Welcome emails**, with a link to your best posts and your Plans page. - Browse more designs in our roundup of [the best Ghost themes](https://www.ectobuilder.com/blog/best-ghost-themes/). ## Frequently asked questions #### Is this an official Substack theme? No. It's an Ectobuilder theme for Ghost with a similar layout and reading experience. Your site runs on Ghost, on your own domain, and you can change every part of the design. #### Do I need a paid Ghost plan for paid subscriptions? You need a Stripe account and a Ghost site that allows paid subscriptions. Self-hosted Ghost includes them. On Ghost(Pro), the Starter plan doesn't, so you need Publisher or higher. #### Do I have to use /p/ addresses? No. They matter if you're moving from Substack and want old links to keep working. For a new publication, you can choose another style in Ectobuilder's Ghost Settings, download that routes.yaml instead, or skip it and keep Ghost's default. #### Why don't my posts show up in the editor? The editor shows sample posts so you can style the cards. Your real posts, tags and recommendations appear on the live site after you click Deploy. ****Ready to launch your newsletter?** Everything in this guide works on your own copy of the Newsletter theme. Start free, connect your Ghost site when you’re ready, and only pay if you like the result. [Start free ](https://editor.ectobuilder.com/start/efbf5bad-ee52-4eea-9f09-afee5681a182?ref=ectobuilder.com) #### Can I use it for something other than food? Yes. Nothing is specific to food except the sample text and photos. It suits any newsletter: politics, tech, culture, local news, a personal letter.