How To Install Ghost Blogging Platform On Local Computer

Gho.st which is the newest blogging platform, and also one of the hyped blogging platform is finally out for public. Gho.st was created with an aim to simplifying blogging, as WordPress is evolving more than just a blogging platform. We have mentioned gho.st before in our free blogging platform list, and finally it’s out for grab. Like WordPress, Gho.st has two variant:

• Self hosted Gho.st (You need to download and install it on your node.js enabled server)
• Hosted platform on Gho.st (This is getting rolled out to Kickstarter backers, and soon will be available for public )

When I heard about Gho.st launched for public, my first intention was to download and host the Gho.st on my shared hosting server. To my surprise, Gho.st can’t be installed on a shared hosting for now, as it requires node.js to run, and there are few good node.js hosting out there, or you can install it on your VPS or dedicated server on any hosting. Anyways, I will come down to Gho.st platform hosting and other technical details later, for now let me help you with Gho.st installation on your local server. For now, I would not recommend to install Gho.st on your live server, as it’s at very infant stage, and it’s better for us to use on live site, when Gho.st is matured a little, and enough documentation and support are available.

Install Gho.st platform on Local desktop using BitNami Ghost Stack

If you have used InstantWP before to install WordPress on your local system, you will not find Bitnami Ghost installer to be any different. Using Bitnami Ghost installer, you can quickly install Gho.st blogging platform on your local system or even deploy it to live server. Even if you are not planning to use Gho.st for now, I suggest you to atleast try Gho.st on your local system, and get a feel of upcoming blogging platform.
Follow the below mentioned steps, and within 5 minute you will have your Gho.st blog up and running.

• Download the Gho.st stack from here.
• After downloading is finished, install the Gho.st stack and follow the onscreen instruction.
• There are few simple steps which you need to follow like assigning I.P. (use 127.0.0.1), create an admin account, and few more. All the steps are easy to follow, and if you are stuck in between, feel free to ask me via comments.
• Below are few screenshot of the installation process for your reference.

That’s it and within 5 minutes, your local Gho.st blog will be up and running with all default settings. Now, let me share my first impression about Gho.st and how it feels as a blogging platform.

My First Impression & review of Gho.st platform:

Gho.st blogging platform is created to simplify the blogging. And if you are coming from WordPress or BlogSpot platform, you might find Gho.st to be too simple for yourself. But, the good thing is it has everything which will appeal to the masses. The business aspect of Gho.st will ensure that this will grow, as it’s an open source platform (This will attract many developers, and will create a new industry for freelancers and developers), and also offers both managed and self-hosted solution.  To access your Gho.st admin panel, simply append /ghost infront of your URL. For example, 127.0.0.1/ghost and you will be inside your dashboard. Here is a screenshot of admin dashboard, and you can notice how simple the dashboard is.

The best part about Gho.st is, it make sit easier to write and publish a blog post. In the simplest way you can think. There are limited option right now, in form of writing post (Saving it as a draft, publish, schedule). You can also edit the permalink before making your post live to the world. Here is a guide for new Gho.st users on understanding the dashboard:

The good thing is you can do a lot of formatting work with the help of Keyboard strokes, and it might take a while for you to remember all Keyboard shortcuts for formatting, but later on it will help you to write faster and better. Gho.st editor uses markdown (Text to HTML)to help writers to write content quickly. Gho.st has already started creating marketplace for themes, and soon you will be seeing lots of themes and plugins out there.
I’m still exploring this new blogging platform, and will be sharing my learning and experience over the time. For now, if you wish to learn more about Gho.st, you should check out their official site or also participate in community over here. Here is a video overview of Gho.st admin dashboard:

If you have also tried Gho.st, I would love to know your views and opinion. Don’t forget to share about this new born blogging platform with your friends on Facebook and Google plus.