How to setup a Ghost blog

There are already some wonderful guides made on both the official Ghost web site and the Ghost for beginners site. This page is just here to help you get a better idea on what installation path to take.

The first thing you need to do is decide where you want to host your Ghost. You can read more about the difference between Ghost(Pro) and self-hosting on this page but below is a quick summary:

Ghost(Pro)

Installing and hosting with Ghost(Pro)
It will be like creating an account on a web app and once you have an account you can access your admin panel that you'll use to manage the blog.

THE PROS

  • The Ghost folks take care of EVERYTHING ! (^_^) !
  • Free updates for life and you'll never have to worry about having an outdated version of Ghost
  • Hosting and server maintenance is included
  • Because Ghost is a non-profit, all of the money made hosting goes back into the platform itself

THE CONS

  • There is a monthly minimum fee of USD19/month, (which personally I think is fair), but may be steep if you are just starting out and are not making money yet with your blog
  • You don't have access to the file system of the server in case you want to dig deeper under the hood of the system

Self-hosted Ghost

Installing and hosting on your own server and hosting environment.

THE PROS

  • Free
  • You have complete access to the file system of the server in case you want to dig deeper under the hood of the system

THE CONS

  • You have to maintain your own server
  • You need to update Ghost by yourself
  • Hosting and server maintenance fees are something you pay separately for
  • Not many hosting providers offer the necessary specs to host a node.js app like Ghost. A regular VPS with a cPanel will usually not cut it.

CONCLUSION

Weigh the pro and cons of each option carefully and then make your decision on which path to take, depending on your wallet size, knowledge domain and time constraints.

INSTALLATION

Install on Ghost(Pro)

Use this link and create an account with Ghost .

Who can do this?

Anyone, including your Grandma ! ◕‿↼ !

Install a Self-hosted Ghost

Currently one of the best hosting providers is Digital Ocean. Use the link and create an account with them. They have a one-click install of Ghost that gets you up and running in minutes. (this is what I did)
Note: that when you use above link, you'll get USD10 in credit and I'll get something too, for referring you. But that is not the reason I recommend them. I do so because Digital Ocean really is awesome!!

Once you have setup an account, follow their Ghost Install Tutorial

Who can do this?

A regular web user, if you use the one-click install at Digital Ocean.
A more adventurous person, if you install on a regular hosting environment but still fairly easy thanks to great tutorials offered by the Ghost for beginners people and the Ghost folks'

Reference Links:
https://www.ghostforbeginners.com/how-to-host-ghost-on-ghost-org
https://www.digitalocean.com/community/tutorials/how-to-use-the-digitalocean-ghost-application