Installing Ghost & Getting Started

The first steps to setting up your new blog for the first time.

Installing on Mac

To install Node.js and Ghost on your mac you'll need an open terminal window. You can get one by opening spotlight and typing "Terminal".

Install Node

  • On http://nodejs.org press install, a '.pkg' file will be downloaded
  • Click on the download to open the installer, this is going to install both node and npm.
  • Click through the installer, finally entering your password and clicking 'install software'.
  • Once the installer is complete, go into your open Terminal window and type echo $PATH to check that '/usr/local/bin/' is in your path.

Note: If '/usr/local/bin' does not appear in your $PATH, see the troubleshooting tips to find out how to add it

If you get stuck you can watch the whole process in action here.

Install and Run Ghost

  • Log in to http://ghost.org, and then click the blue 'Download Ghost Source Code' button.
  • On the downloads page, press the button to download the latest zip file.
  • Click on the arrow next to the newly downloaded file, and choose 'show in finder'.
  • In finder, double-click on the downloaded zip file to extract it.
  • Next, grab the newly extracted 'ghost-#.#.#' folder and drag it onto the tab bar of your open terminal window, this will make a new terminal tab which is open at the correct location.
  • In the new terminal tab type npm install --production note the two dashes
  • When npm is finished installing, type npm start to start Ghost in development mode
  • In a browser, navigate to 127.0.0.1:2368 to see your newly setup Ghost blog
  • Change the url to 127.0.0.1:2368/ghost and create your admin user to login to the Ghost admin.
  • See the usage docs for instructions on the next steps