How to install a Ghost Template

In this guide we will show you how to install a Ghost Blog template. In most cases the installation of a Ghost template is a straight forward process and require a simple upload of the template files. Still, some templates might require custom steps. We highly recommend to review any available documentation for the desired template prior proceeding with the setup.

First, you need to download the installation archive of your Ghost Blog template. Usually templates are compressed into a single zip or tar.gz file. Extract the archive on your local computer and open the folder of your template. You should see several folders and files such as 'img', 'assets' and index.hbs.  If these files are present this is the content that should be uploaded in your Ghost installation.

To upload your Ghost template access your server via FTP and navigate to your Ghost root directory. If you have followed our guide on How to Install Ghost your application should be located in:

/var/www/ghost/

Navigate to the content/themes folder which should be located in your Ghost root directory. You should see the default casper template in this directory. Upload the whole directory of your new template into the content/themes folder.

When the upload process is complete, please restart your Ghost blog. If you have followed our Forever installation guide you can easily restart Ghost obtaining your process ID and restart it via Forever:

[root@ghost themes]# forever list
info:    Forever processes running
data:        uid  command             script   forever pid  logfile        uptime
data:    [0] dQEB /usr/local/bin/node index.js 1759    1874 /var/log/ghost 0:0:0:1.659

[root@ghost themes]# forever restart dQEB
info:    Forever restarted process(es):
data:        uid  command             script   forever pid  logfile        uptime
data:    [0] dQEB /usr/local/bin/node index.js 1759    1899 /var/log/ghost 0:0:0:0.220

Now we need to activate the new template via the Ghost Admin Dashboard. Please login in your Ghost admin panel via:

http://example.com/ghost/

You should replace 'example.com' with your actual domain name or IP address.

In  the Ghost Admin Dashboard, please click on the Settings tab from the top main navigation.

In the General Settings tab scroll down to the Theme drop down menu and select your newly installed template.

Now you should be able to see your new template on your Ghost blog home page.