A signup form asks for an email address. Ghost sends the reader a confirmation email, and the reader becomes a free member of your site after clicking the link in it. Members get your newsletter. Some people call this an email capture or opt-in form.
Before you start
In Ghost Admin, under Settings > Membership > Access, Who should be able to subscribe to your site? is set to Public. With Invite-only or Nobody, the form cannot add new members.
Add a ready signup section
Open your project in Fantasma.
Add a section where you want the form, such as on the Homepage template, as Add a section to a page shows. The empty section shows a row of cards.
Click the All patterns card. The pattern picker opens, with categories on its left.
Select the Newsletter category and click the pattern you want, such as Centered CTA. The section appears with a heading, a line of text, and a form with an email field and a Subscribe button.
Every pattern in the Newsletter category has this form, such as Background Image, Split with Image and Lead Capture.
Under Forms, click Newsletter form. An email field with a Subscribe button inside it appears.
Form in the same group adds a plain form, with an email field and a separate Subscribe button under it.
Choose what the form does
In the Sections list in the left sidebar, click the arrow next to the section, then click its Form row. The Form settings open in the right sidebar. Its General group starts with these two settings.
Setting
What it does
Send to
Subscribe (the default) and Sign up both add a new member and work the same way; pick the one whose email wording fits your site. Ghost's email to the reader says "Confirm your subscription" for Subscribe and "Complete your sign up" for Sign up. Sign in sends a sign-in link to people who are already members. For an address that is not a member, Ghost sends nothing, and the form still shows its success message. Custom URL sends the form to a service of your own, as Add a contact form shows.
Success message
The line that appears under the form after Ghost accepts the email. The default is "Please check your inbox and click the confirmation link."
When Ghost refuses the email, its reason appears under the form in place of the success message. When a reader who is already a member signs up again, Ghost sends them a sign-in link.
A new member gets the newsletters that have Subscribe new members on signup turned on in Ghost, unless the form offers a choice, as Let readers choose their newsletters shows.
Every form sent to Ghost needs an email field. Its Required switch stays on, and pointing at it says "Ghost needs the email to sign people up". A form sent to Ghost keeps only the email, the name, labels and newsletter choices. Other fields, such as a message box, are not saved anywhere. For messages, use a contact form.
Ask for the reader's name
In the Sections list, point at the Form row and click the + at its right end. The block picker opens with the form fields.
Click Input. A new field appears at the end of the form.
In the field's settings, under Type, select Name. Ghost saves what the reader types as the member's name.
Optional. In the Sections list, drag the new field's row before the email field's row.
The form sends without a name unless you turn on the field's Required switch.
Label the members who sign up here
A label in Ghost tells you where a member came from, such as homepage or podcast.
In the Sections list, click the + on the Form row.
Click Hidden. A small chip that reads "Label: website" appears in the form on the canvas. Visitors never see it.
In Value, replace website with the label you want, such as homepage. If you leave it, every member who signs up here gets the label website.
Ghost adds the label to everyone who signs up through this form. You find it on the member's page in Ghost Admin, and you can filter members by it.
Add a box readers must tick
In the Sections list, click the + on the Form row.
Click Checkbox. A box with the text "I agree to receive emails." appears. Its Required switch is on, so the form sends only once it is ticked.
On the canvas, click the text next to the box and type your own, such as "I agree to the privacy policy."
A required box only has to be ticked. Ghost does not save the tick, and the box does not sign the reader up to a newsletter. To let readers pick newsletters, see Let readers choose their newsletters.
Test the form
The form does not send from the canvas. It works on your Ghost site once the theme is there, as Publish your theme to Ghost and Download your theme and upload it in Ghost show. Then open your site in a private browser window, and sign up with an address you can read. You get Ghost's email, and after you click the link, the address shows under Members in Ghost Admin.
A signup form asks for an email address. Ghost sends the reader a confirmation email, and the reader becomes a free member of your site after clicking the link in it. Members get your newsletter. Some people call this an email capture or opt-in form.
Before you start
Add a ready signup section
Every pattern in the Newsletter category has this form, such as Background Image, Split with Image and Lead Capture.
Add a form to a section you already have
Form in the same group adds a plain form, with an email field and a separate Subscribe button under it.
Choose what the form does
In the Sections list in the left sidebar, click the arrow next to the section, then click its Form row. The Form settings open in the right sidebar. Its General group starts with these two settings.
When Ghost refuses the email, its reason appears under the form in place of the success message. When a reader who is already a member signs up again, Ghost sends them a sign-in link.
A new member gets the newsletters that have Subscribe new members on signup turned on in Ghost, unless the form offers a choice, as Let readers choose their newsletters shows.
Every form sent to Ghost needs an email field. Its Required switch stays on, and pointing at it says "Ghost needs the email to sign people up". A form sent to Ghost keeps only the email, the name, labels and newsletter choices. Other fields, such as a message box, are not saved anywhere. For messages, use a contact form.
Ask for the reader's name
The form sends without a name unless you turn on the field's Required switch.
Label the members who sign up here
A label in Ghost tells you where a member came from, such as
homepageorpodcast.websitewith the label you want, such ashomepage. If you leave it, every member who signs up here gets the labelwebsite.Ghost adds the label to everyone who signs up through this form. You find it on the member's page in Ghost Admin, and you can filter members by it.
Add a box readers must tick
A required box only has to be ticked. Ghost does not save the tick, and the box does not sign the reader up to a newsletter. To let readers pick newsletters, see Let readers choose their newsletters.
Test the form
The form does not send from the canvas. It works on your Ghost site once the theme is there, as Publish your theme to Ghost and Download your theme and upload it in Ghost show. Then open your site in a private browser window, and sign up with an address you can read. You get Ghost's email, and after you click the link, the address shows under Members in Ghost Admin.