Why a post went out differently on the social web

Usually because an exception matched the post first, or because the post went out before you changed your rules. You can check both on the Social web tab in the customer portal.

An exception matched first

A post follows the first exception in the list that matches it, and only that one. Take a paid post tagged podcast, with one exception for the tag and one for paid posts. It follows whichever of the two sits higher under Exceptions.

What followers see shows your latest post under the rules on screen. When an exception decides its format, it says "One of your exceptions decides this one." Use the arrows to move the exception you want higher, then click Save changes.

The post went out before the change

A post's format is set when it's first published, and it stays. New rules don't change posts that are already out. They apply to posts you publish from about a minute after you save.

Posts published before you saved any rules keep going out as Ghost shares them. That means in full.

To send a post out again under your current rules, unpublish it and publish it again. Your followers lose the old copy and get the post as a new one.

You edited a short note

A note isn't updated once it's out. Edits to the post don't reach it. Posts shared as a Full post or Preview and link do pick up your edits.

To correct a note, unpublish the post and publish it again. That deletes the old note and sends a new one.

Mastodon only shows the title and a link

That's how Mastodon shows articles. Full post and Preview and link both go out as articles, and Ghost's Network shows their text.

To get your words into Mastodon timelines, share those posts as a Short note. A note shows in full. An exception can do that for a single tag and leave your other posts as they are.

A note went out without its image

A note only carries a feature image that's stored on your site. An image picked from Unsplash in Ghost's editor is left off, like any image hosted somewhere else. So is an image over about 5 MB. The note still goes out. Apps show your post's link preview instead.

For future notes, download the image and upload it to the post in Ghost. Check that Attach the feature image is on, too. It only shows while Short note is your default, but it applies to every note.

A post for members wasn't shared

Ghost only shares a post for members up to its public preview. So a post for members with no Public preview card isn't shared as a Full post at all.

Add a Public preview card where the free part should end. Or share those posts as Preview and link, which works without one. An exception for is for members or is for paid members does that for them alone.

A tag exception stopped matching

An exception remembers the tag's slug, the form of its name Ghost uses in links. The exception list shows that slug for an ordinary tag: weekly-news for a tag called Weekly News.

Change the slug in Ghost and the exception stops matching. Remove it and add it again with the tag as it is now.

Nothing reaches the social web

Look at the line at the top of the Social web tab. If it says "Not on the social web yet · Network is off in Ghost", turn Network on under Ghost Admin → Settings → Network.

If Network is on, check your default under How new posts appear. With Don’t share there, only posts an exception matches go out.

How the formats, exceptions and cut work:

How to choose what your posts look like on the social web

Share each post in full, as a preview, as a short note or not at all, with exceptions for tags and for posts for members.

Magic PagesJannis Fedoruk-Betschki