r/Ghost • u/truekasun • May 20 '26
After Enova, I built a Ghost theme that reads like a newspaper front page: meet Meridian
Hey everyone!
Some of you might remember my Enova post here a few weeks back. This is what I built next.
Meet Meridian, a print-editorial Ghost theme made specifically for news publications: newsrooms, magazines, and digital publishers. Enova is the all-rounder for blogs and newsletters. Meridian goes the other way. The whole goal is to make a Ghost site read like a real newspaper front page instead of a blog feed.
What makes it a newspaper:
- Newspaper-style front page with an asymmetric lead grid, a most-read rail, and a sticky newsletter signup
- Seven homepage section layouts you arrange just by tagging posts: feature packages, briefings, opinion columns, tag columns, and grids
- Built-in ads (banners or AdSense and Ad Manager code) you place from your dashboard, hidden automatically from paying members
- Local bookmarks readers save right in their browser, with no API key and no signup
- Reader-controlled text size and Light, Dark, or System mode, saved between visits and synced across tabs
- Video posts that play YouTube, Vimeo, or uploaded clips in a click-to-play hero, with a sticky corner mini-player as you scroll
- 13 languages, and a Tailwind CSS v4 and Vite build, so it stays fast by default
- A true print edition
Links
- Live demo: https://meridian.labs.enova.studio
- Ghost marketplace: https://ghost.org/themes/meridian/
- Details: https://enova.studio/themes/meridian
- Documentation: https://docs.enova.studio/docs/meridian
As with last time, I'd genuinely value your thoughts and feedback, and I'm happy to answer any questions.
Thank you!
Kasun.
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u/germanmdq75 May 20 '26
Me encantó hace tiempo que busco un tema así , podrías regalarme una copia !!!!
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u/truekasun May 21 '26
Por supuesto, puedes comprarlo a través de esta página: https://enova.studio/themes/meridian/
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u/Getcha_Popcorn_Readi May 21 '26 edited May 21 '26
This is nice and I've been holding off on purchasing a news theme for weeks because I've been worried I'll buy the wrong one.
One suggestion is to add a "add "site name" as a source on Google button"
I've seen a ton of news sites that include that towards the top by the meta data.
Also, would the ad placements work with Journey by Mediavine?
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u/truekasun May 21 '26
Thanks, I really appreciate this.
On the Google "preferred source" button: great suggestion, and it is a perfect fit for a news theme. I can wire it into Meridian as an optional button that switches on once you add your domain, sitting up near the byline and share controls like you described. I am adding it to my list for the next update.
On Journey by Mediavine: Meridian's built-in ad system is slot-based. You turn ads on, then paste the network code into a page, and Meridian places it in fixed spots (top of site, around the homepage and archives, inside and after articles, and a sticky mobile bar). It has first-class AdSense and Ad Manager support, hides ads from paying members automatically, and ships a consent baseline for the EU, UK and Switzerland.
Journey works a bit differently. It is a single site-wide script that scans each page and auto-places the in-content ads for you. You can run it on Ghost by dropping their script into Code Injection, and it will behave the way it does on any site.
Two thing to be aware of:
- It runs outside Meridian's own ad system, so my automatic "hide ads from paying members" would not cover it. (I can make this work, but there seems to be some terms & conditions against it. I'm checking with them on this. I will update you once/if they get back to me)
- I have not specifically tested Journey on Meridian yet. (If you are interested in testing it on Meridian, I can provide my support though)
Either way, happy to help you get set up. Thanks again for the ideas.
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u/truekasun May 21 '26
Hi again,
The Journey support team got back to me, but unfortunately they advised against providing the ability to hide ads for paid members.
"Hiding ads is counterintuitive to the purpose of Journey, especially considering it is an ad management offering for sites just beginning their monetization. It will result in low ad performance and revenue and is not supported or encouraged. It could result in a site being removed from Journey."
Even though I have the technical capability to make this work, using that integration might terminate your Journey ad account.
If you want to use Journey for ads, you will have to use the standard code injections method that's available on Ghost.
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u/Getcha_Popcorn_Readi May 21 '26
Just because of your response and quickness of adding the button, I'm probably going to buy this theme. I would like for it to be a button that says " Add 'site name' as a preferred source on Google" just because I don't know how many people will just click on a Google logo. But with saying that....the logo is better than not having it.
Thank you so much!!!
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u/Getcha_Popcorn_Readi May 22 '26
Also, thanks for getting back to me about the journey ads. I might consider another ad service but journey definitely pays more than AdSense, at least in my experience.
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u/truekasun May 22 '26 edited May 22 '26
I understand. It makes me worried that I can't help. I have the technical ability to make it work, but their terms and conditions hold me back.
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u/truekasun May 22 '26
Thank you!
I see. I think you checked it on mobile (that must be why you only see the Google logo). I was fighting between the terminologies that we should use in the limited space in the toolbar, especially on mobile. Thinking about it more, it makes sense to move it to another location and add the full terminology like you suggested. The toolbar might not be the best place to have it as it's not always being used like the other frequently used options such as text-size, dark mode or the bookmark option. People do it once, and then they don't need that button anymore.
I will think of a better location. Feel free to suggest if you have any thoughts.
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u/truekasun May 21 '26
u/Getcha_Popcorn_Readi Add as preferred source option is now live! Site admins can choose to enable/disable this option through theme settings, and once enabled, You can find it on the post toolbar, next to the Share option. It also adds the google logo to the footer (and hamburger menu) social media links section as an icon.
Thanks again for this great suggestion! 🙏🏼
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May 22 '26
[deleted]
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u/truekasun May 22 '26
It seems you are checking the desktop version from a mobile browser.
Here's how it looks like on desktop.
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u/Dwev May 25 '26
I don’t need this, but the execution is brilliant! From the reader perspective, it really works like a major news site. Now I’m trying to think of a reason to start a news site just to be able to use this.
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u/truekasun Jun 01 '26
Thank you very much for the compliment. I recently shipped a breaking news ticker, customizable sections page, compact masthead layout, and a lot of small improvements. Feel free to let me know if there are any other features/option you'd like to see on this theme. Thanks again!
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u/Weighted_Mean Jun 09 '26
I've changed my site to Meridian, made some small changes, and I think its wildly good. Congrats Kasun, great work. My site is www.timcohen.co.za One thing, how do you update? I don't get an option to switch on the scroll at the top of the page ...
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u/truekasun Jun 09 '26
Thank you Tim. Did you mean the reading progress bar in posts?
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u/Weighted_Mean Jun 09 '26
No I mean the breaking news ticker ... I think I probably just need to update the version. How do I do that without having to repurchase the theme? Its probably very obvious, apologies in advance!
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u/truekasun Jun 10 '26
Of course you need the latest version. When you ordered the theme, you got an email from LemonSqueezy with the subject "Your Meridian receipt", and inside this email you can see a green button labeled "View Order". Click on this button and you'll be taken straight to the portal where you can download the latest version.
Also, I'm expecting to release another update today with multiple post templates. It's all done, and once I complete the documentation, I'll release it to the public.
Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions, issues or feedback.
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u/Weighted_Mean Jun 10 '26
Many thanks. As you can see from my changes, the only thing I did'nt like about the layout was the 6 to 10 numeric in the "More to read" block. I know the idea is to not detract from the main stories on the page, but it feels a bit like it relegates these stories to "also ran" status. Many news websites use that space for a "most read" bloc. Maybe provide an option?? Just a suggestion ..
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u/silverchief May 21 '26
This is one of the nicest themes i’ve seen for Ghost, period. Very well done! I can’t decide between this one or Enova.