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Northline is Aftertype's Ghost theme. See how it installs and configures before you buy.

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Before you buy

Confirm your Ghost plan

Custom themes work on Ghost(Pro) Publisher or higher and on compatible self-hosted Ghost installations. Ghost(Pro) Starter does not allow custom themes.

Confirm the theme fit

Northline is designed for independent magazines and long-form editorial publications. Open the Northline product page for features and demo links.

Back up before changes

Before replacing or updating a live theme, download the current active theme from Ghost Admin and keep a current content export.

Installation

  1. 1.Download the theme ZIP from your purchase email.
  2. 2.Open Ghost Admin and go to Settings > Site > Design & branding.
  3. 3.Open the theme area and choose to upload a theme.
  4. 4.Select the downloaded ZIP and wait for Ghost to validate it.
  5. 5.Preview the theme with your content before activating it on the live site.

If Ghost rejects the upload, do not unzip and rebuild the package. Copy the validation message and email it with your Ghost version to support.

Initial setup

Brand and navigation

Set your publication title, description, logo, icon and navigation in Ghost Admin. Review long navigation labels on both desktop and mobile before launch.

Routes and collections

Northline uses editorial layouts that depend on routes and collections. The purchased package contains the routing file and instructions. Back up your existing routes.yaml before uploading a replacement.

Test representative content

Preview a long article, a short article, a post without a feature image, tag and author archives, member signup and search. The live demo shows the intended behavior for comparison.

Memberships

Northline uses Ghost's native membership system. Configure membership access and paid tiers in Ghost Admin; payments are handled by your own Ghost/Stripe configuration, not by Aftertype.

  • Test free-member signup and email confirmation.
  • Test login and account management.
  • If you sell paid memberships, test monthly and yearly tiers.
  • Review every membership call-to-action with your own publication copy.

Customization

Use Ghost's built-in brand, navigation and design settings first. For small presentation changes, use a controlled CSS override through Code Injection so the original theme remains easier to update.

Direct code edits are allowed under the license, but save them in version control or document them clearly. Replacing the theme with an update can overwrite modified files.

Updates

  1. 1.Read the changelog and note any action required.
  2. 2.Back up the active theme and any customized files.
  3. 3.Upload the new ZIP as a separate theme version.
  4. 4.Preview key templates with your content.
  5. 5.Activate only after the preview passes.

Updates released during the lifetime of the product are included without a renewal fee.

Support

Email support with the theme name, Ghost version, page URL and a screenshot or exact error message. I aim to reply within two business days.

Support covers installation, documented configuration and confirmed defects. Bespoke design changes, hosting administration and third-party integrations are separate work.

Last updated: August 22, 2026

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