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# Introducing ShortForm, a Minimalist Ghost Theme for Personal Blogging
- URL: https://snehasishnayak.com/introducing-shortform-a-minimalist-ghost-theme-for-personal-blogging/
- Published: 2026-07-02T07:27:46.000Z
- Updated: 2026-07-04T05:56:02.000Z
- Description: ShortForm is a minimalist Ghost theme built for distraction-free, diary-style blogging. It keeps the focus on your writing with a clean layout, dark mode, archives, and thoughtful details.
- Author: Snehasish Nayak
- Tags: Tools

I like writing without distractions. Just words on a page.

That's why I built **ShortForm**, a minimalist theme for Ghost that keeps the focus on the writing instead of the interface. No unnecessary elements, no visual noise, just a clean reading experience.

![](https://snehasishnayak.com/content/images/2026/07/ghost-short-form-2.png)

## Why I Built It

Most Ghost themes try to do too much. Sidebars, featured sections, social counters, and plenty of things competing for attention.

I wanted something different.

ShortForm follows a diary-style layout where every page focuses on a single post. It feels closer to reading someone's journal than scrolling through a content feed.

## What You Get

- Diary-style layout with one post per page
- Clean and distraction-free design
- Light, dark, and automatic theme support
- Reading progress bar
- Chronological archive grouped by year and month
- Tag pages for browsing related posts
- Built-in Ghost newsletter support
- Responsive design that works well across devices
- Smooth navigation and subtle animations
- Click-to-zoom images
- Well-designed code blocks with copy buttons

![](https://snehasishnayak.com/content/images/2026/07/image-2-1.png)

## Getting Started

Clone the repository:

```
git clone https://github.com/AskSnehasish/ShortForm.git
```

Install dependencies and build the theme:

```
cd ShortForm
npm install
npm run build
```

Create the ZIP file before uploading it to Ghost:

```
zip -r shortform.zip . -x "node_modules/*" ".git/*" "*.md"
```

Then head to your Ghost Admin, open **Settings → Design**, and upload the generated ZIP file.

## Customization

Everything can be managed from Ghost's built-in theme settings.

You can:

- Filter homepage posts by tag
- Choose Light, Dark, or Auto mode
- Show or hide featured images
- Customize the newsletter section
- Update the footer copyright text
- Set your accent color, which is used across links, highlights, and interactive elements

## Built With

- Handlebars
- Vanilla JavaScript
- CSS Custom Properties
- csso for CSS optimization

The project is open source and available on GitHub.

**GitHub:** [https://github.com/AskSnehasish/ShortForm](https://github.com/AskSnehasish/ShortForm?ref=snehasishnayak.com)

If you find a bug, have an idea for an improvement, or decide to use it on your own blog, I'd love to hear your feedback.