Ghost · Website builder

Feedback on Ghost themes, pages and posts

Review a Ghost publication, theme or draft post with your client or editor. They click the heading, card or button they mean and type a note, with nothing installed in Ghost.

Free for 3 projects. Reviewers never need an account.

Why Ghost teams use HTMLAnnotate

Ghost is built for publishing, so most review work happens around the theme: the homepage layout, post cards, the subscribe button, tag and author pages. Designers building custom themes, and editors launching a redesign, need sign-off from people who shouldn't have a staff account. Ghost's own comments are for signed-in members discussing published posts, not for reviewing layout. So feedback usually arrives as screenshots in email threads, with arrows drawn over the wrong card.

Screenshots lose context fast. A note that says "the spacing here" doesn't say which template, which screen size or which post it came from. A Loom walk-through captures tone better, but someone still has to scrub the video and write the list. Giving a client a Contributor login lets them write posts, but it doesn't give them a way to point at part of the theme and say what is wrong with it.

With HTMLAnnotate you paste your ghost.io address or custom domain and send one link. Reviewers browse the publication as readers see it, switch to Comment mode and click the exact heading, image or button. Each note keeps the page path, the view (Desktop, Tablet or Mobile) and the browser details, so you can open the right template in your theme files and fix it without another round of emails.

How it works with Ghost

Three steps, about a minute.

Use a public address

Your ghost.io subdomain or custom domain works with any theme. If "Make this site private" is on in Settings, switch it off for the round, since its password page can't be imported yet.

Paste the link

Paste the homepage or a specific post URL into HTMLAnnotate. From there, reviewers can move between the homepage, posts, tag pages and author pages without a new link.

Send it

Share the review link by email or chat. Reviewers add their name and email once, then click the card, heading or button they mean and type their note.

A full review round, start to finish

What a typical round looks like on Ghost.

Prepare the site
Activate the theme you want reviewed and publish a handful of real posts so cards, feature images, tag archives and author pages fill out. If the site is in private mode, switch "Make this site private" off under Settings for the length of the round, then turn it back on afterwards.
Create the review link
Paste the address into HTMLAnnotate. Public Ghost sites need no password setting. Sign in before you create the link if the round will take more than a day: on Free a link lasts up to 14 days, and on Pro it never expires.
Point reviewers at the right pages
In your message, list the templates you want checked: the homepage, a post with a feature image, a tag archive and an author page. Reviewers use Browse mode to click through the site as a reader would, then switch to Comment mode to leave notes.
Review on phones
Ask at least one person to use the Mobile view. Ghost themes often collapse the navigation and change the post grid on small screens, and comments left in Mobile stay in Mobile, so phone notes never get mixed up with desktop ones.
Triage the notes
Label each comment as Bug, Copy, Design, Question or Idea and set a priority. Copy changes that belong in Ghost Admin go to the editor, while layout issues go to the theme developer with the CSS selector and page path already attached.
Sign off and hand over
Ask the client to press Approve when the theme looks right. Use Copy for AI to paste the open comments into Cursor or Claude alongside your theme's Handlebars and CSS files, export a CSV for your records, then switch comments off on the link.

Ghost's own tools and HTMLAnnotate

Use both. Here is what each is good at.

What you need	Ghost	HTMLAnnotate
Feedback from someone without a login	Draft preview link, view only	Comments with just a name and email
Notes pinned to the layout	Not available	Click any element to pin a note
Reader discussion on posts	Native comments for signed-in members	Not built for public discussion
Checking phone layouts	Editor preview shows desktop and mobile	Separate Desktop, Tablet and Mobile comments
Reviewing a private site	Private mode password page	Password pages can't be imported yet
Handing fixes to a developer	Not available	Copy for AI and CSV export

What works

Custom theme reviews, from the homepage to tag and author archives
Draft post previews that open without a Ghost login
Comments on post cards, navigation, the subscribe button and footer
Separate Mobile comments for small-screen layouts
No staff account for clients or outside editors
Email digests instead of one email per comment

Good to know

Ghost's private mode shows a password page, which can't be imported yet. Switch it off for the round, then turn it back on.
Members-only and paid-only posts need a member sign-in, so reviewers see only what a logged-out visitor sees.
Portal sign-up and newsletter forms can't be submitted on the reviewed copy, so test real sign-ups on the site itself.
A draft preview link shows a single post. Theme templates such as the homepage and tag pages need the published site.

Tips for better Ghost reviews

Fill the site with real posts

Empty themes hide problems. Publish five or six posts with feature images, tags and an author bio before the round, so reviewers can judge cards, archives and author pages the way readers will see them.

Share draft previews for post layouts

Ghost draft previews have a link that opens without logging in. Paste it into HTMLAnnotate to collect comments on one post's layout, headings and images before you hit publish.

Keep phone notes separate

Ghost themes usually collapse the navigation and change the post grid on phones. Ask one reviewer to stay in the Mobile view so those notes stay apart from desktop feedback and map to your media queries.

Send theme fixes with context

Every comment carries a CSS selector and page path. Paste the Copy for AI brief next to your theme's .hbs and CSS files in Cursor or Claude, so fixes land in the right template the first time.

Questions about Ghost

Do reviewers need a Ghost account?

No. Reviewers open the HTMLAnnotate link and give a name and email once per browser. They don't need a staff user, a member account or any access to Ghost Admin.

Can I review a Ghost site in private mode?

Not while private mode is on. Ghost's private site shows a password page, and pages behind a sign-in form can't be imported yet. Switch "Make this site private" off in Settings for the round, then switch it back on.

Can I get feedback on a draft post before publishing?

Yes. Ghost draft previews have a link that opens without logging in. Paste that link into HTMLAnnotate and reviewers can comment on the post's headings, images and layout before it goes live.

Will HTMLAnnotate change my theme or add code?

No. Nothing is installed on your Ghost site and you don't need code injection. HTMLAnnotate fetches the public pages fresh each time the review opens, so your theme files stay untouched.

Can reviewers see members-only posts?

No. Reviewers see what a logged-out visitor sees, so gated posts show the sign-up prompt instead of the full text. To review the full post layout, use a public post or a draft preview link.

How is this different from Ghost's native comments?

They do different jobs. Ghost comments let signed-in members discuss published posts. HTMLAnnotate notes are seen only by people with your review link and pin to page elements, so you can review layout without involving readers.

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HTMLAnnotate works with any page anyone can open in a browser.

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