Donations/Tips instead of Subscriptions?

I don’t like the subscription model too much, it’s not very flexible and frankly not very user friendly either. People have 100 subscriptions to keep track of and to remember where to subscribe where to unsubscribe and so on. Is there a way to switch my Ghost instance to a Donations/Tips business model instead like Nostr? Integrating with Bitcoin-LN will be particularly nice.
Thanks.

3 Likes

Hi gro, Mash has some nice features. Take a look at their Page Revealer function where a Lightning tip is needed to unlock a page. No Stripe or any other legacy nonsense needed. As for Bitcoin Tips/Donations, Mash would also do, but I recommend also customising your own widget with Twenty Uno and pasting in your footer.

2 Likes

Oh, interesting. Does either Mash or 21 integrate with Ghost to replace the default subscription model?

They’re both just code snippets you can place in your footer. No integration needed. In Ghost, the default membership tier for subscribers is free, while you can then opt to link to Stripe to have a pay wall erected. I can’t see the newsletter subscription via email model being replaced any time soon, if that’s rather what you’re referring to? How exactly do you envision an alternative?

1 Like

I don’t really want to have a paywall, I want to be open source and let people tip if they feel like it. Kind of how people tip in twitch streams without being forced to, just because they enjoy the content. Ideally I’d like to integrate with Ghost so that I can track results in my analytics dashboard which would be otherwise useless since i won’t be using either a paywall or a subscription model. I am not sure I want to do a newsletter either, I mostly plan to post on Twitter and Nostr. Maybe I should just make the website 100% free and collect the tips on Twitter and Nostr. I will think more about optimal setup.

1 Like

Ghost is the only open source CMS as far as I know, so you’re in good company. It all depends on what you actually want to use your website for. Mash’s other features along with Twenty Uno would suffice if you want to focus on voluntary tips. Rather think of newsletters as an additional and more intimate manner for people interested in what you have to say, to keep up to date with you. You can also make an RSS feed link prominent on your website. None of this has to be pay-walled. Keep in mind you’ll get the most from Ghost’s analytics when tracking newsletter engagement because that’s what it focusses on. Also check out Nostr.Sites where you can convert a nostr note into a personal webpage, like a Linktree.

1 Like

Curious how did you end up solving this accepting tips//donations on ghost?

1 Like

One hundred paid suscriptions? Ghost it,s a blogging plataform. Now, one time payment has been released. A tip based business? I dont see It. You pay for monthly suscription when you think the content its great on a regular basis. So, the content creator enforces themself to continue that way. If you think Stripe its not flexible. Turn down the lights…you look like a salesman introducing “great” business. (bitcoin_Breakdown)

Ghost added a built-in tips and donations feature now: