Documentation - Shizuka Theme for Ghost

Important Note: The following documentation will serve as a guide for your new theme. As this is documentation for a Ghost theme, we assume you have basic knowledge of Ghost.

If you are new to Ghost, we strongly recommend consulting the guides in the official Ghost Help Center. These resources will provide you with all the necessary information to get started.

📝 Introduction

Shizuka is an elegant and modern Ghost theme, inspired by Japanese aesthetics but designed to adapt to a wide variety of content. Whether you want to create a blog, an online magazine, or a specialized content site, Shizuka offers a smooth and immersive user experience. Additionally, with its option to disable kanji characters, it adapts perfectly to all styles and themes beyond Japanese culture.

A Theme Designed for Everyone

One of Shizuka's main features is its ease of use. We have developed this theme with a "no-code" philosophy, which means you won't need to touch the code to customize your site.

No-Code Customization

Intuitive configuration interface directly in Ghost
All customization options accessible via the admin interface
No technical knowledge required for customization
Visual configuration system for all elements

Key Features for Content Creators

Shizuka has been designed with content creators in mind. Whether you are a blogger, journalist, artist, or business, our theme adapts to your needs:

Responsive Layout: Your content displays perfectly on all devices
20 Extended Customization Options: Adapt the appearance of your site without touching the code
SEO Optimization: Structure optimized for better search engine ranking
Optimized Performance: Fast loading times and smooth user experience
Translation Ready: Easily adaptable to multiple languages and international audiences

🚀 Main Features

Japanese-inspired design with multilingual support
Customizable light/dark mode
Custom authentication pages
Support for Japanese text
Customizable sections on the homepage
Social network integration
Compatible with Ghost 5.0.0 and later versions

💻 Technical Prerequisites

Ghost CMS version 5.0.0 or higher
Modern browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge)

🚀 Main Installation Steps

To set up your Shizuka theme, follow these two essential steps in the given order:

1

Theme Installation

Install shizuka_theme.zip via the Ghost dashboard

View detailed instructions →

2

Route Configuration

Import the routes.yaml file to enable all features

View detailed instructions →

📦 Theme Installation

Installation Steps

Download
Locate the shizuka_theme.zip file you received after purchase.
Access the Ghost Dashboard
Log in to your Ghost dashboard as an administrator.
Design Section
Navigate to Settings > Design in the side menu.
Theme Installation
Click the "Upload theme" button and select the shizuka_theme.zip file.
Activation
Once the theme is uploaded, click "Activate" to enable it on your site.

⚠️ Important

Do not rename the zip file before installation. The file name must remain shizuka_theme.zip to ensure a correct installation or update of the theme.

⚡ Route Configuration

To ensure custom pages function correctly, you must import the routes.yaml file into your Ghost configuration. This file defines the navigation structure of your site.

🔍 Search Function

The "All Posts" page (/all-posts/) includes an integrated search function that allows visitors to quickly find the desired content. This function searches within titles, descriptions, and article content.

Search Features:

Real-time search
Filtering by tags and categories
Highlighting of results
Intuitive user interface

⚙️ Theme Configuration

General Options

Go to settings > Design & branding > Customize > Theme

Color Mode (color_mode)

Set the display mode of your site:

User Choice: Displays a toggle button allowing visitors to choose between light and dark mode
Light: Forces light mode for all visitors (the toggle button is hidden)
Dark: Forces dark mode for all visitors (the toggle button is hidden)

Subtitle (subtitle)

Add a subtitle that will appear next to your site name. This option is particularly useful for adding a slogan or short description.

Leave this field empty if you do not wish to display a subtitle
The subtitle is not displayed if you use a custom logo

Authentication Pages (custom_auth_pages)

Choose the style of the authentication pages:

Enabled: Uses our custom styled pages for:
Disabled: Uses Ghost's default modals

Japanese Text (show_japanese_text)

Enable the display of Japanese text on the theme, ideal for sites focused on Japanese culture.

📨 Contact Form

The theme includes a contact form powered by Formspree, a secure and reliable form backend service.

Setup Steps

Create a Formspree Account
Go to formspree.io and create a free account
Create a New Form
Click on "New Form" and choose a name for your form
Get Your Form Endpoint
Copy your form endpoint (it looks like https://formspree.io/f/xxxxxxxx)
Configure in Ghost
In Ghost Admin, go to Settings > Design > Site-wide > Formspree endpoint and paste your endpoint

💡 Features

Free tier includes 50 submissions per month
Spam filtering
Email notifications
Form submissions dashboard

Theme Translation

Translation Process

To translate the theme into your language:

Access the locales folder in the theme files
Copy the existing en.json file
Rename the copy according to your language code (e.g., fr.json for French)
Open the new file and translate each value while keeping the original keys

Translation Example

Example of translation (fr.json):

{
    "Back": "Retour",
    "Newer Posts": "Articles Plus Récents",
    "Older Posts": "Articles Plus Anciens",
    "Page {page} of {pages}": "Page {page} sur {pages}"
}

Home Page Configuration

Customize the appearance and content of your home page by enabling or disabling different sections and adjusting the number of displayed items.

Header (show_header)

Manage the hero section at the top of the home page:

Enabled: Displays the hero section
Disabled: Completely hides the hero section

Featured Posts (show_featured_posts)

Popular Categories (show_popular_categories)

Display of the most important categories:

Enable: Check to display the section, uncheck to hide
Number of Categories: Customize the number of categories to display (default: 4)

Latest Posts (show_latest_posts)

Section for the most recent articles:

Enable: Check to display the section, uncheck to hide
Number of Posts: Customize the number of recent posts to display (default: 6)

Featured Authors (show_authors)

Highlight the site's authors:

Enable: Check to display the section, uncheck to hide
Number of Authors: Customize the number of authors to display (default: 3)

Newsletter (show_newsletter)

Newsletter subscription section:

Enable: Check to display the newsletter form, uncheck to hide
Background Image: Automatically uses the hero image set in Ghost settings

🎨 Customization

Menu Configuration

The Shizuka theme offers an advanced navigation system that allows you to create two-level menus (main menu and submenus).

Menu Structure

To create a menu with submenus, follow this naming convention:

Example 1:

Main Menu: Example PageName
- PageName
Submenus: To add a submenu to PageName, use two dashes (--) with spaces before and after:
- PageName -- Submenu 1
- PageName -- Submenu 2
- PageName -- Submenu 3

The spaces in the submenus are taken into account

Example 2:

Main Menu: Example Page Name
- PageName
Submenus: To add a submenu to Page Name, use two dashes (--) with spaces before and after:
- Page Name -- Submenu 1
- Page Name -- Submenu 2
- Page Name -- Submenu 3

⚠️ Important: It is essential to correctly place spaces between the dashes and the words for this to work properly.

✅ Correct: PageName -- Submenu / Page Name -- Submenu

❌ Incorrect: PageName--Submenu / Page Name--Submenu

Configuration in Ghost

Result on the site

💡 Menu Tips

Use exactly two dashes (--) for submenus
Ensure the main menu spelling matches exactly for all submenus
Submenus will automatically appear in a dropdown menu

Ghost Menu

The theme uses the color #B10F2E for Ghost menus, creating a unique and consistent visual identity.

Social Networks

Configure your social links in the theme settings:

Instagram: footer_instagram
Pinterest: footer_pinterest

Custom Images

Sign-in image (signin_image)
Sign-up image (signup_image)

Footer "About" Text (footer_about_text)

Customize the text that appears in the "About" section of the footer:

Default Value: "Discover the beauty and richness of Japanese culture through our carefully selected articles and photos."
This text appears in the footer of all pages

🔄 Theme Updates

To update the theme, follow the same process as for installation.

Check the detailed steps here: Installation and Update Procedure

🔧 Technical Support

For any technical assistance, contact us at: [email protected]

Visit our demo site: https://shizuka.bewed.dev/

📄 License

This theme is under a commercial license. One license per site is required.

📋 Changelog

Version 1.0.0 (March 14, 2024)

✨ First public version of the theme
🎨 Modern and clean Japanese design
🌓 Customizable light/dark mode
🔐 Custom authentication pages
🇯🇵 Support for Japanese text
📱 Responsive design
🔍 Integrated search function
📝 Multilingual support
📊 Configurable homepage sections
🎯 SEO optimization

Demos Buy on ThemeForest

Shizuka Theme Documentation