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# Choosing a Ghost theme for a personal blog
- URL: https://samadesign.dev/ghost-theme-for-personal-blog/
- Published: 2026-10-12T09:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-12T09:00:00.000Z
- Description: A personal blog is about you, not a feed: what the homepage should say, and how to keep readers coming back.
- Author: Nora Lindgren
- Tags: Guides, Salvia, Gazette, #Import 2026-10-15 22:40

A magazine sells its stories; a personal blog sells a voice. The theme should make readers understand, in a few seconds, who is writing and why they would want to come back. Here is what to look for.

## An opening that introduces you

The first screen should say who you are and what you write about, with your portrait or a photo that sets the tone. Your site title and description, set in Ghost’s General settings, should appear there — not only in the browser tab.

## A way to follow you, right away

Your best readers want to know when you publish. A sign-up form in the opening and at the end of each post turns a visit into a subscriber. Ghost handles the list and the emails; the theme only has to place the form well.

## Posts that show their photos

Personal blogs live on images: travel, family, food, places. Prefer a layout where the picture is large and the title readable on top, rather than a thumbnail beside a paragraph.

## Calm reading

Comfortable line length, a clear title, a table of contents for long stories and a reading progress bar. Nothing should pull the reader away from the text.

## Light enough to set up alone

You will not hire a developer for a blog. Every section should be switchable in **Design & branding**, with the demo content to start from and documentation in plain words.

## Three themes, three voices

- [Salvia](https://samadesign.dev/salvia/): warm and hand-made, an opening that introduces you with a sign-up form, stories in an edge-to-edge mosaic. [Live demo](https://salvia.samadesign.dev/?ref=samadesign.dev).
- [Gazette](https://samadesign.dev/gazette/): colourful and lively, a slider of your best stories and a sidebar that presents you. [Live demo](https://gazette.samadesign.dev/?ref=samadesign.dev).
- [Kontur](https://samadesign.dev/kontur/): strict and graphic, big type and one accent colour, for blogs with a strong visual identity. [Live demo](https://kontur.samadesign.dev/?ref=samadesign.dev).