Editor's note
A short italic note in the homepage secondary aside, sourced from a Ghost page with slug editors-note. Optional — hides itself when the page doesn't exist.
The Editor's note is a small italic panel that appears in the homepage's secondary aside — the left column on XL screens, near the top on mobile. It's where the masthead's voice goes: a one-paragraph welcome, a publishing-week note, a correction, or a brief editorial. Sourced from a single Ghost page so editors can update it without touching template code.
How it's composed
The panel has three parts, all sourced from a Ghost page with slug editors-note:
| Page field | Slot in the panel | Notes |
|---|---|---|
html (body) | Italic body paragraph(s) | Author normal paragraphs in the editor; everything inside the body renders inline. |
authors | Byline footer (— Author Name) | Set the primary author of the page to the editor whose voice this is. Multiple authors render comma-separated. |
| (literal) | "Editor's note" eyebrow | Translated via {{t}}; not authored on the page. |
The page itself never renders at its own URL — it's a content source for the homepage panel, not a destination.
Setting it up
Create the page
In Ghost Admin, go to Pages → New page. Title it whatever you like — the title isn't displayed.
Set the slug to editors-note
In Page settings, set the Page URL to editors-note. The page does not need to be linked from your nav.
Set the primary author
The page's primary author appears as the byline under the body. To pick who's signing the note, open Page settings → Authors and set the first author to the editor.
Author the body
Type your note in the editor body — one short paragraph reads best, but multiple paragraphs work. Italics are applied site-wide for this panel, so don't manually italicize the whole body in the editor.
Hiding the panel
The panel renders only when the editors-note page exists and is published. To hide it:
- Set the page to draft — the panel disappears until you re-publish.
- Delete the page — the panel goes away permanently.
There's no theme setting toggle. The Ghost page is the toggle.
What's not in the panel
The Editor's note panel is intentionally small and one-paragraph-shaped. If you find yourself wanting:
- Headlines, images, or cards → use a regular homepage section row via the
#home-*tags. See Homepage sections. - A site-wide conversion CTA → use the Membership CTA band above the footer.
- A long-form letter from the editor → publish it as a normal post under a tag like
Editor's letter, and link to it from the Editor's note panel.