GhostPicks Documentation

Everything you need to know to create beautiful product recommendations for your Ghost blog.

🚀 Getting Started

1

Create Your Account

Sign up for free at ghostpicks.co/admin. No credit card required to start.

✓ Free plan includes 1 collection with up to 5 products

2

Create Your First Collection

Collections are groups of related products (e.g., "Photography Gear", "Home Office Setup").

✓ Click the "+" button next to Collections in your dashboard

3

Add Products

Add products with titles, descriptions, images, and links to where people can buy them.

✓ Works with any online store: Amazon, Best Buy, your own shop, etc.

4

Get Your Embed Code

Copy the widget code and paste it into any Ghost post or page.

✓ Your products will appear beautifully formatted and ready for clicks

📁 Creating Collections

What are Collections?

Collections are themed groups of products that you can embed as a single widget. Think of them as different product categories for your audience.

💡 Collection Ideas:

  • • "My Photography Setup" - cameras, lenses, tripods
  • • "Home Office Essentials" - desk, chair, monitor, accessories
  • • "Travel Gear" - luggage, gadgets, clothing
  • • "Kitchen Favorites" - tools, appliances, ingredients
  • • "Tech Stack" - software, hardware, subscriptions

Creating a Collection

  1. In your dashboard sidebar, click the "+" button next to "Collections"
  2. Enter a descriptive name (this will appear as the widget title)
  3. Click "Create Collection"
  4. Your new collection is ready for products!

Plan Limits & Pricing

Free Plan

  • • 1 active collection
  • • Up to 5 products
  • • Full analytics
  • • Auto URL scraping
  • • Shows "Powered by" branding

Pro Monthly - $7/month

  • • Unlimited collections
  • • Unlimited products
  • • Remove branding option
  • • All free features
  • • Cancel anytime

Pro Annual - $64/year

  • • Everything in Pro Monthly
  • • Save $20/year (23% off)
  • • Locked-in pricing rate
  • • Early access to new features
  • • Most popular choice

🛍️ Adding Products

Smart Product Input

✨ Auto-Fill from URL (New!)

Just paste a product URL and GhostPicks will automatically extract:

  • • Product title from page metadata
  • • Description from product page
  • • Product image from Open Graph tags
  • • Retailer information

💡 Works with Amazon, Best Buy, Target, and most e-commerce sites

Product Information

Each product needs the following information (auto-filled when possible):

Product URL (Start here!)

Paste the product link first - we'll auto-fill the rest!

Product Title

Clear, descriptive name (auto-filled from URL or edit manually)

Description

Why you recommend it, your experience, key benefits (auto-filled from URL or add your own)

Product Image

Auto-detected from URL, upload your own, or provide an image URL

Image Guidelines

✅ Best Practices:

  • • Use high-quality product photos
  • • Square or landscape orientation works best
  • • Clear background preferred
  • • Max file size: 2MB
  • • Supported formats: JPG, PNG, WebP

Retailer Detection

GhostPicks automatically detects the retailer from your product URL and applies brand colors:

Amazon
Best Buy
Target
Walmart

Manual vs Auto Product Entry

✨ Recommended: Auto-Fill

  1. Paste product URL
  2. Wait 1 second for auto-fill
  3. Review and edit as needed
  4. Save your product

⚡ Saves 90% of your time!

📝 Manual Entry

  1. Enter product title
  2. Write description
  3. Upload/link image
  4. Add product URL

🎯 Full control over content

⚡ Embedding Your Widget

Getting Your Embed Code

  1. Select a collection in your dashboard
  2. Click "Get Embed Code" (green button)
  3. Customize your options (theme, header, branding)
  4. Click "Copy Embed Code"

Adding to Ghost

Method 1: HTML Card (Recommended)

  1. In your Ghost post editor, add an HTML card
  2. Paste your GhostPicks embed code
  3. Preview or publish your post

Method 2: Code Injection

  1. Go to Ghost Admin → Settings → Code Injection
  2. Add to "Post Header" or "Site Header"
  3. Use for site-wide installations

Example Embed Code

<div id="ghostpicks-photography"></div> <script src="https://ghostpicks.co/widget.js"></script> <script> GhostPicks.init({ container: 'ghostpicks-photography', userId: 'your-user-id', collection: 'photography', theme: 'auto' }); </script>

⚠️ Important Notes:

  • • Each collection has a unique embed code
  • • Don't edit the user ID or collection slug
  • • The widget loads after your page content
  • • Works on any website, not just Ghost

🎨 Customization Options

Theme Options

Auto (Default)

Inherits your blog's colors and theme automatically

Light

Always shows light theme regardless of blog theme

Dark

Always shows dark theme regardless of blog theme

Header Options

Show Collection Title

Displays your collection name above the products

✓ Default

Hide Collection Title

Shows only products without title

Option

Branding Options

Show "Powered by GhostPicks"

Small attribution link at bottom of widget

Free Plan

Remove Branding

Clean widget with no attribution - perfect for professional sites

Pro Monthly ($7) / Pro Annual ($64)

💡 Pro Tip

Pro Annual saves you almost 3 months compared to monthly billing ($84 vs $64/year) and locks in your pricing rate for a full year.

📊 Analytics & Performance

What We Track

👀 Impressions

How many times your products were viewed

🖱️ Clicks

How many people clicked "View Product"

📈 Click-Through Rate

Percentage of viewers who clicked

Privacy & Data

  • ✓ No personal data collected from your visitors
  • ✓ IP addresses are hashed for privacy
  • ✓ No cookies set on visitor browsers
  • ✓ Analytics help you optimize your recommendations

Viewing Analytics

Access comprehensive analytics in your dashboard:

  1. Select a collection in your dashboard
  2. Click "View Analytics" to see detailed performance
  3. View individual product stats on each product card
  4. Track performance over the last 30 days
  5. Identify your top-performing products
  6. Optimize your collection based on click-through rates

📊 Analytics Dashboard Features

  • • Real-time impression and click tracking
  • • Product-by-product performance breakdown
  • • Click-through rate calculations
  • • 30-day rolling performance data
  • • Export data for further analysis

❓ Frequently Asked Questions

Is GhostPicks really free to start?

Yes! The free plan includes 1 collection with up to 5 products, full analytics, and auto-URL scraping. No credit card required to sign up. You can upgrade to Pro Monthly ($7/month) or Pro Annual ($64/year) anytime for unlimited collections and products.

How do I actually make money with GhostPicks?

GhostPicks is a display tool that helps you showcase products beautifully. To earn money, you need to:

  1. Join affiliate programs (Amazon Associates, Impact, ShareASale, etc.)
  2. Get your unique affiliate links from those programs
  3. Use those affiliate links as your "Product URL" in GhostPicks
  4. When visitors click and buy, you earn commissions from the affiliate program

Important: GhostPicks doesn't handle payments, track sales, or provide affiliate links. We simply display your products with the links you provide.

Can I use affiliate links in my products?

Absolutely! GhostPicks is perfect for affiliate marketing. You can use Amazon Associates, Impact, ShareASale, or any other affiliate links. Just make sure to follow FTC disclosure guidelines on your blog and comply with each affiliate program's terms of service.

Does this only work with Ghost blogs?

No! While we're optimized for Ghost, our widgets work on any website that allows HTML/JavaScript: WordPress, Webflow, Squarespace, static sites, and more. The embed code works anywhere.

How do I make the widget match my blog's design?

Our widgets automatically inherit your blog's fonts, colors, and styling. Use theme="auto" (default) for best results. You can also force light or dark themes if needed. The widget is designed to blend seamlessly with any design.

Can I customize the widget appearance?

Yes! You can choose themes (auto/light/dark), hide the collection title, and remove branding with Pro plans. The widget uses CSS variables, so advanced users can add custom CSS to further customize the appearance.

What happens if I cancel my Pro subscription?

Your account reverts to the free plan gracefully. You can keep 1 collection with up to 5 products. Extra collections are hidden (not deleted), and the "Powered by GhostPicks" branding returns. All analytics and auto-scraping features remain available. You can reactivate Pro anytime to restore full access.

How fast do the widgets load?

Very fast! Widgets are served from a global CDN, load asynchronously after your page content, and are optimized for performance. They won't slow down your blog's loading speed.

Can I use my own product images?

Yes! You can upload your own images (up to 2MB) or use image URLs. We recommend high-quality product photos with clear backgrounds for best results. Images are automatically optimized and served from our CDN.

Do you take a commission on sales?

No! We don't take any commission on your sales or affiliate earnings. You keep 100% of what you earn. We only make money from Pro subscriptions, keeping our incentives aligned with yours.

How does the auto-fill from URL feature work?

When you paste a product URL, GhostPicks automatically scrapes the page's Open Graph metadata to extract the title, description, and image. This works with most major retailers including Amazon, Best Buy, Target, and official brand stores. The auto-fill happens after you stop typing for 1 second, or you can click "Scrape Now" for immediate results.

Is there an API for developers?

Not yet, but it's on our roadmap! For now, you can manage everything through the dashboard. If you have specific API needs, please contact us at support@ghostpicks.co and let us know what you'd like to build.

🔧 Troubleshooting

Common Issues & Solutions

❌ Widget not showing up

  • • Check that you copied the complete embed code
  • • Ensure you're using an HTML card in Ghost, not a markdown card
  • • Verify the container ID matches in both script tags
  • • Check browser console for JavaScript errors

💡 Try the embed code in a test post first

⚠️ Widget looks broken or unstyled

  • • Clear your browser cache and refresh
  • • Try a different theme setting (auto/light/dark)
  • • Check if your Ghost theme has CSS conflicts
  • • Ensure JavaScript is enabled in browser

💡 Test in an incognito window

🔄 Widget shows old/cached content

  • • Product updates appear immediately in new page loads
  • • Clear your browser cache to see changes
  • • Check if you're using any caching plugins
  • • Try a hard refresh (Ctrl+F5 or Cmd+Shift+R)

💡 Changes are instant for new visitors

📱 Widget looks wrong on mobile

  • • Widgets are responsive and mobile-optimized
  • • Check your Ghost theme's mobile CSS
  • • Ensure viewport meta tag is set correctly
  • • Test on actual mobile devices, not just browser dev tools

💡 Contact us if issues persist

Browser Compatibility

GhostPicks widgets work in all modern browsers:

Chrome 60+
Firefox 55+
Safari 11+
Edge 79+

Internet Explorer is not supported.

Getting Help

When contacting support, please include:

  • • Your website URL where the widget should appear
  • • Screenshots of the issue
  • • Browser and device information
  • • Any console error messages
  • • The embed code you're using

💬 Get Support

📧 Email Support

Get help with technical issues, billing questions, or feature requests.

support@ghostpicks.co

Usually respond within 24 hours

💡 Feature Requests

Have an idea for improving GhostPicks? We'd love to hear it!

hello@ghostpicks.co

Your feedback shapes our roadmap

🚀 What's Next?

Ready to start creating product recommendations? Here's your next step: