Connect SlopAds to Ghost

Connect SlopAds to your Ghost blog to automatically publish posts. This guide covers creating a Custom Integration and configuring the Admin API.

Prerequisites

A Ghost site (self-hosted or Ghost(Pro))
Owner or Admin access to your Ghost dashboard
A SlopAds account

Ghost Setup Steps

Access Integrations Settings

From your Ghost admin dashboard:

Click the Settings icon (gear) in the sidebar
Scroll down and click Integrations
Click + Add custom integration

Create Custom Integration

Set up a new integration for SlopAds:

Name: "SlopAds Publisher" (or similar)
Description: "Automated content publishing from SlopAds"
Click Create

Copy API Credentials

After creating the integration, you'll see the API credentials:

Admin API Key - Long hexadecimal string (copy this!)
API URL - Your Ghost site URL (e.g., https://yourblog.ghost.io)

Example Admin API Key

64abc123def456:7890abcdef1234567890abcdef1234567890abcdef1234567890abcdef12345

Save Your API Key

Copy the Admin API Key immediately and store it securely. You can view it again later, but it's best to save it now.

Find Your Admin API URL

Your API URL depends on your Ghost hosting setup:

Ghost(Pro) or Managed Hosting

Your URL is shown in the integration settings:

https://yourblog.ghost.io

Self-Hosted Ghost

Use your Ghost site's URL:

https://yourdomain.com

Make sure to use https:// (not http://) if you have SSL enabled.

Connect to SlopAds

Now connect your Ghost site in SlopAds:

Go to Settings → CMS Connections
Click Add Connection
Select Ghost
Enter your Admin API URL
Paste your Admin API Key
Click Test Connection
If successful, click Save

Publishing to Ghost

What Gets Published

• Title: Article title
• Content: Full article in Mobiledoc or Lexical format (Ghost's native formats)
• Excerpt: Meta description or auto-generated excerpt
• Tags: Auto-generated tags based on content
• Featured image: Cover image if configured
• Meta fields: SEO title, meta description, canonical URL
• Status: Published immediately or saved as draft

Ghost-Specific Features

Ghost supports rich metadata and member-only content. SlopAds can configure:

Visibility: Public, members-only, or paid-members-only
Featured posts: Mark important content as featured
Custom excerpts: Override auto-generated excerpts
Code injection: Add custom scripts or styles per post

Troubleshooting

"Invalid API Key" or "Unauthorized"

Cause: Incorrect API key or the integration was deleted.

Fix: Double-check the API key is copied correctly with no extra spaces. Verify the integration still exists in Ghost → Settings → Integrations.

"Version mismatch" error

Cause: Your Ghost version is too old and doesn't support the Admin API.

Fix: Update Ghost to version 2.25.0 or later. The Admin API was introduced in Ghost 2.25.

Connection test fails with "Site not found"

Cause: Incorrect API URL or the site is not accessible.

Fix: Verify the URL is correct and includes https://. Test the URL in a browser to ensure your Ghost site is accessible. Check firewall settings if self-hosted.

Posts publish but formatting is broken

Cause: Your Ghost theme may not support certain HTML elements.

Fix: Check your theme's post.hbs template. Most modern Ghost themes support standard HTML. You can also customize the content formatting in SlopAds settings.

Images not appearing in posts

Cause: Image URLs may not be accessible or properly formatted.

Fix: Ensure images are hosted on publicly accessible URLs. Ghost requires absolute URLs (not relative paths) for images. Consider using Ghost's built-in image hosting or a CDN.

Publishing Tips

Ghost Best Practices

Use tags wisely: Ghost's tag system is powerful. Create a tagging strategy before publishing to organize content effectively.
Featured images matter: Ghost posts look much better with cover images. Enable auto-image generation in SlopAds.
Leverage excerpts: Custom excerpts control how posts appear in listings and social shares. SlopAds auto-generates these.
SEO fields: Ghost has excellent SEO controls. Always configure meta title and description.
Member content: If you have a members-only site, set visibility rules in your campaign settings.

Advanced: Custom Integrations

Ghost's Admin API supports advanced features you can configure in SlopAds:

Authors: Assign posts to specific Ghost authors
Publishing time: Schedule posts for future publication
Custom slugs: Override auto-generated URL slugs
Email newsletters: Trigger email sends on publication (if Ghost email is enabled)
Code injection: Add custom CSS/JS to individual posts

Ghost CMS Setup