Beschreibung

Why I migrated my blog from Ghost to WriteFreely and how you can do it too

Why WriteFreely?

After years with various blogging platforms, I was looking for something simpler. Ghost was great, but:

  • ✅ Native ActivityPub Integration - My blog is automatically available in the Fediverse
  • ✅ Minimal Resource Usage - Single binary, no Node.js, no complex infrastructure
  • ✅ Focus on Writing - No distractions, just writing
  • ✅ Self-hosted - Full control over my data
  • ✅ Markdown-native - No formatting battles

Setup: WriteFreely on LXC (Proxmox)

Why Native Installation Instead of Docker?

After several frustrating hours with Docker mount problems, I decided on native installation. Best decision ever!

# Download WriteFreely binary
cd /opt
wget https://github.com/writefreely/writefreely/releases/download/v0.15.0/writefreely_0.15.0_linux_arm64.tar.gz
tar -xzf writefreely_0.15.0_linux_arm64.tar.gz
mv writefreely /opt/writefreely
cd /opt/writefreely

# Interactive configuration
./writefreely --config

Configuration (config.ini)

[server]
bind = 0.0.0.0  # Important for reverse proxy
port = 8080
https = false   # Reverse proxy handles HTTPS

[app]
site_name = My Blog
host = https://blog.example.com  # Your real domain!
single_user = true
federation = true  # This is the key!
public_registration = false

[database]
type = sqlite3  # Simpler than MySQL for single user
filename = writefreely.db

As systemd Service

# Create service file
sudo tee /etc/systemd/system/writefreely.service 
![Description](https://cdn.example.com/images/image.png)




    ![Description](https://cdn.example.com/images/image.png)

    
        Caption here

ActivityPub: Automatically in the Fediverse

The best thing about WriteFreely: It just works!

  • My blog: @username@blog.example.com
  • Followers: Automatically via Mastodon, Pleroma, etc.
  • Posts: Automatically federated to the Fediverse
  • Interaction: Comments via ActivityPub possible

Testing Federation

# Test WebFinger
curl https://blog.example.com/.well-known/webfinger?resource=acct:username@blog.example.com

# ActivityPub profile
curl -H "Accept: application/activity+json" https://blog.example.com/@username

Troubleshooting: Common Problems

Problem 1: Code boxes stay white

Solution: Edit WriteFreely’s write.css directly:

cd /opt/writefreely/static/css
sudo nano write.css

# Search for: background:#f8f8f8
# Replace with: background:#1e1e1e

Problem 2: CSS not applied

Solution: Aggressively clear browser cache, test different browsers.

Problem 3: ActivityPub doesn’t work

Solution:

  • federation = true in config.ini
  • host = https://your-real-domain.com (not localhost!)
  • Reverse proxy configured correctly

Webspace for Images

Separate container for static assets:

# docker-compose.yml for webspace
services:
  webspace:
    image: httpd:latest
    volumes:
      - ./webspace:/usr/local/apache2/htdocs
    labels:
      - "traefik.http.routers.webspace.rule=(Host(`cdn.example.com`))"
      # ... Additional labels

Conclusion: Is the Switch Worth It?

Definitely yes! After migration:

✅ Much faster - Page loads lightning fast ✅ Less maintenance - One binary, no updates, no Node.js ✅ Fediverse integration - My posts automatically reach more people ✅ Focus on writing - No distractions from complex themes/plugins ✅ Resource efficient - Runs smoothly on small LXC

Resources

Credits

  • Header Image by Daniel Thomas on Unsplash

Migration completed: ✅ Self-hosted, ✅ Fediverse-ready, ✅ Minimal & fast