Auto Display Calls To Action (CTAs)

Auto Display is Outpost’s system for automatically placing conversion widgets (CTAs) on your site. Instead of manually adding code to every Ghost post, you configure slots and audience targeting once, and Outpost handles the rest — showing the right CTA to the right reader at the right time. Auto Display CTAs are website-only. They do not show up in your Ghost newsletters unless someone clicks to read on the web.

Auto Display is available on the Voyager and Luna plans or higher. They are not available on the Space Station plan.

How it works

Slots define where a CTA appears — at the top of a post, as a popup, as a slide-up banner, on the homepage, or as a metered paywall
Audiences define who sees it — unknown visitors, free members, monthly subscribers or annual subscribers
CTAs define what they see — a subscribe box, an upgrade prompt, a discount offer, a donation button, or a prompt to give a gift subscription
The Auto Display master toggle at the top of the page enables or disables the entire Auto Display system in one click

The four sections

The Auto Display page has four sections, switched via the selector at the top of the page:

Tab	Purpose
Auto Display Slots	Configure where and to whom CTAs appear
Library	Browse, edit, and enable the CTA templates available for assignment
Default Design	Set global colors, fonts, and button styles for all CTAs
Site-Wide Exclusions	Exclude specific post tags or URL refs from showing any CTAs

Auto Display Slots

This is where you configure the placement and targeting for each CTA position on your site. There are six slot types, each accessible via tabs across the top of the page.

In-Post

In-Post slots place CTAs directly within the body of your Ghost posts. There are three In-Post slots available, each independently configurable:

In-Post Slot 1 — Defaults to the top of the post
In-Post Slot 2 — Defaults to manual placement (after paragraph 6, with a minimum of 10 paragraphs required)
In-Post Slot 3 — Defaults to the end of the post

Position settings for each slot:

Setting	Options	Description
Placement	At the Top of the Post, At the End of the Post, Manual	Where in the post the CTA appears
After/Before	After, Before	Whether to place the CTA after or before the target element
Paragraph, Headings, Line Breaks	1, 2, 3, etc.	Which paragraph number to place near
Direction	From the Beginning, From the End	Count paragraphs from the start or end of the post
Minimum paragraphs	1–99	Post must have at least this many paragraphs to show the CTA
Don’t show on posts with tags	Tag selector	Skip posts tagged with specific Ghost tags

This lets you decide to show a CTA at the top of a post, after the 2nd header, at the end of the post, and decide whether to hide a CTA on a shorter post. You can see CTAs in Ghost’s preview mode. If a CTA falls awkwardly on a particular post, you can manually reposition it in that post. For manual placement, copy a snippet like <div class="outpost-pub-container" data-box-subscribe-slot-1></div> from the manual snippet field and paste it into a Ghost HTML card where you want the CTA to appear. If you find this happens more than once, you can save that HTML card as a snippet in your editor so you can easily add it in other posts. A popup that appears over a Ghost post. You can configure when it triggers - e.g. on page load, after X percent scroll or after a set period of time. Please note that currently scroll percentage includes the full page, including comments.

Setting	Options	Description
Display	On Page load, On scroll depth, Delay after page load	What triggers the popup
Activate at	seconds / scroll %	The specific trigger threshold
Minimum paragraphs	1–99	Minimum post length to show the popup
Don’t show on posts with tags	Tag selector	Exclude specific tagged posts

Post Slide Up

A banner that slides up from the bottom of the screen while reading a post. Most sites use either a popup or a Slide Up on a post but not both (unless you have very long articles). Slide-ups support the same trigger options as Post Popups (immediate, scroll depth, or time delay).

A popup that appears on your site’s homepage. This has the same configuration — choose between immediate display on page load, scroll depth trigger, or delay.

Setting	Options
Display	Immediately after page load, On scroll depth, Delay after page load

This system works alongside the Ghost system for posts. The Ghost system works on a per post basis, letting you decide whether you want to set a post for only registered readers or only paid readers - and letting you show some of the top of the post publicly. You set the limits per level, and post reads are counted on a rolling 30-day basis. Outpost’s metered paywall limits how many full posts a reader can view before being prompted to get on the free list or to upgrade to paid. If an unknown reader hits a post that is only available in full to free subscribers, that post does not count against their limit. Post reads by unknown members are counted using a non-tracking counter in their browser, so an unknown reader can bypass it by using a different browser or device. This is by design. For free readers, their reads are counted by Outpost’s servers and will apply across devices. This slot is disabled by default and supports two independent limits:

Setting	Description
Unknown Member posts limit	Number of posts an unregistered visitor can read per 30-day period before seeing the registration wall. Set to 0 to disable.
Free Member posts limit	Number of posts a free member can read per month before seeing the upgrade paywall. Set to 0 to disable.
Don’t show on posts with tags	Exclude specific tagged posts from metering
Display trigger	On page load, on scroll depth, or after delay

The stats box shows real-time performance:

How many times the registration wall and metered paywall have been shown
How many free signups resulted from the registration wall (with click-through rate)
How many paid upgrades resulted from the metered paywall (with click-through rate)

For more details, see Paywalls.

Gated Download

This is akin to a lead magnet. This allows you to offer a PDF or ePub to a reader in the body of a Ghost post (regardless of whether that post is set to public, free readers, or paid only), and only allow access if they meet the rules you set. So you can have a completely public post that has a PDF download card offering a PDF of best ways to tie your shoes, set to free readers only, and to download it, the reader would either have to be a free or paid reader OR sign up for your free list. The look of each Gated Download in the body of a post is controlled in a separate setting. The CTA setting here controls the popup that appears when a reader needs to subscribe or upgrade to access a Gated Download. This slot is disabled by default and has two audiences:

Unknown Audience — Shows a subscribe popup to non-logged-in visitors
Free Audience — Shows an upgrade popup to free members trying to access a paid-only PDF

The stats box shows signup and download metrics for all Gated Downloads.

Audience targeting

Each slot can show a different CTA to different audience segments. Every slot has audience rows, each with:

Toggle — Enable or disable this audience
Audience type — Who this CTA targets
CTA dropdown — Which CTA to show this audience (select from the Library)
Edit button — Jump to edit the selected CTA
Preview button — Preview what the reader will see

Audience types

Audience	Who it targets
Unknown	Visitors who are not logged in (not a member)
Free	Members with a free subscription
Monthly	Members with a monthly paid subscription
Annual	Members with an annual paid subscription

The Registration/Metered Wall and Gated Download slots only show audience rows for Unknown and Free — paid members aren’t a target audience for those walls. It is not currently possible to target a CTA based on a paid user tier or by labels.

Tag-based variants

Tag-based variants let you show different CTAs depending on a post’s Ghost tags. For example, you could show a CTA touting your weather newsletter on posts tagged Weather and a different CTA on posts tagged Basketball or Baseball. To create one, click New audience, then follow the prompts to choose the audience and tag(s) and select the CTA. If multiple variants target the same tag, they apply in the order they appear in the interface.

Library

The Library is where you browse, edit, enable, and manage all available CTA templates. CTAs must be enabled in the Library before they can be assigned to a slot.

The Library is organized by the same slot type tabs as Auto Display Slots:

In-Post — Buttons, Modern boxes, and Classic boxes
Post Popup — Modern and Classic popup styles
Post Slide Up — Modern and Classic slide-up styles
Homepage Popup — Subscribe and Discount popup styles
Registration/Metered Wall — Subscribe and upgrade paywall styles
Gated PDF — Subscribe and upgrade popup styles for downloads

CTA categories

Buttons (7 types)

Simple, inline buttons that can be placed in posts:

Button	Purpose
Subscribe	Sign up as a free member
Upgrade to Paid	Convert free members to paid
Upgrade to Annual	Convert monthly to annual
Donate	One-time donation via Tip Jar
Gift Subscription	Purchase a gift subscription
Multitier Custom Link	Selector for multiple subscription tiers
Custom Link	Link to any URL

In-Post Boxes — Modern (10 styles)

Full-width boxes with modern styling: Subscribe, Subscribe Slim, Rounded Subscribe, Discount Offer, Custom Link, Upgrade, Donate, Multiline Text, No Button, Promo (Big Image Above Text/Text Only)

In-Post Boxes — Classic (8 styles)

Full-width boxes with classic styling: Subscribe, Subscribe Slim, Discount Offer, Custom Link, Upgrade, Donate, Multiline Text, No Button

Popups — Modern (6 styles)

Subscribe, Discount, Custom Link, Upgrade, No Button, Wide

Popups — Classic (5 styles)

Subscribe, Custom Link, Upgrade, Discount, No Button

Slide-Ups — Modern (5 styles)

Subscribe, Upgrade, Discount, Custom Link, Wide

Slide-Ups — Classic (4 styles)

Subscribe, Discount, Link, Upgrade

Editing a CTA

Click the Edit (pencil) button on any CTA in the Library to customize:

Header text — The headline shown to readers
Description text — Supporting copy below the headline
Button text — The call-to-action button label
Button URL / Offer — Where the button links (Ghost portal, offer URL, or custom URL)
Image — Background or header image (on supported styles)
Labels — Member labels to apply on conversion (for tracking and automation). Distinct from Hit Labels, which are applied when the paywall is displayed to a member (before any conversion action).
Design override — Use default design or customize colors, fonts, or CSS for this CTA. Most CTAs expose their CSS in the interface (sometimes under Advanced Settings); you can also style CTAs from your Ghost theme. Pick one approach and stick with it.

Click Preview (eye icon) to see what the CTA looks like to readers.

Default Design

This lets you set global styling that applies to all CTAs unless overridden on individual CTAs. On first connection, Outpost reads your Ghost theme’s accent color and fonts and uses them as defaults.

Accent color

Outpost accent color — Choose from 8 preset colors or set a custom color
The accent color applies to buttons and larger CTAs in light mode
Dark mode colors are generated automatically

Buttons

Setting	Options
Button font	Site Default Font or select a custom font
Button radius	Fully rounded or Slightly rounded

Larger CTAs

Setting	Description
Header font	Font for CTA headlines
Description font	Font for CTA body text
Include sign-in link	Show “Already a member? Sign in” text for unknown readers
Sign-in link text	Customizable sign-in prompt text
Sign-in URL	Where the sign-in link points (default: Ghost portal)
Content selector	CSS selector for your Ghost theme’s content area (default: `.gh-content`)

Content selector — when to change it

Most Ghost themes use .gh-content as the content wrapper, and Outpost uses this to detect where your post starts and ends for In-Post CTA placement. You should only change this if your In-Post CTAs are not appearing in posts even though Auto Display is enabled and configured correctly. This is most common with custom or heavily modified Ghost themes that rename the content wrapper. To find your theme’s selector, right-click on your post body in a browser, choose Inspect, and look for the class on the outermost <div> wrapping your post text. The Theme Connection Wizard does look for this and tries to set it when first connecting your theme.

If In-Post CTAs aren’t showing right after you sign up, your theme is probably not connected or your content selector is non-standard.

Site-Wide Exclusions

This allows you to prevent any Auto Display CTAs from appearing on specific content, which you might want to do for things like FOIA content or member announcements.

Setting	Description
Don’t show on posts with tags	Enter Ghost tags (e.g., `#event`). Posts with these tags will never show Auto Display CTAs.
Don’t show for URL refs	Enter URL ref values (e.g., `newsletter`). Readers arriving via these refs won’t see CTAs. Useful for excluding newsletter traffic.

Some sites apply this to URL refs that show up when someone clicks the “read on the web” link in a newsletter, assuming those readers are already members but might not be logged in. To do that, copy the ref for each newsletter you want to exclude. Note: if a newsletter reader shares that link on social, anyone who clicks it inherits the ref and also won’t see CTAs. These exclusions apply globally across all slots. Individual slots can also have their own tag exclusions in addition to these.

Traffic source tracking (UTM attribution)

When a new member signs up through any CTA, Outpost automatically captures UTM parameters and referral values from the URL and applies them as member labels. This lets you see exactly which campaigns, channels, and creatives are driving signups — directly in your member list and Ghost.

Parameters captured

URL parameter	Label applied	Example
`utm_source`, `source`, or `ref`	`source:[value]`	`source:facebook`
`utm_medium`	`medium:[value]`	`medium:email`
`utm_campaign`	`campaign:[value]`	`campaign:spring-sale-2026`
`utm_content`	`content:[value]`	`content:hero-banner`
`utm_term`	`term:[value]`	`term:paid-subscribers`

Values are stored in the reader’s browser session when they first arrive and applied to their member record at the moment they sign up. If a reader visits from a UTM link, browses for a while, and then subscribes — the attribution is still captured.

How it works

Outpost reads these parameters from the URL when a page loads and holds them in the browser session. When the reader submits any CTA form (In-Post, Popup, Slide-Up, Homepage, Metered Wall, or Gated Download), the stored values are sent along and applied as labels.

Examples

Newsletter campaign:

https://yoursite.com/welcome?utm_source=newsletter&utm_campaign=may-newsletter&utm_content=cta-button

Labels applied on signup: source:newsletter, campaign:may-newsletter, content:cta-button

Social media post:

https://yoursite.com/big-story?utm_source=bluesky&utm_campaign=big-story-launch

Labels applied: source:bluesky, campaign:big-story-launch

Referral link from another publication:

https://yoursite.com/?ref=newsletter-partner

Label applied: source:newsletter-partner

Paid ad with full attribution:

https://yoursite.com/?utm_source=facebook&utm_campaign=fall-2026&utm_content=video-ad&utm_term=annual-subscribers

Labels applied: source:facebook, campaign:fall-2026, content:video-ad, term:annual-subscribers

Outpost promotion link (automatically tracked): Promotion URLs like https://yoursite.com/promo/abc123 already have built-in Outpost tracking. You can append UTM parameters to add channel context on top:

https://yoursite.com/promo/abc123?utm_source=podcast&utm_campaign=sponsorship-june

Using attribution labels

Once applied, these labels work like any other Outpost label:

Filter your member list — find all members who signed up from a specific campaign (campaign:spring-sale-2026)
Trigger email flows — start a welcome sequence when source:newsletter-partner is added
Exclude from automations — skip paid acquisition members from certain flows
Measure channel ROI — compare free-to-paid conversion rates across sources using label-based segments

Only parameters present in the URL when the reader first arrives are captured. Parameters are not re-captured on subsequent page views. Labels are only applied at the moment of signup — they cannot be retroactively added to existing members unless you do so manually.

Conversion tracking

Outpost tracks performance for the Registration/Metered Wall and Gated Download slots with built-in stats:

Wall/paywall shows — How many times the CTA was displayed
Signups — Free member registrations triggered by the registration wall
Upgrades — Paid conversions triggered by the metered paywall
Click-through rate — Conversion percentage

For broader CTA analytics across all slot types, see the CTA Dashboard.

CTA cloning

You can duplicate any existing CTA using the clone feature. This creates a copy with the same settings and design, which you can then customize independently — useful for creating variations or reusing a CTA as a starting point.

A/B testing

There is no built-in randomized A/B testing. However, you can approximate A/B tests by creating two CTAs with different copy or designs in the Library, then assigning them to the same slot for different tag-based content. Compare conversion rates manually to determine which performs better. Be careful that you have enough data to make a confident choice.

Frequently asked questions

What does the Auto Display master toggle do exactly?

The Auto Display master toggle enables or disables the entire Auto Display system in one click. It affects all Auto Display slots (In-Post, Popups, Slide Ups, Homepage Popups, Registration/Metered Wall, and Gated Downloads). It does not affect Manually Added Buttons that you’ve pasted into Ghost posts — those are independent of Auto Display.

I turned on Auto Display but nothing is showing on my site. What's wrong?

Check four things: (1) The Auto Display master toggle must be on. (2) The individual audience toggles within your slot must be enabled, and a CTA must be selected from the dropdown for each audience. (3) Make sure you aren’t logged in as a paid member (you won’t see the unknown or free CTAs). (4) Check the Theme Connection Wizard to confirm your theme is connected to Outpost.

Do I have to use all three In-Post slots?

No. You can use one, two, or all three. Each slot is independently configurable with its own position, audiences, and toggle. Disable the ones you don’t need.

What's the difference between Site-Wide Exclusions and per-slot tag exclusions?

Site-Wide Exclusions apply globally across every slot — if you add a tag there, no Auto Display CTA of any kind will appear on posts with that tag. Per-slot tag exclusions only affect that one specific slot. Both work together — a post can be excluded by either setting.

What are URL ref exclusions used for?

URL ref exclusions suppress CTAs for readers arriving via specific referral parameters. For example, if your newsletter links include ?ref=newsletter, adding “newsletter” to the exclusion list prevents subscribe popups from showing to readers who clicked through from email (since they’re likely already subscribed). Note that this ref is tied to the name of your newsletter, so don’t just add “newsletter” — check your newsletters’ refs.

I edited a CTA in the Library but it's not showing on my site. Why?

CTAs must be both enabled in the Library and assigned to a slot. Editing a CTA doesn’t automatically assign it anywhere. Go to Auto Display Slots, pick the slot you want, and select that CTA from the dropdown for the relevant audience.

Can I make CTAs match my site's branding?

Yes. The Default Design tab lets you set global accent colors, button fonts, border radius, and text fonts that apply to all CTAs. If you want a specific CTA to look different, you can override the default on that individual CTA using the Design settings in the Library.

Gated PDFs

Offer downloadable files exclusively to subscribers

Paywalls

Meter content access and prompt upgrades

Manually Added Buttons

Generate embed code for buttons you place manually in posts

CTA Dashboard

View analytics across all your CTAs

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Documentation Index

​How it works

​The four sections

​Auto Display Slots

​In-Post

​Post Popup

​Post Slide Up

​Homepage Popup

​Registration Wall and Metered Paywall

​Gated Download

​Audience targeting

​Audience types

​Tag-based variants

​Library

​CTA categories

​Buttons (7 types)

​In-Post Boxes — Modern (10 styles)

​In-Post Boxes — Classic (8 styles)

​Popups — Modern (6 styles)

​Popups — Classic (5 styles)

​Slide-Ups — Modern (5 styles)

​Slide-Ups — Classic (4 styles)

​Editing a CTA

​Default Design

​Accent color

​Buttons

​Larger CTAs

​Content selector — when to change it

​Site-Wide Exclusions

​Traffic source tracking (UTM attribution)

​Parameters captured

​How it works

​Examples

​Using attribution labels

​Conversion tracking

​CTA cloning

​A/B testing

​Frequently asked questions

​Related features

Gated PDFs

Paywalls

Manually Added Buttons

CTA Dashboard

How it works

The four sections

Auto Display Slots

In-Post

Post Popup

Post Slide Up

Homepage Popup

Registration Wall and Metered Paywall

Gated Download

Audience targeting

Audience types

Tag-based variants

Library

CTA categories

Buttons (7 types)

In-Post Boxes — Modern (10 styles)

In-Post Boxes — Classic (8 styles)

Popups — Modern (6 styles)

Popups — Classic (5 styles)

Slide-Ups — Modern (5 styles)

Slide-Ups — Classic (4 styles)

Editing a CTA

Default Design

Accent color

Buttons

Larger CTAs

Content selector — when to change it

Site-Wide Exclusions

Traffic source tracking (UTM attribution)

Parameters captured

How it works

Examples

Using attribution labels

Conversion tracking

CTA cloning

A/B testing

Frequently asked questions

Related features