Getting started with Outpost takes just a few minutes. After you create your account and connect Ghost, the setup wizard walks you through choosing your Outpost plan and configuring email, retention, paywalls, and analytics — only the parts that match your plan and how you want to start.Documentation Index
Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://documentation.outpost.pub/llms.txt
Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
Before the wizard
Create your Outpost account
Go to outpost.pub and click Get Started. You’ll enter your email address, your Ghost site URL, and create a password. Outpost verifies your Ghost site and creates your account.
Connect your Ghost site
During account creation, Outpost prompts you to connect Ghost. You’ll create a custom integration in your Ghost admin panel and copy three values into Outpost:
- Content API Key
- Admin API Key
- API URL
The setup wizard
The wizard adapts to the Outpost plan you choose and to whether you’re charging for subscriptions. You can switch between Basic setup (the essentials) and Advanced setup (everything, including extra automations and group/gift subscriptions) at any point during onboarding. The full list of possible steps, in order:Choose Your Plan
Pick the Outpost subscription plan that fits your needs: Space Station, Voyager, or Luna. The wizard then only shows steps available on the plan you picked — many advanced steps below are gated to Voyager or Luna.
About Your Site
Tell Outpost what kind of publication you run (Local News, Non-Profit, Co-op / Collective, Solo Creator, or News Organization). This tunes a few defaults later in the wizard.
Paid Memberships
Indicate whether you have or plan to have paid subscriptions. If you choose “no,” the wizard skips Stripe-dependent steps.
Payment Method
Add a payment method to activate your Outpost subscription. Skipped if your blog already has one on file.
Email Settings
Set your From email address and From name. These are used for every automated email Outpost sends. You don’t need to configure Mailgun — Outpost routes email automatically, even without a custom sending domain. Setting up DNS is recommended for deliverability but not required to start (and Luna users can do it later in the Email DNS step).
Welcome Flow
Configure a welcome email sequence for new free subscribers. You choose how many emails to send (1–5).
Newsletter Frequency
Tell Outpost how often you publish newsletters: multiple times daily, daily, daily Monday–Friday plus a weekend edition, a few times a week, weekly, or occasional. Outpost uses this to set sensible default timing for your welcome flow.
Welcome Discounts
Shown only when Stripe is connected and you’re charging. Add an ascending discount offer to each welcome email to encourage upgrades. Outpost suggests sensible defaults — for example, with five welcome emails the defaults step from 10% to 33%. Smaller email counts get shorter discount ladders. You can change any of them.
Retention Offers
Voyager and Luna only, with Stripe. Configure smart retention offers that win subscribers back when they cancel.
Failed Payment Flow
Voyager and Luna only, with Stripe. Enables an escalating series of emails to members whose renewal payment fails. Recovers a substantial share of revenue lost to expired or declined cards.
Complimentary Offers
Voyager and Luna only, with Stripe. Configure renewal-style offers for complimentary subscribers.
Abandoned Cart Nudge
Voyager+, Stripe, Advanced setup only. Re-engage subscribers who started checkout but didn’t complete it.
Card Expiring Reminder
Voyager+, Stripe, Advanced setup only. Notify subscribers ahead of time when their saved payment method is about to expire.
Theme Setup
Voyager and Luna. Connect your Ghost theme to Outpost so paywalls, CTAs, and gated content render correctly. See Theme Connect Wizard.
Tip Jar
Voyager and Luna. Outpost creates a donation page so readers can leave one-time tips. See Tip Jar.
Gift Subscriptions
Luna only, with Stripe, Advanced setup. Let readers gift subscriptions to friends and family.
Group Subscriptions
Luna only, with Stripe, Advanced setup. Enable multi-seat subscriptions for organizations.
Email DNS
Luna, Advanced setup. Walks you through setting up DNS records for a custom sending domain.
Plausible Analytics
Voyager and Luna. Connect privacy-friendly Plausible analytics. Included with Outpost; normally $9+/month direct from Plausible.
What the wizard sets up for you
Depending on the plan you choose and whether Stripe is connected, the wizard configures these things automatically:| Feature | What happens |
|---|---|
| Ghost sync | Members, posts, and tiers sync from Ghost to Outpost; labels and member metadata sync from Outpost to Ghost (set up before the wizard) |
| Stripe connection | Subscription data flows into Outpost (when connected) |
| Email delivery | Outpost handles sending — Mailgun routing is set up automatically, even without a custom domain |
| Welcome flow | 1–5 welcome emails with optional ascending discount offers |
| Failed payment retention | Voyager+: escalating dunning emails to recover failed renewals |
| Retention offers | Voyager+: smart win-back offers when subscribers cancel |
| Theme connection | Voyager+: Ghost theme connected for paywalls and CTAs |
| Tip Jar | Voyager+: donation page created |
| Plausible Analytics | Voyager+: free tracking-free analytics connected |
After the wizard
Head to the Autoresponder tab to review the generated emails. We recommend:- Customizing each email to match your voice and style. Spend the most time on your welcome emails.
- Sending a few test emails to yourself.
- Prioritize the welcome flow, renewal notifications, retention offers, and the failed payment flow — these have the highest impact.
- Turning on actions individually rather than all at once.
- Turning on some Auto-Display CTAs.
What’s next
Once you’re set up, explore these features to get the most from Outpost:Auto Display CTAs
Add signup forms, popups, and slide-ups to your site
Metered Walls
Limit free article views to drive registrations and upgrades
Members
View, search, and manage your subscriber list
Offers & Discounts
Create promotional pricing beyond what the wizard set up
Report Emails
Daily performance reports delivered to your inbox
Advanced Autoresponder
Build custom multi-step email flows for any scenario