Diana

I put the Diana Ghost theme through its paces, and while the layout is clean and the setup is simple, the feature set feels thin and the accessibility story is poor. If you need a basic, minimal magazine blog, Diana gets you online fast. If you want depth, polish, and strong ADA/WCAG compliance, I wouldn’t pick it today.

TL;DR — Key takeaways

• Clean, readable magazine layout with light/dark modes and a built-in table of contents.
• Native Ghost features: search, comments, memberships, multi-author, and translations.
• Easy install from Ghost Admin; basic brand color and typography controls in settings.
• Pricing: $89 regular (1 site), $389 extended (unlimited).
• Not recommended: limited standout features, UI quirks, and very weak accessibility results (47% / 67 issues reported).

What makes Diana unique?

A minimal magazine theme that sticks to the essentials—clean typography, light/dark modes, built-in TOC, and native Ghost memberships/search/comments—so you can publish fast without heavy configuration.

Theme overview

Diana targets bloggers and online magazines that want a distraction-free reading experience with minimal setup. It’s compatible with Ghost 5.x and above and includes responsive layouts out of the box. Documentation covers the basics (install, homepage sections, brand color, typography, and translations) with clear, step-by-step guides. Latest docs list version 1.0.0 (updated October 28, 2025).

Who it’s for: magazines and editorial blogs that prefer a clean layout over bells and whistles.

Top features of Diana

• Clean & reader-focused design with refined typography.
• Light & Dark Mode toggle support.
• Built-in Table of Contents on posts.
• SEO-optimized, valid HTML5/CSS3, and responsive.
• Ghost-native search and comments, featured posts, “Load More” pagination, author/tag templates, and multi-author support.
• Memberships & subscriptions with sign-in/up/subscribe pages, premium posts with previews, and billing actions.
• Customization basics: accent color, typography choices (theme fonts or Ghost fonts), brand logo, and social links.
• Translation-ready via locales/ JSON files.
• Support & docs with a stated 12-hour response window.

Pros & cons

Pros

• Clean layout that keeps articles readable.
• Simple setup and clear docs (install, homepage, colors, typography, translations).
• Uses native Ghost features (memberships, comments, search).

Cons

• Limited feature set; few standout elements beyond the basics.
• Very bad accessibility: reported 47% WCAG/ADA with 67 issues—sites under 95 are at legal risk in the U.S.
• UI issue found: header navigation isn’t instantly clickable after page load.

• Accent color usage can harm icon legibility.

• Many themes offer a similar layout with more options.

Use cases

For magazine editors: Feature a handful of posts on the homepage, then let readers browse recent posts with “Load More.” You’ll publish fast without managing complex layouts.

For solo bloggers: Flip on dark mode, set your accent color, and write. The built-in TOC helps long-form essays.

For member-supported publications: Use the native sign-up/sign-in pages, premium content previews, and subscribe CTAs.

Performance, accessibility, and SEO

• Performance/SEO: Accessibility 87, Best Practices 100, SEO 100 in PSI.

• Accessibility: 47% with 67 issues—this is far below best-practice thresholds. In general, sites scoring below 95 for accessibility carry increased litigation risk in the U.S., so remediation is essential before launch.

• Responsive & standards-based: The theme claims responsive design, valid HTML5/CSS3, and SEO optimization—solid foundations, but they don’t offset the accessibility gap.

Installation & basic customization

Install Diana in Ghost (quick steps):

• Download diana.zip after purchase.
• In Ghost Admin → Settings → Theme → Change theme → Upload theme, upload the ZIP.
• Click Activate now.

Homepage setup overview: configure the header (logo, hero title/description), primary/secondary navigation, featured posts, recent posts, subscribe & tags, and footer text/logo.

Brand & typography: set Accent color in Design & Branding, and choose theme fonts or Ghost’s native fonts in the Theme Editor.

Translations: edit JSON files in locales/ and upload the updated ZIP; set publication language in Settings → General.

Theme features list

• Ghost 5.x+ compatibility; responsive layout.
• Light/Dark mode.
• Built-in Table of Contents.
• Native Ghost search & comments.
• Featured posts section; “Load More” pagination.
• Multi-author support; author/tag templates.
• Members & subscriptions with sign-in/up/subscribe pages; premium previews; billing update links.
• Accent color control; logo/branding; social links.
• Typography controls (theme fonts or Ghost fonts).
• Translation-ready via locales/.
• SEO-optimized; valid HTML5/CSS3.
• Documentation and support (12-hour response stated).

Pricing & licensing

• $89 Regular License — 1 website.
• $389 Extended License — unlimited websites (no reselling as-is)

Rating & recommendation

My rating: ★★☆☆☆ (2/5).

I don’t recommend buying Diana right now. The layout is clean and the basics work, but the limited feature set plus serious accessibility gaps and UI issues make it poor value compared with other magazine-style Ghost themes that ship with stronger options and better WCAG performance.

Ideal for: magazines that want a simple, minimal Ghost theme and are prepared to fix accessibility issues themselves.

FAQs

Diana alternatives (similar Ghost themes)

• Flair — Highly customizable hero layouts, multiple post layouts, rich color schemes, header styles, and native/custom search; good for blogs that want flexible presentation.
• Rune — Magazine-ready with five post layouts, light/dark/system modes, PWA option, reading progress, related posts, and contact template—lots of polish for content-heavy sites.
• Colorgrid — Minimal magazine theme with dropdown/mega menu, featured posts slider, and 15 preset color palettes for quick brand alignment.
• Choi — Playful magazine/blog theme with featured sliders, six color schemes, and 11 font options; good for travel and lifestyle.

Conclusion

If you only need a minimal magazine blog and you’re comfortable fixing accessibility problems, Diana can work. But with so many similar Ghost themes offering deeper features and stronger WCAG scores, I don’t see enough value here to recommend it today. Explore the alternatives above before you decide.

Do I recommend this theme? No. With a limited feature set, less price-to-value, very bad accessibility, and a navigation click delay that shouldn’t ship in a paid theme, Diana falls short for 2025. Unless you love the exact look and plan to fix the accessibility issues yourself, I’d choose one of the alternatives.