Papyrus

Overview

Papyrus is a premium Ghost theme developed by Theme Up Studio, a boutique design studio founded by Abie Burton. Abie, a passionate designer and developer, launched Theme Up Studio in early 2023, channeling her love for clean design and storytelling into creating high-quality Ghost themes. Despite balancing motherhood and work, she collaborates with a small team to deliver themes that prioritize simplicity and user experience.

Papyrus embodies this philosophy by offering a distraction-free, text-focused design that enhances readability and performance. It's tailored for writers, bloggers, and content creators who want their words to take center stage without unnecessary clutter.

Features

Typography-Centric Design

Papyrus places typography at the forefront, ensuring that your content is presented in an elegant and readable manner. It offers over 50 font pairs, allowing you to customize the look and feel of your text to match your brand or personal style. The theme also supports default fonts provided by Ghost core, giving you flexibility in your design choices.

Lightning-Fast Performance

Speed is a critical factor for user experience and SEO. Papyrus is optimized for performance, achieving a 99 score on Google PageSpeed for desktop and 91 for mobile. This ensures that your readers enjoy a smooth and seamless browsing experience, regardless of the device they're using.

Flexible Layout Options

The theme offers two main layout styles for your content: grid and list views. You can effortlessly switch between these layouts to showcase your posts in the most engaging way. This flexibility extends to post cards, author cards, and tag cards, allowing you to present your content dynamically.

Integrated Subscription Forms

Growing your audience is made easier with Papyrus's integrated subscription forms. Strategically placed call-to-action (CTA) sections encourage visitors to subscribe to your newsletter, helping you build a loyal readership.

Author and Tag Archives

Papyrus includes dedicated author profiles and organized tag pages, enhancing content discoverability. These features help readers explore your content more deeply, increasing engagement and time spent on your site.

Customizable Design Settings

You can personalize your site's appearance without touching a line of code. Papyrus allows you to customize colors, background textures, border styles, and more directly from the Ghost admin interface. This code-free customization empowers you to create a unique look that aligns with your brand.

Use Cases

Papyrus is ideal for:

• Writers and Bloggers: Its text-focused design makes it perfect for those who want their words to shine.
• Content Creators: Whether you're sharing essays, stories, or tutorials, Papyrus provides a clean and engaging platform.
• Minimalist Enthusiasts: If you prefer simplicity and elegance over flashy designs, Papyrus delivers a streamlined experience.

Performance

Papyrus is built with performance in mind. It achieves a 99 score on Google PageSpeed for desktop and 91 for mobile, ensuring fast load times and a smooth user experience. The theme's lightweight design and optimized code contribute to its exceptional speed.

Compatibility

Papyrus is compatible with Ghost CMS version 5.0 and above. It has been tested and validated with a 100/100 GScan score, ensuring full compatibility and adherence to Ghost's theme development standards.

Theme Setup

Setting up Papyrus is straightforward, thanks to the comprehensive documentation provided by Theme Up Studio.

Installation

1. Download the Theme: After purchasing, download the zip archive file from the Theme Up Studio shop.
2. Upload the Theme:
   • Go to your Ghost Admin dashboard.
   • Navigate to Settings → Theme → Change theme.
   • Upload the downloaded archive file and activate the Papyrus theme.
3. Upload routes.yaml File:
   • Extract the routes.yaml file from the zip archive.
   • In Ghost Admin, go to Settings → Labs → Upload routes file.
   • Upload the extracted routes.yaml file.
   • ⚠️ Before uploading, it's advisable to download and back up your existing routes.yaml file.

Design Settings

Papyrus offers several customization options accessible via Settings → Design & branding → Customise. These settings are divided into four categories:

1. Brand Settings:
   • Accent Color: Sets the color used across Ghost-provided portal elements.
   • Publication Icon: Used in browser tabs, iOS icons, and shortcuts.
   • Publication Cover: Not utilized in Papyrus, as it's a text-focused theme.
2. Site-wide Settings:
   • Background Image: Upload a small texture image (preferably in WebP format) to be used as a background.
   • Background Color: Sets the background color for all pages. Note that this will only be visible if no background image is used.
   • Border Width and Style: Customize the width (e.g., 3px) and style (solid, dashed, dotted, double) of borders across the site.
   • Post Card Layout: Choose between grid (default) and list layouts for displaying posts.

These settings allow you to tailor the appearance of your site to match your brand and preferences without editing any code.

Conclusion

Papyrus by Theme Up Studio is a meticulously crafted Ghost theme that prioritizes content, speed, and simplicity. Its typography-centric design, lightning-fast performance, and extensive customization options make it an excellent choice for writers, bloggers, and content creators who want their words to take center stage. With comprehensive documentation and a user-friendly setup process, Papyrus empowers you to create a beautiful and engaging Ghost website with ease.

Experience the power of a purely text-focused blog with Papyrus. Supercharged speeds and a customizable color palette create a reading experience that's both distraction-free and visually engaging. Present your content in a dynamic grid or a classic list layout.