Ghost Themes •
Last updated: May 1, 2026

How to add Lesson?

Zora Ghost Theme

Table of Contents

This guide walks you through the process of adding a lesson in Ghost CMS, covering everything from setting lesson details to managing access and tags.

01) Add Lesson Information

Important: Ensure you are creating a Post and not a Page when adding a lesson.

Start by entering the core information about your lesson:

  • Lesson Title: The main name of your lesson.
  • Lesson Description: Provide a clear, concise overview of what the lesson covers.
  • Featured Image: Upload a lesson-specific image (optional but recommended).
  • Meta Information: Add any additional meta details necessary for SEO and organization.

Using Ghost Public Preview for Lesson Description

We recommend enabling the Ghost Public Preview feature when adding your lesson description. This option allows non-members or visitors to preview the lesson overview without full access.

Why use Ghost Public Preview? For premium lessons, if you do not enable Public Preview, visitors won’t be able to see the lesson description unless they are members with access. Enabling this option makes the lesson more visible and appealing to potential students.

In our setup, we have used the Ghost Public Preview option to ensure the lesson description is visible.

02) Add Tags

Tags are essential for organizing and linking lessons to their parent course.

Required Internal Hashtags

Each lesson must include two internal hashtags:

  • #lesson — this tag is required for all lessons
  • The same course tag as your parent course (e.g., javascript-basics)

Example: #lesson javascript-basics

Adding Public Tags and Categories

You can also add public-facing tags or lesson categories to improve discoverability and grouping.

Example: variables, beginner, programming

Important Tagging Rules

  • The #lesson tag is mandatory for the lesson to be recognized by the theme.
  • You must use the exact same course tag as the parent course to link the lesson.
  • Public tags are allowed and should be placed after the internal tags.
  • Lessons will appear in the course sidebar automatically based on the shared course tag.

Optional Internal Tag

Hide Featured Image: Add the internal tag #hide-feature-image if you don’t want the featured image to display in the lesson content area. The image will still appear in cards and listings.

03) Lesson Access Settings

Ghost CMS supports multiple access levels to control who can view your lesson content:

  1. Public Access: Use this setting for free lessons that everyone can view and access.

  2. Members Only Access: This restricts access to users who have subscribed to any membership tier. Recommended for some premium lessons.

  3. Paid Members Only Access: This grants access only to paid subscribers. Recommended for premium, all-access lessons.

Tip: For premium lessons, always assign the correct membership tier to control who can access your content effectively. We recommend using “Members Only” for selected premium lessons and “Paid Members Only” for all-access passes. Important: Set the lesson access level to match the parent course’s access level for consistency.

04) Lesson Ordering

Lessons appear in the course sidebar based on their publish date. To control the order:

  • Publish lessons in the desired sequence
  • Earlier publish dates appear first
  • You can adjust publish dates in Post Settings if needed

Tip: Plan your lesson order before publishing to ensure a logical learning progression.

05) Add Author Information

Every lesson should clearly specify the author’s name. This helps learners know who created the content and adds credibility.

06) Lesson Content Best Practices

For optimal lesson structure, organize your content with:

  • Clear learning objectives at the top
  • Main lesson content (text, images, videos)
  • Examples and code snippets (for programming lessons)
  • Practice exercises or quizzes
  • Summary or key takeaways
  • Link to next lesson

Tip: Keep lessons focused and scannable. Use headings, lists, and images to break up text.

Summary

  1. Create a Post, not a Page, to add lesson content.
  2. Add lesson title, description, and featured image (enable Ghost Public Preview for visibility).
  3. Include two mandatory internal tags: #lesson and the parent course tag.
  4. Add public tags/categories if desired, placing them after the internal tags.
  5. Set lesson access based on membership tiers (match parent course access).
  6. Publish lessons in the desired sequence to control order.
  7. Assign an author name to every lesson.
  8. Organize content with clear structure and learning objectives.

Following these steps will help you maintain a consistent and well-organized lesson catalog on your Ghost CMS site.

The lesson will automatically include:

  • Breadcrumb navigation back to the course
  • Lesson header with title and excerpt
  • Featured image (optional)
  • Completion button for progress tracking
  • Sidebar showing all lessons with completion status
  • Progress bar showing course completion percentage

If you need any assistance or have questions, feel free to reach out to your site administrator or consult the Ghost documentation.