🚀 Getting Started

After installing your Ghost app, the first step is to go to https://your-domain.com/ghost to set up the admin portal. This is where you'll manage your blog, configure settings, and choose your email configuration.

📧 Email Configuration Guide

🤔 Understanding Email Types

Before choosing your configuration, it's important to understand the two types of emails your Ghost site will send:

📨 Transactional Emails are individual emails sent to one recipient at a time, such as:

📬 Newsletters (Bulk Emails) are emails sent to many recipients at once, such as:

🎯 Choose Your Email Configuration

We've organized the options from most recommended to least recommended based on ease of use and cost-effectiveness.

🏆 Option 1: Full Dargo Service (Recommended)


🎯 Best for: Beginners and users who send newsletters

✅ Why we recommend this: Completely hassle-free and beginner-friendly. Perfect if you plan to send newsletters to your audience. Our rates are significantly lower than alternatives like Mailgun.

⚠️ Note: If you failed to send emails with Dargo's Email Service, please set noreplay@mydargo.com as the default email for both transactional emails and newsletters. To set default email address for transaction emails, go to Settings → Portal settings → Account page . For newsletters, go to Settings→ Newsletters.

💡 Option 2: Hybrid Setup (Budget-Friendly)


🎯 Best for: Personal blogs with minimal newsletter usage

✅ Why this works: Most cost-effective option if you don't send many newsletters. Great for personal blogs where you want to keep costs low.

🔧 Advanced Configurations

⚙️ Option 3: Gmail + Mailgun


🎯 Best for: Users comfortable with email service management

⚠️ Note: Can become expensive if you send lots of newsletters, but gives you full control over your email sending.

🔐 Option 4: AWS SES + Mailgun


🎯 Best for: Advanced users with existing AWS infrastructure

⚠️ Important: You'll need to verify your sending email address in both AWS SES and Mailgun. See Ghost's email configuration guide for detailed setup instructions.

📮 Option 5: Full Mailgun Setup


🎯 Best for: Users already using Mailgun for other projects

⚠️ Note: More expensive than Dargo's service for high newsletter volumes, and you'll need to verify your sending email address in Mailgun.

🧪 Testing Your Email Setup

After installing Ghost, we strongly recommend testing both email types to ensure everything works correctly:

🔍 Testing Transactional Emails


  1. 🌐 Go to your Ghost website
  2. 📝 Try to sign up for an audience account
  3. ✅ If you receive the signup confirmation email, your transactional email is working properly

📊 Testing Newsletter Emails


  1. 🚀 Set up your Ghost admin portal by going to https://your-domain.com/ghost
  2. ⚙️ Complete the initial setup
  3. ✍️ Create a new blog post
  4. 📧 Before publishing, select the email option to send to subscribers
  5. 🚀 Publish the post
  6. ✅ If you receive the post via email, your newsletter email is working properly

🛠️ Troubleshooting Email Issues

If emails fail to send:

  1. 🔧 Go to Settings → Portal settings → Account page
  2. ⚙️ Set up the default email address for transactional email
  3. ⚠️ Important: If you're using SMTP Relay (like AWS SES) or your own Mailgun account, the email address must be verified with those services first

For more detailed configuration help, see Ghost's email configuration documentation.

🎯 Quick Decision Guide

🆕 Just getting started? → Choose 🏆 Option 1 (Full Dargo Service)

💰 Running a personal blog on a budget? → Choose 💡 Option 2 (Hybrid Setup)

🔧 Need full control and have technical experience? → Choose Option 3, 4, or 5 based on your preferred email services

❓ Questions? Contact our support team for personalized recommendations based on your specific needs.