Sinai vs Hakone: cards or complete posts?

A simple Ghost theme can offer two different ways to read. It can show stories to choose from or put full posts in front of you. Sinai uses a post grid for the first approach. Hakone shows complete posts on the homepage for the second.

The shots use sample posts from Aspire Themes’ demos. Compare posts like your own. Base your choice on those, rather than the demo’s colors or photos.

Sinai’s post grid

Sinai gives each post a card. Readers can scan the title, tag, and excerpt before opening it. The grid shows several choices at once. It helps visitors browse the archive or find a subject they want to read about.

The excerpt needs to give useful context. If the title needs more detail, explain the question or story behind it. Readers open a separate article page for the full text.

Hakone’s complete posts

Hakone puts post content in the homepage feed. In the demo, readers can start The Library straight away. They scroll to reach its images and the posts that follow. Each post still has its own URL. The homepage is another place to read it.

This suits a journal or a stream of short notes. The entry itself gives readers a reason to visit.

Post length and images

Find a short note, a long essay, and a photo-heavy post in the demos. Compare how each homepage handles those forms of writing.

If you mainly publish long essays, try finding a second story from the homepage. In Sinai, readers can choose another card. In Hakone, a useful Archive or tag link helps them skip an entry.

Photos can work with either approach. Sinai uses feature images to help readers choose a story. Hakone shows images within the posts, so a photo sequence can appear on the homepage. Should visitors choose a series first or start viewing it straight away?

The demo’s photos are sample content, not part of the download. Find demo posts like yours in length and format. Use them to judge the layout.

Older posts

Sinai has a tag directory and optional homepage sections for chosen tags. Those sections give recurring subjects space below the grid. The Sinai documentation explains how to set them up. Mentioning a subject in a post does not create a section.

Hakone’s demo links to Tags and Archive in its header. Readers can use those pages to browse by subject or date. Archive lists up to 100 posts. It is not a full index for a site with more posts. The Hakone documentation covers these pages.

Which theme fits?

Choose Sinai to let readers compare stories, browse tags, and open a piece. Choose Hakone to let them read posts on the homepage. Check how much scrolling the full posts need. Decide whether that suits your site.

Read posts in the Sinai demo and Hakone demo. Find pieces like yours in length and format. These public demos let you browse sample content, but not upload your own posts. For a prominent homepage introduction before the posts, compare Siwa and Ubud. For separate magazine sections and a stronger lead story, compare Tripoli and Taba.