Siwa vs Ubud: choosing a Ghost theme for your writing

By Ahmad Ajmi October 4, 2026

A writer’s site has two jobs: introduce the writer and give visitors something worth reading. The balance depends on how readers find you. Someone who follows your name may want a short introduction. Someone who finds an article needs a page they can read with ease. They also need a way to find more of your work.

Siwa and Ubud both suit a personal Ghost site. I make both themes at Aspire Themes. Siwa adds a range of story layouts and reading tools. Ubud has six homepage styles and one article layout.

The homepage introduction

First, decide what a new visitor needs to know about you. A portrait and a short introduction may be enough. Your work may call for more space, with a video or a longer passage. Either way, readers should be able to find a story without reading your whole biography.

Siwa’s introduction

Siwa homepage with a writer introduction and portrait — Siwa separates the introduction from the story cards that follow.

Siwa gives the introduction its own section above featured and recent stories. You can use a portrait or a video. The video opens in a lightbox: a viewer over the page. Writers who speak, teach, or record can let visitors hear their work as well as read it.

Each featured card can have its own color and use an image or video. Use those choices to help a few essays stand out as starting points. You need not give each post a new look. Optional reader quotes and a newsletter section give you more room to explain the site.

Ubud’s homepage styles

Ubud has six homepage styles. The default puts an image beside the introduction. Other styles place it on the right, use a circle, or center it. You can also choose a wide or full-image style. Each changes the same introduction; it does not change how you publish.

Ubud circle homepage style with a centered portrait and introduction — The circle style uses a smaller portrait. The introduction sits centered below it.

Choose a side-by-side style to give the photo and text similar amounts of space. The circle style leaves more room for text. Featured and recent posts follow either style. Ubud suits a writer who wants to choose one arrangement and keep a consistent design across the site.

These examples use demo content. The Siwa shots use its Cloud Dancer palette. Compare how much space your own introduction would need. Base your choice on that, rather than the demo’s photo or colors alone.

Article layouts

Once someone opens an essay, the article layout needs to fit the text. Start with a standard written post in each theme. Then compare Siwa’s other layouts.

Siwa’s layouts and tools

Siwa default article opening with title, excerpt, date, and feature image — Siwa gives the title and introduction a wide opening. The feature image follows.

Siwa has five post layouts:

Default written article
Hero image
Fullscreen opening
Split opening
Video

You can choose a layout for each piece. That helps when you publish visual essays as well as text, without changing themes.

Siwa also has controls to listen, change text size, comment, and share. Choose it if you want those tools on the reading page. They differ from audio and video cards inside a Ghost post. Both themes can show those cards.

Siwa reading toolbar with Listen, three text sizes, Comments, Share, and the article's table of contents — Siwa’s toolbar sits above the article body. Readers can listen, resize text, comment, and share.

Ubud’s reading column

Ubud article opening with title, excerpt, author, reading time, and feature image — Ubud keeps the title, excerpt, author details, and image in one column.

Ubud uses one article layout. The title, excerpt, author, and image share a narrower column. That may suit you if you mainly publish written essays. You can also use Siwa’s default layout for each post. Its other layouts are optional.

Both themes support Ghost’s editor cards, memberships, and posts without feature images. Those shared features do not decide the choice. Consider how much layout variety you want and which reading controls you need.

Read a few paragraphs in each demo on your phone too. Check line length, headings, captions, and the route to the next article. A striking opening image cannot show you how the rest of the page reads.

Older writing

Siwa Archive with a list of article titles and publication dates — Siwa’s Archive presents a compact list of titles and dates.

Siwa’s Archive lists titles and dates in a compact space. Its separate Latest page uses cards. Readers can scan for a title or browse through images and excerpts.

Ubud Blog page with dated article rows, excerpts, access labels, and thumbnails — Ubud’s Blog rows give each post a date, access label, excerpt, and thumbnail.

Ubud’s Blog page uses rows with dates, access labels, titles, excerpts, and thumbnails. A button loads more posts. Each row gives readers some context before they open an essay. Ubud also has an Archive template that groups posts by month and links to tags. The Ubud documentation covers the Archive setup.

Which theme fits?

Choose Siwa for video introductions and a choice of article openings. It also has built-in reading controls. Choose Ubud for a choice of personal homepage styles, followed by one reading layout and a post list.

For a busy magazine that covers many subjects, compare the magazine themes. Neither Siwa nor Ubud is the closest fit for that job. If newsletter signup is the site’s main purpose, use the newsletter theme guide.