Enable ads & sponsors

The theme includes ad slots throughout its listings and sidebars, but they only become "real" once you configure them; until then they render harmless placeholders. Ad behaviour is driven by the theme's @custom.* settings and a small resolution order, so you control monetisation entirely from Ghost Admin.

An ad slot resolves in a fixed priority: AdSense → sponsor → dummy placeholder. If AdSense is enabled and configured, the slot shows a Google ad. If not, but a sponsor is configured, it shows the sponsor unit. If neither is set, it shows a neutral placeholder so the layout is never broken during development.

Design -> theme custom settings (ads):
  enable_ads            : off  |  on         <- master switch
  adsense_publisher_id  : ca-pub-XXXXXXXX    <- your AdSense publisher id
  sponsor_image         : (upload)           <- fallback sponsor creative
  sponsor_url           : https://sponsor... <- sponsor click-through

Resolution: AdSense (if enable_ads + publisher id)
            -> sponsor (if sponsor_image/url set)
            -> dummy placeholder

To turn on Google ads, set enable_ads to on and paste your AdSense publisher id (ca-pub-...) into adsense_publisher_id. The theme then injects the AdSense code into its slots. To run a direct sponsor instead (or as a fallback when AdSense has no fill), upload a sponsor_image and set a sponsor_url; the slot renders that creative linking to the sponsor.

Because the resolution falls back gracefully, you can develop and stage the site with placeholders, add a sponsor for a launch partner, and later switch on AdSense — all without theme changes. Keep enable_ads off in development so you are not serving live ads against test traffic.

A compliance reminder: if you enable AdSense you are responsible for the usual requirements — a privacy policy, consent handling where required, and adhering to AdSense program policies. With ads configured, the site configuration section is complete; the final documentation section explains the SEO and structured-data features the theme provides.