ACT Climate Labs
The brief
ACT Climate Labs is a platform for climate‑conscious organisations and campaigners, sharing research, insights and tools to help shift public attitudes on climate.
They approached me with a specific problem: their Ghost‑based membership platform was being increasingly targeted by bad‑faith sign‑ups. New members could create accounts and access content immediately, leaving the team with little control over who joined and how to protect their community.
They needed a way to introduce manual approval into a system that was designed for instant access — without rebuilding the whole platform. Alongside this, they wanted to improve how content was presented on the homepage and across the archive so key work was easier to find.
The challenge
This was less about a full site rebuild and more about carefully extending an existing platform. We had to work with Ghost’s native access controls, not against them, and give the team more control without disrupting genuine members.
Safer membership onboarding
adding manual approval into a platform designed for instant access
Working with existing Ghost logic
intercepting native access controls without breaking the system
Protecting a climate‑focused community
reducing bad‑faith sign‑ups targeting members and content
Clearer content hierarchy
reworking homepage layouts and archives so key work is easier to find
The approach
We started by mapping the existing membership flow in Ghost: how people discovered the site, signed up, and gained access to content. From there, we designed a new pattern where sign‑ups are captured, reviewed and approved by staff before full access is granted.
On the technical side, we:
- Custom‑coded a solution to intercept Ghost’s native access controls
- Redirected new sign‑ups to a tailored online form, capturing the information the team needed to review applications
- Introduced a manual approval step so staff can vet and approve members before they gain access to protected content
- Ensured the experience stayed smooth for genuine applicants, while adding friction for bad‑faith actors
At the same time, we worked on the front‑end experience:
- Custom‑coded the Ghost theme to adjust homepage layouts
- Reorganised the content archive hierarchy so key reports, tools and articles are easier to surface
- Created clearer pathways into core content areas for climate‑conscious members and partners
The focus throughout was on adding control and clarity without asking ACT Climate Labs to move away from a platform that otherwise worked well for them.
The outcome
The updated platform gives ACT Climate Labs much tighter control over who joins their community and how members move through the site.
Manual review and approval for new members, reducing bad‑faith sign‑ups
Improvements delivered within the existing Ghost setup, avoiding a full rebuild
Clearer homepage and archive structure, making key content easier to find
ACT Climate Labs
Location
Year
Industry
Services
Feature design
Custom development (Ghost)
Content hierarchy & layout
Credits
ACT Climate Labs
Ghost
Louise Rankin