How to release a version

Before releasing, ensure that you're on the master branch. Run all tests and ensure that they pass. Also check the hudson site to make sure tests are passing.

$ ./test_support/bin/test.sh 

1. Create a release branch, wit the format release-{major}.{minor}

$ git checkout -b release-{major}.{minor}
# Switched to a new branch 'release-{major}.{minor}'

1. Update the version number in ./VERSION

{major}.{minor}.{patch}

1. Update the links in the readme files to point at the correct version so we're not linking to the documents in master which may not be correct for the specific tagged release (change "master" to version number)

2. Fix GitHub issue tracker to know about the release

• Create a milestone in GitHub for the NEXT version.
• Move any open tickets for released version to the next version.
• Mark the milestone as released.

1. Prepare announcement

• Include URL to JIRA closed issues for version (Browse Project / Versions / click on version / click on eyeball icon in top right, -- copy URL. Maybe you want to tinyurl this ugly guy.)
• Include URL to github commits between tags. github can show all commits between two versions with a URL of this form: http://github.com/projectblacklight/blacklight/compare/v2.5.0...v2.6.0 Replace with previous version and current release version tags.

1. Release the gem

$ rake release

1. Announce

• Write a blog post with release notes at projectblacklight.org by adding a new post into github pages project
• Write emails announcing the release and linking the blog post to Blacklight Development