Releasing and publishing a new version

When creating a new release, a number of steps need to be followed:

Release

1. If there are code changes, commit those first, as a regular commit. If this commit fixes any tickets, add a reference to those tickets numbers in brackets.
2. Switch the project's configuration to RELEASE.
3. Check the version info, and update it if necessary.
4. Build a new plugin DLL, and test it.
5. Save the entire code project
6. Commit the changes (which should now just be the project file). Specify two commit tags, release and the full version (like 'src-1.0.0.0'). Start the commit message with 'Release of v1.0.0.0':fossil commit --tag release --tag src-1.0.0.0 -m "Release of v1.0.0.0"
7. Update the ReleaseNotes.txt with the new version, and describe the most important new features and bugfixes.
8. Commit the plugin DLL and release notes in the publish branch; the commit message should only consist of the version number, and specify a commit tag with the full version number as well (like 'v1.0.0.0'). Don’t forget this, or you won’t be able to make a 'readable' download link!: fossil commit --tag publish --tag v1.0.0.0 -m "v1.0.0.0"
9. Close any tickets that have been fixed in this release, referencing the version number.

Publish

1. Visit the Notepad++ Plugin Repository, and change this plugin's definition to match the new version.
2. Post a message to the Notepad++ Plugin Development Forum. Make a new post, with the plugin name and version as subject. You can copy the information from the release notes, and don’t forget to include a download link to that specific version (e.g. http://fossil.2of4.net/npp_preview/zip/Preview_plugin.zip?uuid=v1.0.0.0).

Sources

• Top 10 Hints for Writing a Notepad++ Plugin, and Getting It Listed (Dave Brotherstone, 2012-08-20)