Release Process

Release checklist for Simple History core plugin and add-ons.

Uses OneFlow branching model and semver versioning.

Release Order

Always release core first, then premium/add-ons.

Premium declares a minimum core version. While reversing the order won’t crash (premium shows a graceful admin notice), releasing core first ensures compatibility.

Core Plugin Release

1. Create Release Branch

git checkout main
git pull
git checkout -b release-X.Y.Z

2. Bump Version

npm run bump:patch   # or bump:minor / bump:major

This updates version in all three locations:

• index.php (plugin header Version: and SIMPLE_HISTORY_VERSION constant)
• readme.txt (Stable tag:)
• package.json (version)

3. Update Changelog

In readme.txt, move items from ### Unreleased to a new versioned section:

### X.Y.Z (Month Year)

Remove the ### Unreleased heading entirely so the readme is clean. Do not keep an empty Unreleased section.

Do not update CHANGELOG.md during this step — it is maintained separately.

4. Add Update Details

If the release has significant changes, add update details to class-simple-history-updates.php. This is shown to users in the WordPress update screen. Show the user the changes for review (confirmed in the pre-tag checklist).

5. Run QA

npm run php:lint
npm run php:phpstan
npm run build

Run the three test suites in parallel using three separate Bash tool calls (with run_in_background: true) in a single message:

• PHP_CLI_VERSION=81 PHP_VERSION=8.1 npm run test:wpunit
• PHP_CLI_VERSION=81 PHP_VERSION=8.1 npm run test:functional
• PHP_CLI_VERSION=81 PHP_VERSION=8.1 npm run test:acceptance

Wait for all three to finish, then check results. Each suite is independent — they share the database container but don’t conflict.

6. Write Blog Post

Write a blog post on simple-history.com as a draft (do not publish):

• Detailed changelog
• Screenshots where relevant
• Links to updated documentation
• Tagged with releases and changelog

The user will review and publish the blog post manually.

6b. Link Blog Post from readme.txt

Add a link to the blog post in the readme.txt changelog entry for this version. Place it right after the version heading, before the first changelog category. Use this format:

### X.Y.Z (Month Year)

Brief summary of the release highlights.
[Read more about it in the release post](https://simple-history.com/YYYY/simple-history-X-Y-Z-released/)

**Added**

The URL pattern is https://simple-history.com/YYYY/simple-history-X-Y-Z-released/ where dots in the version are replaced with hyphens.

7. Tag

Before tagging, ask the user to confirm ALL of these. Do not proceed until confirmed:

• Changelog in readme.txt looks correct
• Update details in class-simple-history-updates.php look good
• All tests pass (wpunit, functional, acceptance)
• Blog post is written on simple-history.com and linked from readme.txt changelog entry (with “Read more” link after version heading)

git tag X.Y.Z

8. Merge to Main

git checkout main
git merge release-X.Y.Z
git branch -d release-X.Y.Z

9. Push (MANUAL — do not run automatically)

STOP: Do not execute git push. Pushing the tag triggers deployment to WordPress.org and is irreversible. Remind the user to run these commands themselves:

git push origin main
git push origin X.Y.Z

Pushing the tag triggers the GitHub Actions workflow (.github/workflows/deploy.yml) which builds and deploys to WordPress.org via SVN.

10. Post-Release

• Wait for GitHub Actions to finish deploying
• Verify the new version appears on https://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-history/
• Test updating the plugin on:
  • Local test site with non-symlinked plugins
  • https://eskapism.se/wp-admin/
  • https://simple-history.com
• Follow up issues and support threads — answer and close resolved ones

Add-on Release (Premium and Others)

Add-ons live in a separate monorepo. See CLAUDE.local.md for the local path.

Branch and Tag Naming

Each add-on uses its own prefix:

1. Test

Run tests and manual smoke testing. Verify features work with the latest core version.

2. Create Release Branch

git checkout main
git pull
git checkout -b <prefix>/release-X.Y.Z

3. Update Changelog

Update changelog in the add-on’s readme.txt. Move items from ### Unreleased to a versioned section. Remove the ### Unreleased heading entirely so the readme is clean.

4. Update Translations

If texts have been added or modified, update translations using Claude’s translate command.

5. Update Version

For Premium: Run Claude command version-update, which updates:

• simple-history-premium.php — plugin header (Version: X.Y.Z)
• simple-history-premium.php — Config::init() array ('version' => 'X.Y.Z')
• readme.txt — Stable tag: X.Y.Z

For other add-ons: Manually update:

• readme.txt
• index.php (or similar main file, 2 places — header and constant)

6. Update Minimum Core Version (Premium Only)

Both of these must be updated together — keep them in sync!

In inc/functions.php:

• The version_compare() check (the actual version gate)
• The admin notice message string (the user-facing text)

7. Build (Premium Only)

npm run build

Build artifacts are committed for the premium plugin.

8. Tag

git tag <prefix>/X.Y.Z

9. Merge to Main

git checkout main
git merge <prefix>/release-X.Y.Z
git branch -d <prefix>/release-X.Y.Z

10. Push (MANUAL — do not run automatically)

STOP: Do not execute git push. Remind the user to run these commands themselves:

git push origin main
git push origin <prefix>/X.Y.Z

11. Create Distribution Zip

Premium:

npm run plugin-zip

Other add-ons: Use Keka to zip the plugin folder and add to releases folder.

Rename zip to include version: simple-history-premium-1.8.0.zip

12. Upload to Lemon Squeezy

• Go to https://app.lemonsqueezy.com/products/
• Upload zip to each variant
• Add new version number to each file uploaded

13. Update simple-history.com

• Update plugin info releases:
  • Update version
  • Update changelog
  • Update date on add-on product page at https://simple-history.com/add-ons/<plugin-slug>

14. Verify Update Delivery

Test that the plugin update is detected on:

• eskapism.se (has premium with license)
• Local test site (non-symlinked plugins, with license entered)
• simple-history.com (has the plugin but needs manual zip upload to update)

If no update is found, check Lemon Squeezy API errors and debug.

15. Blog Post

Write a blog post on simple-history.com describing the release. Add categories like premium and releases.

Version Locations Reference

Core Plugin

Premium Plugin