Creating Release Notes

JIRA provides the functionality to create release notes for a specific version of a project. The release notes contain all issues within the specified project that are marked with a specific "Fix For" version. The release notes can also be generated in a number of formats (e.g. HTML, plain text, etc.) so as they can be included in various documents.

At present, two example format templates are provided - HTML and Text - using Velocity templates. Further format templates can be created and added to the system.

Generating Release Notes

1. On the top navigation bar, click the white triangle next to 'Projects'. The projects dropdown will display.
   Tip: If you click on the 'Projects' link instead of the triangle, the summary for your current project will display.
2. Click the project that you wish to create release notes for. If it is not displayed in the dropdown, click 'View All Projects' — you will be able to view a list of all projects set up in your JIRA instance and select your project from there.
3. Click 'Road Map' tab on the left of the screen.
   Tip: If you wish to see past release notes click on the 'Change Log' tab instead.
4. Click 'Release Notes' link for the project version that you wish to generate release notes for. The 'Release Notes' page will display.
5. Click the 'Configure Release Notes' link to configure the release notes. The 'Configure Release Notes' page will display:
   • Select the required project version for which the release notes will be generated in the 'Please select version' dropdown.
   • Select the required format of the release notes — HTML and plain text format templates are provided in the 'Please select style' dropdown.
6. Selecting the 'Create' button will generate the release notes using the specified template in the specified format. The release notes will be displayed on screen and can be copied and pasted to another application.

Adding a New Format Template

1. Create a Velocity template similar in content to that of the examples provided — releasenotes-text.vm and releasenotes-html.vm. Consult the JIRA API documentation and the Jakarta Velocity User Guide.
2. The title within the template should be modified along with the code within the text area. The other sections of the template do not need to be modified.
3. Add the new format template to the list within the jira-application.properties file. A corresponding entry must be made in both the jira.releasenotes.templatenames and the jira.releasenotes.templates lists. It is also necessary that the entries in both lists are in the same order.
4. Restart JIRA.
5. The new format template is available for selection as a release note format template.

Also see the tutorial on How to Create a Custom Release Notes Template Containing Comments.