How to update the website for an Ubuntu release

Releases come periodically, however they happen just far enough apart to forget some key aspects. This list will explain what needs to be done for type of release and should work hand in hand with the Ubuntu ReleaseProcess.

Alpha Release

day of release

• Copy the contents of the release overview/tour/notes (whatever its called) to www.ubuntu.com/testing/codename/alphaX
• Update www.ubuntu.com/testing

• Update the www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/releasenotes page so that it redirects requests for ?os=ubuntu&ver=VER to the latest testing page.

Beta Release

3 days before release

• have homepage beta graphic ready on a test server
• upload countdown graphics and be ready to update the countdown javascript

day of release

• Copy the contents of the release overview to www.ubuntu.com/testing/codename/beta
• Update www.ubuntu.com/testing

• Update the www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/releasenotes page so that it redirects requests for ?os=ubuntu&ver=VER to the beta page.

• Update the homepage with a new graphic announcing the beta release
• Update the countdown javascript

Release Candidate

3 days before release

• update the graphic for the homepage to remove the "beta" wording
• release manager makes a call requesting translations of the release errata document

day of release

• At this point all references to the release should use the version number, not the code name
• Copy the contents of the release overview to www.ubuntu.com/testing/VERrc (i.e. 804rc)
• Update www.ubuntu.com/testing

• Update the www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/releasenotes page so that it redirects requests for ?os=ubuntu&ver=VER to the rc page.

• Update the releasenotes page to also include redirects to translated copies
• Upload the modified homepage graphic

Final Release

TODO

• homepage graphics
• download page
• download pages for kubuntu/edubuntu
• homepage banners
• update the countdown graphic
• static copy of the website in case of catastrophe (plan b)
• get release notes polished and published as 804tour
• release overview - optimize/crop images, move to main site
• remove DVD downloads from the "more download options" page
• feature tour page(s) to show desktop features
• update the banner on the homepage
• ...

CategoryWebsite