Covering a release
This page is for journalists, news editors, bloggers and video creators who want to report on a new version of Exponential. It walks you from "I heard there is a new version" to a story whose every fact has a source. The rules are the same ones the project applies to itself: a release exists when its tag exists, and a published version is never changed afterwards.
Contents
- What counts as a release
- The state on 18 October 2026
- Five steps from tip to story
- Choosing the news for your audience
- What a release story must not say
- Related pages
What counts as a release
A version of Exponential is released when its Git tag (for example v6.0.14) is published in the repository
github.com/se7enxweb/exponential. The tag is also the version Composer
installs from Packagist. Work that is merged but not tagged belongs to the development line, which you may
report on only if you say so plainly (Covering 6.0.15, before and after its tag).
The project states that "A published tag is never changed: a fix for a problem in v6.0.14 or an earlier tag
reaches you as the next release, not as a corrected copy of the old one"
(SECURITY.md). For you this means a release story stays true: the files behind a version
number will not change after you write about them (Published versions never change).
The state on 18 October 2026
| Fact | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Newest released version of Exponential | 6.0.14, tag v6.0.14, 7 June 2026 | 6.0.14 changelog, release overview |
| First release of the 6.0 line | 6.0.0, 1 January 2024 | 6.0.0 changelog |
| Number of 6.0.x releases | 15 (6.0.0 to 6.0.14) | Who is 7x?, The 6.0.x releases |
| The current release line | 6.0.15, on main, no tag v6.0.15 on that day | 6.0.15 changelog |
Check these again on the day you publish; a newer tag may exist by then (Verifying a release yourself).
Five steps from tip to story
- Confirm the tag. Look at GitHub Releases or run the commands on Verifying a release yourself. No tag, no release.
- Read the changelog of that version. Each 6.0.x version has a page in
doc/changelogs/6.0/, for example 6.0.14. Read "In short" first, then "Upgrading" (Reading a changelog). - Read the history for context. The history tells month by month what each change makes possible, with the commit behind it (The history pages as a source).
- Open the feature page of each item you want to describe. The changelog links them.
- Ask for comment if you want a quote. Quotes come only from 7x or the Exponential Foundation, in writing (Quotes policy, Requesting an interview).
Choosing the news for your audience
| Your audience | What to look for in the changelog | Example from 6.0.14 |
|---|---|---|
| General or business readers | One headline change and what it means | "MongoDB 8 is a database next to MySQL, PostgreSQL and SQLite" |
| Technical press | Databases, PHP versions, engines, APIs, upgrade steps | The setup wizard's database name field; portable SQL for SQLite and PostgreSQL |
| Site owners and administrators | The "Upgrading" section | "No action needed for MySQL, PostgreSQL and SQLite sites" |
| Developers | Added files, scripts, template operators | bin/shell/generatefilelist.sh and share/filelist.md5 |
All four examples are quoted from the 6.0.14 changelog. Templates for each kind of story are on Release story templates.
What a release story must not say
| Do not write | Write instead |
|---|---|
| "6.0.15 will ship on ..." | No date before the tag exists; the release date is the date of the tag v6.0.15. |
| "Version 6.0.14 was updated to fix ..." | "The fix is in the next version" (published versions never change) |
| "eZ Publish 6.0.14" | "Exponential 6.0.14" (Brand and naming rules) |
| A user count, market share or speed multiple | Leave it out; the sources do not give one (Claims you must not make) |
| A quote you composed from the notes | Quote the changelog word for word with its link, or ask for a statement |
Before you publish, run the Release coverage checklist.
Related pages
- Release coverage checklist
- Where changelogs and release notes live
- How version numbers work
- Writing about a release (the advocate's version of this page)
- Free documentation: this page is free to copy, translate and improve under the GNU FDL 1.3.
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