Release Notes are beneficial for everyone from customers to developers Release note templates will make sure that your release note is clear and concise for both technical and non-technical users alike.
Release notes and changelogs should not be a boring list of bugs, but instead, provide developers and customers with the necessary information to understand updates. Release notes can help you improve customer satisfaction and user engagement. Release notes (opens new window) can boost your customer satisfaction and user engagement and a proper release note template will help you to get started with helpful notes, including example content. Release notes should provide a clear overview of what was changed in the update/product version.
# 1. Why release notes are important
Why Release Notes are Important and why you should build a template for them? Release notes are an important communication tool. They provide valuable information about the updates that have been made to your product or service, what has changed, and how it affects users. This is especially important for products with multiple versions out in the wild at any given time. Release notes have different audiences:
Developers/Product Owners: Release Notes are vital for developers to understand what has changed so they can quickly find the problems and bugs that were fixed. Release note templates will help them not only keep tabs on their own issues but also get an idea of how release notes are constructed. Release notes should include any new features or changes in functionality that customers need to know about as well. A template is helpful here because it forces you to think through each section ahead of time before actually writing anything down. This makes sure everything important gets included without forgetting some major update while still keeping it concise enough for non-technical users who might read this page too!
Customers: Make sure your release notes are clear and concise. Release notes, as said before, will always be useful for technical users, but they can also help non-technical customers to understand what has changed in the product or service that affects them too! Keeping it simple is absolutely essential here - release notes should provide a basic overview of any changes made to your software or API without getting into too much detail about things like specific bugs and how they come up.
Release notes needn't be hidden away on an internal corporate website either; make sure you share this valuable information on social media channels like Twitter & Facebook as well. Users love transparency and knowing exactly how their feedback helped improve the latest update.
# Using release note software!
Software for Release Notes: There are software programs and applications available to help you with your release notes. You can use these software tools as a base to start off your notes or you can use them to publish the exact information that you want on a changelog.
Sleekplan provides you with a public changelog tool (opens new window) that helps you to spread the word. You can easily add software releases to your company's changelog. This allows users to see exactly what has been changed between software versions. You may use in-app announcements for SaaS and web-based applications to notify users of changes.
👉 Try Sleekplan (opens new window)
# 2. How to write good release notes?
Drafting great product release notes is a challenging task. Even the smallest product change requires careful consideration of when and how to communicate it to users in your release notes. Without some guidelines, you risk confusing or frustrating your customers, and you miss a perfect opportunity to delight them. Release note templates will make sure that your release notes are clear and concise. Release notes should be:
Concise (in short bullet points or sentences)
Clear about what changed in the product update/version
Detailed enough to help developers identify bugs, but not so wordy they overwhelm users who don't care about specific bug fixes.
Release Note Templates can really help you with being specific of how to structure Release Notes for your products/services! This makes sure everything important gets included without forgetting some major update while still keeping it concise enough for non-technical users
# 3. What should be included in your release notes?
Release notes (opens new window) should provide a clear overview of what was changed in the update/product version. Templates help to get started. But what should be included? Release Notes are your opportunity to communicate every change that comes out for your product or service - even bug fixes! Make sure you group this information and include the following parts in your notes
Add images, videos, gifs, and links to additional information
Add screenshots of any new functionality users will see
Use bullets, numbers, and headings to make it easy for customers to scan the Release Notes quickly
Leverage the tone of voice of your brand
Add additional relevant context
Release Note Templates can be found online or you can draft your own Release Note template.
# 4. The benefits of having good, well-written release notes
Keeping the various stakeholders aware of any modifications in the product. Stakeholders are everyone affected by a decision, including your users.
Release notes, as the software's maturity increases become a documentation reference point.
Release Notes Tell Your Products' Story! Release Notes are an integral part of the software development cycle. Release notes help you to communicate information about changes and improvements that will affect your users, but also provide transparency into what is going on with your product or service.
Release notes become a historical reference point - which helps when tracking down issues later.
# 5. A free template for releasing new features or updates
Having Release Notes Templates readily available will make sure your release notes are clear and concise. Release notes should be:
Concise (in short bullet points or sentences)
Clear about what changed in the product update/version
We have a template that can really help you get started with your Release Notes!
Download: HTML Release Note Template
# 6. Some tips on writing better software releases
# 1. Write For Humans.
Keep in mind that you're writing for real people, not machines. Be clear and concise when describing changes in your software update. Simple is better!
# 2. Keep it Organized.
Group changes by their relative importance. Start with the biggest and most impactful items, then follow up with smaller ones (in order of severity if applicable). However, make sure you keep it ordered by category (e.g. Bug Fixes, New Features, and so on...)
# 3. Show the added value.
Feature updates usually only make sense if you highlight the added value. Why should someone download this update? Why did you make this change and what's the benefit? What will he get out of it?