From 444ad2e98ddace1ecf97bb7035a7c3079e77e13b Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: "K. Adam White" <kadamwhite@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Thu, 28 May 2026 09:51:03 -0400
Subject: [PATCH] Add a CONTRIBUTING.md explaining the release process

---
 CONTRIBUTING.md | 12 ++++++++++++
 README.md       |  4 ++++
 2 files changed, 16 insertions(+)
 create mode 100644 CONTRIBUTING.md

diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.md b/CONTRIBUTING.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..38eaa19b6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+# Contributing
+
+## Release Process
+
+1. In a pull request off of `master`,
+    - bump the version number in the [plugin.php](./plugin.php) comment header
+    - update the [CHANGELOG.md](./CHANGELOG.md) with a list of features to be released
+2. Get sign-off from a teammate and merge the version bump PR
+3. Create a tag on `master` matching the updated version number in [plugin.php](./plugin.php)
+4. Push the tag to GitHub
+
+When you push the release tag, a [GitHub Actions workflow](https://github.com/humanmade/Workflows/actions/workflows/release.yml) will automatically build the plugin and re-point your newly pushed tag to the SHA containing the built code, then promote that tag to a [release](https://github.com/humanmade/Workflows/releases).
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index ccb8df265..3c5171c5d 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -2,3 +2,7 @@
 Powerful workflows for WordPress
 
 Read the [API documentation on the Wiki](https://github.com/humanmade/Workflows/wiki), or learn more in [the Altis DXP documentation](https://www.altis-dxp.com/resources/docs/workflow/).
+
+## Release Process
+
+See [CONTRIBUTING.md](./CONTRIBUTING.md).