Release Notes Template

What are release notes?

Release notes are a structured document that describes what changed in a software release, product update, or system deployment — including new features, improvements, bug fixes, and known issues. They give stakeholders a clear, concise record of each version so teams know what is different and how it affects their work.

Release notes bridge the gap between development and the rest of the organisation. Without a standardised format, updates are communicated inconsistently — a Slack message here, an email there, a changelog buried in a repository. Support teams miss new features, sales cannot explain recent improvements, and customers discover changes by accident. A structured template ensures every release is documented once and accessible to everyone who needs it.

Who should use this template?

This template is for teams responsible for communicating product and system changes:

• Product Managers — document feature releases and improvements so internal teams and customers understand each update
• Engineering Leads — record technical changes, migrations, and deprecations in a format non-technical stakeholders can follow
• Customer Success Managers — share release updates with customers and highlight features relevant to their use case
• IT Operations Teams — communicate system updates, patches, and infrastructure changes to internal users

What’s included in this template?

The template has two parts: structured metadata fields and the release body.

Metadata fields classify each release:

• Product or system name
• Version number (e.g. v3.8.2)
• Release date and deployment window
• Release type — major, minor, patch, or hotfix
• Status (scheduled, deployed, rolled back)

Release body documents the update:

• Summary — one-paragraph overview of what this release delivers and why it matters
• New features — each feature with a description and user impact
• Improvements — enhancements to existing functionality with before/after context
• Bug fixes — resolved issues with reference to ticket numbers
• Known issues — open items with workarounds and expected resolution
• Migration notes — actions required by users or administrators after deployment

How to create and customise this template in Elium

1. Open the Template Builder — Go to your profile menu and select the Template Builder tab, or click “+ Create” and choose “Create a new template”.
2. Set the scope — Choose an icon, enable the template, and decide whether it applies platform-wide or to specific spaces (e.g. Product or Engineering only).
3. Add structured fields — Click “Field” to add metadata: text fields for product name and version number, a date field for release date, a tag field for release type (pre-populate with “Major”, “Minor”, “Patch”, “Hotfix”), and a tag field for status (pre-populate with “Scheduled”, “Deployed”, “Rolled Back”). Mark version number and release type as mandatory.
4. Build the release structure — Use the “+” button to add content blocks: a text block for summary, then separate sections for new features, improvements, bug fixes, known issues, and migration notes. Use headings to separate each section clearly.
5. Preview and save — Review the template layout, then save. Product and engineering teams can now select it when publishing new releases, and you can apply it to existing content in bulk.

How AI helps you create and use this template

Capture faster. Paste your commit log, Jira tickets, or sprint summary into Elium’s AI. It groups changes into features, improvements, and bug fixes, drafts user-facing descriptions, and formats the release notes — so the product manager reviews and polishes rather than writing from scratch.

Retrieve smarter. A support agent asks Elium’s AI: “When did we fix the CSV export timeout issue?” The AI returns the specific release version, date, and fix description — so the agent gives the customer a precise answer without searching through months of changelogs.

Why teams use Elium for release communication

Release notes are only useful when the people who need them can find them. When updates are scattered across emails, Slack channels, and Confluence pages, knowledge fragments and teams work from outdated information. Elium centralises release history: structured templates keep every update in the same format, search lets anyone find a specific change instantly, and permissions control who sees internal versus customer-facing notes.

Bouygues Construction — 53,500 employees across 80 countries — uses Elium to centralise operational knowledge across distributed teams. System updates, process changes, and best practices are documented in a single platform, ensuring every team has access to the latest information.