updated contributing/releasing guidelines

CONTRIBUTING.md

@@ -12,13 +12,12 @@ sending a pull request. Please follow these guidelines:
 5.  Use *spaces*, not *tabs*;
 6.  Update the [rez version](src/rez/utils/_version.py) appropriately, and follow
     [semantic versioning](https://semver.org/);
-7.  Update [the changelog](CHANGELOG.md); see the section below for more details;
-8.  Use [this format](https://help.github.com/articles/closing-issues-using-keywords/)
+7.  Use [this format](https://help.github.com/articles/closing-issues-using-keywords/)
     to mention the issue(s) your PR closes;
-9.  Add relevant tests to demonstrate that your changes work;
-10. Add relevant documentation [here](wiki/pages) to document your changes, if applicable. Those
+8.  Add relevant tests to demonstrate that your changes work;
+9.  Add relevant documentation [here](wiki/pages) to document your changes, if applicable. Those
     markdown files prefixed with `_` are internal and should not be changed.
-11. If you changes add a new rez config setting, update [rezconfig.py](src/rez/rezconfig.py) and
+10. If you changes add a new rez config setting, update [rezconfig.py](src/rez/rezconfig.py) and
     document the setting. The comments in this file are extracted and turned into Wiki content. Pay
     attention to the comment formatting and follow the existing style closely.
 
@@ -30,36 +29,3 @@ If you report a bug, please ensure to specify the following:
 2.  Platform and operating system you were using;
 3.  Contextual information (what were you trying to do using Rez);
 4.  Simplest possible steps to reproduce.
-
-## Updating The Changelog
-
-Here is an example changelog entry:
-
-```
-## 2.38.0 (2019-07-20)
-[Source](https://github.com/nerdvegas/rez/tree/2.38.0) | [Diff](https://github.com/nerdvegas/rez/compare/2.37.1...2.38.0)
-
-**Notes**
-
-Describe the fixes the PR addresses here. It's ok if this is a summary of a longer
-description found in the PR itself, in fact that should be common.
-
-**Backwards Compatibility Issues**
-
-Describe any backwards compatiblity issues here. If there are none, do not include
-this section. Any breaking changes should be rare and only introduced for good
-reason.
-
-**Merged pull requests:**
-
-- PR_TITLE_HERE [\#XXX](https://github.com/nerdvegas/rez/pull/XXX) ([USER](https://github.com/USER))
-
-**Closed issues:**
-
-- ISSUE_TITLE_HERE [\#YYY](https://github.com/nerdvegas/rez/issues/YYY)
-```
-
-Please include the relevant issues that your PR closes, matching the syntax shown above. When the
-PR is merged to master, the PR info will be added to the same changelog entry by the maintainer.
-Don't be too concerned with the date and 'full changelog' line, this will also be patched by the
-maintainer.

RELEASE.md

@@ -9,14 +9,19 @@ To merge a PR to master and release a new version:
    is correct, and change if necessary. The version may have been correct at the
    time of PR submission, but may need an update due to releases that have occurred
    since;
-4. Update [the changelog](CHANGELOG.md) to include the PR itself, as per existing
-   entries. Also, make sure that the date and 'full changelog' link are correct;
+4. Update [the changelog](CHANGELOG.md). A handy utility is provided to help you do this.
+   To use it, run the following command, replacing X, Y, Z etc with all pull request
+   and issue numbers associated with the release:
+   ```
+   ]$ python ./release-rez.py -c X Y Z
+   ```
+   This command prints the changelog entry to stdout, which you can then paste in
+   to the top of CHANGELOG.md.
 5. Run the release-rez utility script. This performs the following actions:
    * Pushes codebase to master;
    * Creates tag on latest version, and pushes tag to master;
    * Generates the new GitHub release (https://github.com/nerdvegas/rez/releases).
-
-      ```
-      ]$ python ./release-rez.py
-      ```
+   ```
+   ]$ python ./release-rez.py
+   ```
 6. Relax.