WordPress 6.5 Release Marketing & Communications Plan Overview

[thetinyl]

This project plan issue tracks and manages marketing activities for the WordPress 6.5 release. It includes a list of expected deliverables and a workback schedule.

Its main purpose is to keep things organized for Marketing and Communications release leads, @thetinyl and @DanSoschin. Additionally, it’s a way for anyone interested to follow along with the work.

WordPress 6.5 is scheduled to ship on March 26, 2024. View the release calendar.

Deliverables and assets outlined here follow the recommendations provided in the Marketing & Communications Release Cycle Guide.

List of Deliverables

6.5 MarComms Google Drive

Release milestone announcements on /News:

• Beta 1: https://wordpress.org/news/2024/02/wordpress-6-5-beta-1/
• Beta 2: https://wordpress.org/news/2024/02/wordpress-6-5-beta-2/
• Beta 3: https://wordpress.org/news/2024/02/wordpress-6-5-beta-3/
• Release Candidate (RC) 1: https://wordpress.org/news/2024/03/wordpress-6-5-release-candidate-1/
• RC2: https://wordpress.org/news/2024/03/wordpress-6-5-release-candidate-2/
• RC3: https://wordpress.org/news/2024/03/wordpress-6-5-release-candidate-3/
• RC4 (added late in the release): https://wordpress.org/news/2024/03/wordpress-6-5-release-candidate-4/
• General Availability announcement: https://wordpress.org/news/2024/04/regina/

Release marketing content assets:

• About page copy
• Release microsite copy
• Social media promotional content

Creative assets:

• Feature highlight grid → Tracking issue
• Video featurettes → Tracking issue
• Release microsite → Tracking issue
• Jazzer graphics*

*Note: The Jazzer identity and design work is managed by project leadership and delegated to a limited number of individuals. This is to make sure the information is kept confidential until the surprise reveal once the release ships.

Workback Schedule

The dates outlined here are what we, as MarComms leads, will be aiming for. They are subject to change based on the release process and will be kept up to date as things progress.

Date	Deliverables
31 January	Beta 1 draft for review
9 February	Beta 1 draft complete
13 February	Beta 1
14 February	Beta 2 draft for review
15 February	About page draft for review
19 February	Beta 2 draft complete
20 February	Beta 2
21 February	Beta 3 draft for review
26 February	Beta 3 draft complete
27 February	Beta 3
"	About page complete
29 February	RC1 draft for review
4 March	RC1 draft complete
5 March	RC1 includes a “hard string freeze” + Field guide
7 March	RC2 draft for review
11 March	RC2 draft complete
12 March	RC2
12 March	GA draft for review
14 March	RC3 draft for review
18 March	RC3 draft complete
19 March	RC3
25 March	Dry Run
"	GA draft complete
26 March	6.5 Official Release 🎉

How to Follow Along

Aside from regular updates to this overview issue, your 6.5 MarComms release leads will be communicating regularly in the #6-5-release-leads channel on Slack.

If you have questions, feel free to reach out to me (@laurlittle) and Dan (@DanSoschin) in the #marketing channel on Slack.

We will be making regular calls to contribute as drafts are ready for review, so if you’re interested in lending a hand—be on the lookout for those!

[thetinyl]

As the Beta 1 draft is in progress, I shared a working list of notable features with the release squad for early feedback.

[thetinyl]

The Beta 1 draft has been shared with the release squad for review. It's also open to Marketing team for review. 🎉

[thetinyl]

Updates for the week of February 5:

• The Beta 1 draft has been updated and the final review round is in progress. The goal is to get this loaded into the CMS on February 12, to circulate the preview for a last look ahead of the release party scheduled for February 13 at 14:00 UTC.
• The About page content is slightly delayed in terms of sharing for review. Hoping to have a draft ready for feedback next week.

[thetinyl]

The WordPress 6.5 Beta 1 announcement has been shipped! 🚀

Please share and amplify on all your favorite social channels:

• Twitter/X
• Facebook
• LinkedIn
• Instagram
• Tumblr

[thetinyl]

Updates for the week of February 12

• As noted above, the Beta 1 announcement officially shipped!
• The Beta 2 announcement post is in public preview and open for copy edits (due February 19 at 20:00 UTC).
• The About page draft is also ready for review and feedback (due February 20 at 17:00 UTC).

[thetinyl]

The WordPress Beta 2 announcement has been shipped! 🚀

Please share and amplify on all your favorite social channels:

• LinkedIn
• Tumblr
• Twitter/X
• Facebook
• Instagram

[DanSoschin]

Here's a draft of the Beta 3 post.

[thetinyl]

The WordPress Beta 3 announcement has been shipped! 🚀

Please share and amplify on all your favorite social channels:

• LinkedIn
• Tumblr
• Twitter/X
• Facebook
• Instagram

[thetinyl]

The WordPress 6.5 Release Candidate 1 announcement has set sail! ⛵

Please share and amplify across all your favorite social networks:

• LinkedIn
• Tumblr
• Twitter/X
• Facebook
• Instagram
• @ Threads

[thetinyl]

Update for the week of March 4

• RC1 shipped earlier in the week!
• Featurette videos are moving along.
• A couple of changes for the About page are ready.
• RC2 draft is in review.

[thetinyl]

Update for the week of March 11

• RC2 shipped earlier this week!
• Featurette videos are very close to being complete.
• RC3 draft is in review.
• General release draft is also in review.
• Microsite is coming together with some work still in progress.
• Social teaser visuals are in progress.

[thetinyl]

Say hello to WordPress 6.5 "Regina"! First download/update, then remember to share the news with your networks!

• LinkedIn
• Tumblr
• Twitter/X
• Facebook
• Instagram
• @ Threads

[thetinyl]

With WordPress 6.5 "Regina" released last week, all marketing and communications activities are completed—with social ongoing for the next little while.

For those who followed along, please share any feedback about the MarComms process for 6.5 as comments in this overview issue. I'll leave it open until April 15 to collect it all for future release leads.

🚀

[thetinyl]

For those who followed along, please share any feedback about the MarComms process for 6.5 as comments in this overview issue. I'll leave it open until April 15 to collect it all for future release leads.

Looks like there's no immediate feedback, so I'll close this issue out. 👋