A changelog is a log or record of changes made to a project, such as a website or software project. Most open source projects include a changelog as one of the top level files in their distribution. Although the canonical naming convention for the file is ChangeLog,[1] it is sometimes alternatively named as CHANGES or HISTORY, and possibly even NEWS. Some project maintainers will append a .txt suffix to the file name. Some revision control systems are able to generate the relevant information that is suited as a changelog.
Contents |
Format
Changelog files are organized by paragraphs, which define a unique change within a function or file. Most changelog files follow the following format:
YYYY-MM-DD Foo Bar foo@bar.net
* myfile.ext (myfunction): my changes made
additional changes
* anotherfile.ext (somefunction): more changes
Changelogs in Wikis
Most Wiki software includes changelogs as a fundamental feature (often called history in this context). For example, the "history" link at the top of a Wikipedia entry links to that page's changelog. This feature is vital for complying with the attribution requirements of the GNU Free Documentation License that Wikipedia contributors license their text under.
