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Versions and releases

Source: vignettes/articles/release.Rmd
release.Rmd

This page is brand/en/release.md in kitDesign (the English translation of brand/版本與發布.md). For what changed in each version, see the changelog.

kitDesign is the shared interface for kitJoin, kitsUI, and future KIT apps. Each of the three packages has its own version. They stay in step because each app states which version of kitDesign it uses. The development rules shared by all KIT packages (files, dependencies, NEWS, Shiny apps, statistical computing) are in the package development guide.

Version numbers: semantic versioning (X.Y.Z)

What changed Which number goes up Example
A fix; neither the screen nor any function changed patch (0.1.0 → 0.1.1) Fix a JavaScript bug, fix the docs, fix a test
A new component or option; existing apps need no changes minor (0.1.1 → 0.2.0) Add kit_xxx(); add an argument with a default value to an existing function
A function renamed or removed, an argument’s meaning changed, a visible design change major (0.2.0 → 1.0.0) Change the status box color, change the button size, remove kit_status_ui()
  • Before 1.0.0 (0.x), the same rules apply. We suggest releasing 1.0.0 as the first version that both apps use.
  • Any visible change counts as major: what users see on screen is part of the design language, so a change must be announced to both apps.
  • design-language.md has its own version, separate from kitDesign. When the design language gets a new version, write the matching kitDesign version in NEWS.md.

Every release

  1. Update Version and Date in DESCRIPTION.

  2. Add a section at the top of NEWS.md: # kitDesign X.Y.Z (YYYY-MM-DD), with the subsections “元件” (components), “修正” (fixes), and “看得到的改變” (visible changes).

  3. Checks (all must pass):

    LC_ALL=en_US.UTF-8 Rscript tools/escape_non_ascii.R
LC_ALL=en_US.UTF-8 Rscript -e 'roxygen2::roxygenise()'
LC_ALL=en_US.UTF-8 R CMD build .
LC_ALL=en_US.UTF-8 R CMD check --no-manual kitDesign_X.Y.Z.tar.gz   # 0 errors, 0 warnings
LC_ALL=en_US.UTF-8 Rscript tools/check_gallery.R                     # screenshots; no horizontal scrolling

  4. Look at the screenshots from tools/check_gallery.R (1280 and 390 wide) and compare them with the previous version.

  5. Commit and tag: git tag vX.Y.Z, then push to GitHub (git push origin main --tags).

Upgrading kitDesign in an app

  1. In the app’s DESCRIPTION:
    • Imports: kitDesign (>= X.Y.Z)
    • Remotes: jiewenTsai/kitDesign@vX.Y.Z (pinned to the tag, not following main)
  2. Install that version: remotes::install_github("jiewenTsai/kitDesign@vX.Y.Z").
  3. Run the app’s tests. For a major upgrade, update the code following “看得到的改變” (visible changes) in NEWS.md and migration.md, and compare screenshots.
  4. Regenerate manifest.json (rsconnect::writeManifest()) and deploy.
  5. Bump the app’s own version too (usually patch; minor if the screen changed), and write “改用 kitDesign X.Y.Z” (“Now uses kitDesign X.Y.Z”) in NEWS.md.

When reporting a problem

The version line in the header shows the app’s name and both versions (kit_page(..., package = "kitJoin", show_kitdesign = TRUE)): “kitJoin v0.6.0 · 2026-10-31 · kitDesign 0.5.0”. In R, use kit_versions("kitJoin").

Pre-release checklist