Rework release guide to include workflows

site/assets/scss/_styles_project.scss

@@ -35,3 +35,11 @@
     width: 100%;
   }
 }
+
+// Screenshot styling for better visual separation
+img[alt*="Screenshot"] {
+  border: 1px solid #dee2e6;
+  border-radius: 4px;
+  box-shadow: 0 8px 24px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.3) !important;
+  margin: 1rem 0;
+}

site/content/community/release-guides/_index.md

@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+---
+#
+# Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+# or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+# distributed with this work for additional information
+# regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+# to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+# "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+# with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+# software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+# "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+# KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+# specific language governing permissions and limitations
+# under the License.
+#
+linkTitle: Release Guides
+title: Apache Polaris Release Guides
+type: docs
+weight: 500
+cascade:
+  type: docs
+---
+
+This section contains documentation related to Apache Polaris releases.
+
+If you're new to releasing Apache Polaris, we recommend reading the manual release guide first to understand the process. Do not perform any actions described in the manual guide, as the semi-automated guide will handle them for you. Simply read through the manual guide to understand the process.
+
+Once you are familiar with the manual release process, use the semi-automated guide to cut the release.
+
+If you want to verify a release, head to the release verification guide.
+
+## Available Release Guides
+
+### Semi-Automated Release Guide
+The [semi-automated release guide](semi-automated-release-guide/) describes how GitHub workflows are used to perform a release with little manual intervention. This guide automates many of the manual steps while maintaining the necessary oversight and validation required for Apache releases. It is the preferred approach for cutting Apache Polaris releases.
+
+### Manual Release Guide (deprecated)
+The [manual release guide](manual-release-guide/) walks through each step of creating an Apache Polaris release. This guide provides detailed instructions for every aspect of the release process but requires significant manual intervention. It is deprecated in favor of the semi-automated approach above, but is maintained for reference and fallback scenarios.
+
+### Release Verification Guide
+The [release verification guide](release-verification-guide/) provides instructions for verifying an Apache Polaris release, like verifying checksums and signatures, ensuring release artifacts integrity, ...

site/content/release-guide.md → site/content/community/release-guides/manual-release-guide.md

@@ -1,29 +1,40 @@
-<!--
-  Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
-  or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
-  distributed with this work for additional information
-  regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
-  to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
-  "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
-  with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
-
-   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
-
-  Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
-  software distributed under the License is distributed on an
-  "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
-  KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
-  specific language governing permissions and limitations
-  under the License.
--->
-
-# Release Manager Guide
+---
+#
+# Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+# or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+# distributed with this work for additional information
+# regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+# to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+# "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+# with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+# software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+# "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+# KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+# specific language governing permissions and limitations
+# under the License.
+#
+linkTitle: Manual Release Guide (deprecated)
+title: Manual Release Guide (deprecated)
+type: docs
+weight: 200
+aliases:
+  - /release-guide
+  - /community/release-guide
+---
 
 **Audience**: Release Managers
 
+{{< alert warning >}}
+**This guide is deprecated.** While it remains functional and comprehensive, we recommend using the Semi-Automated Release Guide for new releases when available. This manual process is maintained for reference and fallback scenarios.
+{{< /alert >}}
+
 This guide walks you through the process of **creating** a release of the Apache Polaris podling.
 
-Instructions how to verify a release candidate are available [here](release-verify.md).
+Instructions how to verify a release candidate are available [here](../release-verification-guide/).
 
 ## Setup
 
@@ -93,7 +104,7 @@ For more information, see the Gradle [signing documentation](https://docs.gradle
 
 ### Helm chart signing
 
-Helm chart artifacts are signed with your key, using the [helm gpg plugin](https://github.com/technosophos/helm-gpg).  Ensure the plugin is installed locally.
+Helm chart artifacts are signed with your key, using the [helm gpg plugin](https://github.com/technosophos/helm-gpg). Ensure the plugin is installed locally.
 
 ### GitHub Repository
 

site/content/release-verify.md → site/content/community/release-guides/release-verification-guide.md

@@ -1,23 +1,30 @@
-<!--
-  Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
-  or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
-  distributed with this work for additional information
-  regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
-  to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
-  "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
-  with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
-
-   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
-
-  Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
-  software distributed under the License is distributed on an
-  "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
-  KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
-  specific language governing permissions and limitations
-  under the License.
--->
-
-# Release Verification Guide
+---
+#
+# Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+# or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+# distributed with this work for additional information
+# regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+# to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+# "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+# with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+# software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+# "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+# KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+# specific language governing permissions and limitations
+# under the License.
+#
+linkTitle: Release Verification Guide
+title: Release Verification Guide
+type: docs
+weight: 300
+aliases:
+  - /release-verify
+  - /community/release-verify
+---
 
 **Audience**: Committers and interested contributors.