Update docs to reflect current feature set and add release guide

- Fix readme description to list actual features instead of outdated "number of posts to display" reference
- Remove "Exclude posts by category" — the ExcludeTaxonomies trait/component is not wired up
- Add Comment Count and Included Posts to sort options in both readmes
- Remove outdated note about sorting being a duplication of core controls
- Update readme.txt screenshots section to remove stale post count/offset reference
- Add RELEASE.md documenting the full release process

Author: ryanwelcher

RELEASE.md

@@ -0,0 +1,62 @@
+# Release Process
+
+## 1. Bump the version number
+
+Update the version string in **three places**:
+
+- `index.php` — `Version: X.X.X`
+- `package.json` — `"version": "X.X.X"`
+- `readme.txt` — `Stable tag: X.X.X`
+
+## 2. Update the changelog
+
+Add a new entry at the top of the `== Changelog ==` section in `readme.txt`:
+
+```
+= X.X.X =
+* Description of change.
+```
+
+## 3. Run linting
+
+```bash
+npm run format
+npm run lint:php
+```
+
+Fix any issues before proceeding.
+
+## 4. Commit and push to `trunk`
+
+```bash
+git add .
+git commit -m "Release X.X.X"
+git push origin trunk
+```
+
+Pushing to `trunk` triggers the Release Drafter GitHub Action, which auto-drafts release notes from merged PR labels (`enhancement`, `bug`, `fix`).
+
+## 5. Build the release artifact
+
+```bash
+npm run release
+```
+
+This runs three steps in sequence:
+
+1. `composer run build` — strips dev PHP dependencies and optimizes the autoloader
+2. `npm run build` — compiles production JS/TS
+3. `npm run plugin-zip` — creates the distributable ZIP
+
+The ZIP includes only the files listed in the `files` field of `package.json`: `build/`, `index.php`, `readme.txt`, `includes/`, `vendor/autoload.php`, and `vendor/composer`.
+
+## 6. Publish the GitHub Release
+
+1. Go to GitHub → Releases and find the draft created by Release Drafter
+2. Set the tag to `X.X.X` (matching `readme.txt`'s `Stable tag`)
+3. Attach the generated ZIP as a release asset
+4. Publish
+
+## 7. Deploy to WordPress.org
+
+Upload the ZIP (or use SVN) to the WordPress.org plugin repository, updating the `trunk` and `tags/X.X.X` directories.

readme.md

@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 
 ## Description
 
-This plugin introduces a Query Loop block variation that will empower users to be able to do much more complicated queries with the Query Loop block, such number of posts to display and post meta
+This plugin introduces a Query Loop block variation that will empower users to be able to do much more complicated queries with the Query Loop block, such as taxonomy queries, post meta queries, date queries, post ordering, and more
 
 ### Support/Issues
 
@@ -30,10 +30,6 @@ Choose the posts you want to display manually or only the children of the curren
 
 Remove the current post from the query.
 
-#### Exclude posts by category
-
-Choose to exclude posts from a list of categories.
-
 #### Exclude posts list
 
 Curate a list of posts to exclude from the query.
@@ -51,17 +47,17 @@ Query items before/after the current or selected or choose to show the post from
 Sort in ascending or descending order by:
 
 -   Author
+-   Comment Count
 -   Date
+-   Included Posts
 -   Last Modified Date
--   Title
+-   Menu Order (props to @jvanja)
 -   Meta Value
 -   Meta Value Num
--   Random
--   Menu Order (props to @jvanja)
 -   Name (props @philbee)
 -   Post ID (props to @markhowellsmead)
-
-**Please note that this is a slight duplication of the existing sorting controls. They both work interchangeably but it just looks a bit odd in the UI**
+-   Random
+-   Title
 
 #### Disable Pagination
 

readme.txt

@@ -52,7 +52,6 @@ Take full control over which posts appear in your query:
 Keep your queries clean and relevant:
 * **Exclude current post**: Automatically hide the post being viewed
 * **Exclude a list of posts**: Curate a list of posts to exclude from the query
-* **Category filtering**: Exclude posts from specific categories
 
 ==== 🔍 Advanced Post Meta Queries ====
 
@@ -83,6 +82,7 @@ Sort your content exactly how you want:
 * **Name**: Sort by post slug
 * **Post ID**: Sort by post ID
 * **Comment Count**: Sort by engagement
+* **Included Posts**: Sort by post inclusion order
 
 ==== ⚡ Performance Optimization ====