thoughts

mongoose release procedure

tests must pass
update package.json version
update History.md using git changelog or similar. list the related ticket(s) #<TICKET_NUMBER> as well as a link to the github user who fixed it if applicable.
git commit -m 'release x.x.x'
git tag x.x.x
git push origin BRANCH --tags && npm publish
update mongoosejs.com (see "updating the website" below)
tweet changelog link from @mongoosejs
change package.json version to next patch version suffixed with '-pre' and commit "now working on x.x.x"
if this is a legacy release, git merge changes into master.

For 4.x

Change to the master branch
execute make docs (when this process completes you'll be on the gh-pages branch)
git commit -a -m 'docs: release 4.x.x'
git push origin gh-pages

For 3.8.x:

Change to the 3.8.x branch
execute make docs_legacy (when this process completes you'll be on the gh-pages branch)
git commit -a -m 'website; regen <x.x.x>'
git push origin gh-pages