[release-next] (release 1.20) Release Notes

[maelvls]

This is part of the "release 1.20" series of PRs, see Slack thread. Here is the series of PRs for this release:

• [master] (release 1.20) Freeze 1.19 #2006
• [release-next] (release 1.20) Release Notes #1997
• [release-next] (release 1.20) Version Bumps #2007
• [master] (release 1.20) Merge release-next into master #2001

What I've done

I've used an edited version of the instructions from https://cert-manager.io/docs/contributing/release-process/ (section "Prepare the "Release Notes" PR.). Here is the edited version of the release process I used (I've opened #2008 with these updated instructions):

4. (final + patch releases) Prepare the "Release Notes" PR.

   ⚠️ This step can be done ahead of time.

   Create a PR on the website titled "Release And Upgrade Notes".

   • If you are doing a final release, then this PR's base must be the release-next branch.
   • If you are doing a patch release, then this PR's base must be master.

   The PR will contain the following:

   1. Run the release-notes command (see instructions further down below in this page).

   2. (final release) Move the generated website-release-notes.md to content/docs/release-notes/release-notes-1.20.md. Make sure to edit it to match the format of our past release notes.

   3. (patch release) Add the contents of the generated website-release-notes.md to a new section of the existing release, e.g., in content/docs/release-notes/release-notes-1.20.md.

   4. (final release) Create a new file:

      content/docs/releases/upgrading/upgrading-1.19-1.20.md
      

      See for
      example: upgrading-1.0-1.1.

   5. (final release) Add an entry to content/docs/manifest.json for the new release note file:

      {
        "routes": [
          # ...
          {
            "title": "Upgrade 1.19 to 1.20",
            "path": "/docs/releases/upgrading/upgrading-1.19-1.20.md"
          },
          {
            "title": "1.20",
            "path": "/docs/releases/release-notes/release-notes-1.20.md"
          }
        ]
      }

[Copilot]

Pull request overview

Updates documentation for the cert-manager v1.20.0 release by promoting the “latest version” variable, replacing placeholder upgrade guidance, and fleshing out the 1.20 release notes/changelog content.

Changes:

• Update the docs variable for latest cert-manager version to v1.20.0.
• Replace the v1.19→v1.20 upgrade page placeholder with explicit “no special steps” guidance.
• Populate the 1.20 release notes with major themes, updated community lists, and the v1.20.0 changelog block.

Reviewed changes

Copilot reviewed 3 out of 3 changed files in this pull request and generated 6 comments.

File	Description
content/docs/variables.json	Bumps cert_manager_latest_version from alpha to stable v1.20.0.
content/docs/releases/upgrading/upgrading-1.19-1.20.md	Replaces TODO content with concise upgrade guidance.
content/docs/releases/release-notes/release-notes-1.20.md	Adds major themes and updates community + changelog sections for v1.20.0.

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[hjoshi123]

/lgtm
/approve

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