@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ detail.  Why is this change required?  What problem does it solve?-->
 - [ ] Code is PEP 8 compliant 
 - [ ] New features are documented, with examples if plot related
 - [ ] Documentation is sphinx and numpydoc compliant
-- [ ] Added an entry to doc/users/whats_new.rst if major new feature
+- [ ] Added an entry to doc/users/next_whats_new/ if major new feature (follow instructions in README.rst there)
 - [ ] Documented in doc/api/api_changes.rst if API changed in a backward-incompatible way
 
 <!--We understand that PRs can sometimes be overwhelming, especially as the
 
@@ -48,7 +48,10 @@ Review and commit changes.  Some issue/PR titles may not be valid rst (the most
 Check Docs
 ----------
 
-Before tagging, make sure that the docs build cleanly ::
+Before tagging, update the what's new listing in :file:`doc/users/whats_new.rst`
+by merging all files in :file:`doc/users/next_whats_new/` coherently. Also,
+temporarily comment out the include and toctree glob; re-instate these after a
+release. Finally, make sure that the docs build cleanly ::
 
   pushd doc
   python make.py html latex -n 16
 
@@ -1,4 +1,7 @@
-This folder is for placing new portions of `whats_new.rst`.
+What's new in unreleased Matplotlib?
+====================================
+
+Please place new portions of `whats_new.rst` in the `next_whats_new` directory.
 
 When adding an entry please look at the currently existing files to
 see if you can extend any of them.  If you create a file, name it
 
@@ -11,6 +11,16 @@ revision, see the :ref:`github-stats`.
    :depth: 3
 
 
+..
+   For a release, add a new section after this, then comment out the include
+   and toctree below by indenting them. Uncomment them after the release.
+.. include:: next_whats_new/README.rst
+.. toctree::
+   :glob:
+   :maxdepth: 1
+
+   next_whats_new/*
+
 
 New in matplotlib 2.0
 =====================