MapServer · jmckenna · Nov 18, 2025 · Nov 13, 2025 · Nov 13, 2025 · Nov 18, 2025
diff --git a/conf.py b/conf.py
@@ -92,9 +92,9 @@ def __getattr__(cls, name):
 # built documents.
 #
 # The short X.Y version.
-version = '8.4'
+version = '8.6'
 # The full version, including alpha/beta/rc tags.
-release = '8.4.1'
+release = '8.6.0-beta2'
 # The language for content autogenerated by Sphinx. Refer to documentation
 # for a list of supported languages.
 #language = None

diff --git a/en/MIGRATION_GUIDE.txt b/en/MIGRATION_GUIDE.txt
@@ -6,12 +6,106 @@
 MapServer Migration Guide
 *****************************************************************************
 
-:Last Updated: 2025-09-22
+:Last Updated: 2025-11-18
 
 .. contents:: Table of Contents
     :depth: 2
     :backlinks: top
 
+.. _migration-8-6:
+
+MapServer 8.4 to 8.6 Migration
+==============================
+
+- You can now enable an automatically generated index page, that lists
+  all of your OGC services and endpoints, for each mapfile that you
+  defined in your CONFIG file.  To enable the index, add `MS_INDEX_TEMPLATE_DIRECTORY`
+  to your environment variables section of the :ref:`config` file, such as::
+
+    ENV
+      #
+      # Index page
+      #
+      MS_INDEX_TEMPLATE_DIRECTORY "/ms4w/share/ogcapi/templates/html-index-bootstrap/"   
+    END
+
+  .. image:: ./images/index-page-ms4w.png
+      :width: 800
+      :height: 433
+      :class: no-scaled-link
+
+  .. seealso:: :ref:`index-page` & :ref:`rfc140`
+
+- A new :ref:`identify` object can be used in a mapfile to control how features are 
+  found through queries, to account for the actual symbol being used for 
+  that CLASS.  This could be useful for WMS GetFeatureInfo requests.
+
+  .. code-block:: mapfile
+
+      MAP
+        ...
+        WEB
+          METADATA
+            "wms_title" "My WMS Server"
+            ...
+          END #metadata
+        END #web
+        ...
+        SYMBOL
+          NAME "mysvg"
+          TYPE svg
+          IMAGE "./ttt.svg"
+        END #symbol
+        ...
+        LAYER
+          IDENTIFY
+            CLASSGROUP "test"
+          END #identify
+          CLASS
+            GROUP "test"
+            STYLE
+            ANGLE 30
+            SYMBOL "mysvg"
+          END #class
+        END #layer       
+        ...
+      END #map
+
+  .. seealso:: original Pull Request `#7318 <https://github.com/MapServer/MapServer/pull/7318/>`__  
+
+- :ref:`FALLBACK <mapfile-class-fallback>` has been added to the CLASS object, to allow that class to be used
+  if no other class can be applied.
+
+  .. code-block:: mapfile
+
+      MAP
+        ...
+        LAYER
+          ...
+          CLASS
+            NAME "test1"
+            ...
+          END #class
+          CLASS
+            NAME "test2"
+            ...
+          END #class
+          CLASS
+            NAME "test3"
+            ...
+            FALLBACK TRUE
+          END #class          
+        END #layer       
+        ...
+      END #map  
+
+  .. seealso:: original Pull Request `#7309 <https://github.com/MapServer/MapServer/pull/7309/>`__  
+
+- :ref:`ogcapi` has been enhanced to allow `vendorSpecificParameters` passed through to the OpenAPI 
+  document on the `/items` definitions.
+
+  .. seealso:: original Pull Request `#7295 <https://github.com/MapServer/MapServer/pull/7295/>`__    
+
 .. _migration-8-4:
 
 MapServer 8.2 to 8.4 Migration

diff --git a/en/announcements/announcements_archive.txt b/en/announcements/announcements_archive.txt
@@ -4,6 +4,20 @@
  MapServer Announcement Archives
 *****************************************************************************
 
+**2025-11-18 - MapServer 8.6.0-beta2 is released**
+
+The second beta for MapServer 8.6 has been released. The list of
+major changes for this release can be found in the :ref:`8.6 announcement <announce-8-6>`.
+See the :ref:`changelog <changelog-8-6-0-beta2>`
+for the full list of changes and head to :ref:`download` to obtain a copy.
+
+**2025-11-13 - MapServer 8.6.0-beta1 is released**
+
+The first beta for MapServer 8.8 has been released. The list of
+major changes for this release can be found in the :ref:`8.6 announcement <announce-8-6>`.
+See the :ref:`changelog <changelog-8-6-0-beta1>`
+for the full list of changes and head to :ref:`download` to obtain a copy.
+
 **2025-09-19 - MapServer 8.4.1 is released**
 
 The maintenance release of MapServer 8.4.1 has been issued in order to fix

diff --git a/en/development/announce/8-6.txt b/en/development/announce/8-6.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,87 @@
+.. _announce-8-6:
+
+*****************************************************************************
+Version 8.6.0-beta2 Announcement
+*****************************************************************************
+
+:Authors: Project Steering Committee
+:Last Updated: 2025-11-18
+:Status: Draft
+
+The MapServer Team is pleased to announce the second beta release of 
+MapServer 8.6.0-beta2
+
+The upcoming 8.6 release brings a number of major new features that are briefly 
+summarized in this document. The full list of changes can be found in :ref:`changelog-8-6`.
+The :ref:`Migration Guide <migration-8-6>` also contains more detailed examples of 
+the major changes.
+
+Major New Features Coming in MapServer 8.6
+------------------------------------------
+
+- new MapServer index page (`#7350 <https://github.com/MapServer/MapServer/pull/7350>`__)
+
+- WMS GetFeatureInfo: add options to precisely identify points through their symbols (`#7318 <https://github.com/MapServer/MapServer/pull/7318>`__)
+
+- add FALLBACK parameter for CLASS object, to be applied if none of the previously defined classes has been applied (`#7309 <https://github.com/MapServer/MapServer/pull/7309>`__)
+
+- add vendorSpecificParameters to OpenAPI document (`#7295 <https://github.com/MapServer/MapServer/pull/7295>`__)
+
+Other Related Updates
+---------------------
+
+- the demo server hosting many live OGC endpoints has been updated & 
+  constantly maintained, as it is so important for the community: 
+  https://demo.mapserver.org
+
+Migration Guide
+---------------
+
+Head to the :ref:`Migration Guide <migration-8-4>` for mapfile examples of the major 8.4.0 changes.
+
+Source Code Download
+--------------------
+
+The source for this release can be downloaded at:
+
+    https://mapserver.org/download.html
+
+Binary Distributions
+--------------------
+
+Binary distributions will be available in the coming days:
+
+- Debian binaries of 8.6.0-beta1 are already available: https://tracker.debian.org/pkg/mapserver
+- `OSGeoLive <https://live.osgeo.org>`__ 17.0 release process is happening now, but
+  it will soon include MapServer 8.6.0-beta1
+- `UbuntuGIS <https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuGIS>`__ will follow the OSGeoLive
+  release and will then include MapServer 8.6.0-beta1
+- MS4W users have already been using branch-8-6 code, but watch for 
+  a new release shortly containing the 8.6.0-beta1 changes at: https://ms4w.com
+
+.. TBD    
+    - `RHEL and CentOS` TODO
+    - `OpenSUSE` TODO
+
+Other binary distributions listed on the download page should also be updated
+with binaries for the new release shortly.
+
+Documentation
+-------------
+
+The entire 8.4.0 documentation is also available as a `PDF document <https://download.osgeo.org/mapserver/docs/MapServer.pdf>`__ |image| 
+(1143 pages, with clickable table of contents as well).
+
+.. |image| image:: ../../../_static/pdf.png
+   :height: 15
+   :width: 15
+   :alt: PDF icon
+   :target: https://download.osgeo.org/mapserver/docs/MapServer.pdf
+
+Thanks
+------
+
+Thank you to all of the users, developers, and supporters of MapServer. Enjoy!
+
+*The MapServer Team*
+
diff --git a/en/development/announce/index.txt b/en/development/announce/index.txt
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 .. toctree::
    :maxdepth: 2
 
+   8-6
    8-4
    8-2
    8-0
-Original file line number
+Diff line change
@@ Expand Up / @@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ @@
     .. toctree::
        :maxdepth: 2
+-6
 -4
 -2
 -0
@@ Expand Down @@