@@ -73,10 +73,17 @@ uv run sphinx-build -b html docs dist/docs
 # Maintain docs/release_log.rst as changes land:
 # - Keep an "Unreleased" entry at the top: `* X.Y.Z - Unreleased`
 # - Add one bullet per notable change; prefix with Add/Fix/Remove/Change
-# - Reference the issue or PR in parentheses: (#123) or (#123, #124)
-#   Use "closes #N" when the change directly resolves the issue
+# - A bullet is an index, not the record: a bold lead (plain text only --
+#   RST markup does not nest, so no ``literal`` or role inside ** **), ONE
+#   before/after example naming the releases it differs from, a limit
+#   sentence only where a caller would trip on it, then the issue link(s):
+#   :issue:`123` or :issue:`123`, :issue:`124` (sphinx.ext.extlinks; a PR
+#   number works too). The mechanism, boundary cases and measurements live
+#   in the issue and docs/design/decisions.md, never in the bullet --
+#   2.4.0's entry was cut from 10,765 words to 1,491 on 2026-10-11
+# - Merge bullets a user would see as one change, with several links
 # - Version is decided at release time (patch/minor/major per semver)
-# - Format matches existing entries — see 1.3.0 block for a current example
+# - Format matches existing entries — see the 2.4.0 block for a current example
 
 # Release checklist (PyPI publish is triggered automatically by GitHub Actions on release creation)
 # 0. Sweep for stale prose. Grepping for the changed SYMBOL finds almost none of
 
@@ -34,8 +34,15 @@
     'sphinx.ext.autodoc',
     'sphinx.ext.doctest',
     'sphinx.ext.viewcode',
+    'sphinx.ext.extlinks',
 ]
 
+# :issue:`575` renders as a "#575" link. GitHub redirects /issues/N to
+# /pull/N when N is a PR, so the one role serves both.
+extlinks = {
+    'issue': ('https://github.com/derek73/python-nameparser/issues/%s', '#%s'),
+}
+
 # Declaration order is canonical in this codebase (Role order drives the
 # seven-field order everywhere), so the reference lists members in
 # source order, not alphabetically -- Lexicon's vocabulary grouping and
 
@@ -208,6 +208,23 @@ particles, which are written capitalized:
     >>> str(parse("JUAN DE LA VEGA").capitalized())
     'Juan de la Vega'
 
+Your own entry outranks it the same way, which is how to keep a
+family's capitalized particle. A mask applies wherever its word stands,
+though, so it recases every other name with that particle too:
+
+.. doctest::
+
+    >>> str(parse("martin van buren").capitalized())
+    'Martin van Buren'
+    >>> van_lex = dataclasses.replace(
+    ...     default,
+    ...     capitalization_exceptions=tuple(default.capitalization_exceptions)
+    ...     + (("van", "Van"),))
+    >>> str(parse("martin van buren").capitalized(van_lex))
+    'Martin Van Buren'
+    >>> str(parse("ludwig van beethoven").capitalized(van_lex))
+    'Ludwig Van Beethoven'
+
 How a key matches a word
 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
 
@@ -399,6 +416,8 @@ For ``particles_ambiguous`` the default runs the other way from
 credentials: a particle that is not borne as a given name belongs
 outside the set, which is where ``mc`` and ``ste`` were moved (#360).
 
+.. _connectives-also-initials:
+
 One-letter connectives that are also initials
 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
 
@@ -1078,6 +1097,8 @@ opposite:
     >>> cred.title, cred.given
     ('Ms', 'G.J.')
 
+.. _dotted-credentials:
+
 Dotted acronyms
 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
 
@@ -1135,6 +1156,8 @@ way:
     >>> dotted_off.parse("Jane Doe nee Smith X.Y.Z.").maiden
     'Smith X.Y.Z.'
 
+.. _all-caps-credentials:
+
 All-caps words
 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^