diff --git a/CHANGES.rst b/CHANGES.rst
index 9c6d067b..b495ba79 100644
--- a/CHANGES.rst
+++ b/CHANGES.rst
@@ -9,9 +9,12 @@ wxPython Changelog
 ==================
 
 
-4.0.0a4
+4.0.0b1
 -------
-* (not yet released)
+* 22-July-2017
+
+PyPI:   https://pypi.python.org/pypi/wxPython/4.0.0b1
+Extras: https://extras.wxPython.org/wxPython4/extras/
 
 Changes in this release include the following:
 
@@ -51,6 +54,10 @@ Changes in this release include the following:
 
 * Add missing HtmlCell.FindCellByPos.
 
+* Enhance the DLG_UNIT convenience function such that if something other than
+  a wx.Point or wx.Size was passed in then the return value will be a tuple.
+  This eliminates some surprises that are possible due to auto-conversion of
+  tuples to points or sizes.
 
 
 
diff --git a/buildtools/version.py b/buildtools/version.py
index 06d64337..d3b9de88 100644
--- a/buildtools/version.py
+++ b/buildtools/version.py
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ VER_MAJOR        = 4
 VER_MINOR        = 0
 VER_RELEASE      = 0
 
-VER_FLAGS        = "a4"     # wxPython release flags
+VER_FLAGS        = "b1"     # wxPython release flags
 
 # The VER_FLAGS value is appended to the version number constructed from the
 # first 3 components and should be set according to the following patterns.
diff --git a/demo/version.py b/demo/version.py
index fadab3e4..f73e1981 100644
--- a/demo/version.py
+++ b/demo/version.py
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 # This file was generated by Phoenix's wscript.
 
-VERSION_STRING = '4.0.0a4'
+VERSION_STRING = '4.0.0b1'
diff --git a/packaging/ANNOUNCE.txt b/packaging/ANNOUNCE.txt
index 300dfe73..5491d0df 100644
--- a/packaging/ANNOUNCE.txt
+++ b/packaging/ANNOUNCE.txt
@@ -8,51 +8,57 @@
    ]]
 
 
-Announcing wxPython 4.0.0a3
+Announcing wxPython 4.0.0b1
 ===========================
 
-https://pypi.python.org/pypi/wxPython/4.0.0a3
 
-Changes
--------
+PyPI:   https://pypi.python.org/pypi/wxPython/4.0.0b1
+Extras: https://extras.wxPython.org/wxPython4/extras/
 
-Fixed a few cases where the GIL was not acquired before building
-tuples of values. The problems associated with this (hangs or crashes)
-were sporadic and seemingly random, and did not appear until there was
-a background thread that was very busy. Running under a debug build of
-Python revealed the problem almost immediately. Yay Python!
+Changes in this release include the following:
 
-Return an integer value from wx.DC.GetHandle instead of a wrapped
-voidptr object, similar to how it is done for wx.Window.GetHandle.
+* Various little tweaks and fixes in some of the demo samples.
 
-Make wx.TreeItemID hashable, with meaningful hash value and equality
-operators, so it can be used as a dictionary key in Py3.
+* Fixes in wx.lib.imagebrowser so it looks and acts better on OSX.
 
-Fixed crash in wx.grid.GridTable.GetAttr, and potentially other cases
-of classes derived from wx.RefCounter.
+* Fixed problem due to wxModules not being initialized when non-core
+  extensions are imported.
 
-Add ShowPage and IsRunning methods to wx.adv.Wizard.
+* Fixed issue in wx.TreeItemId comparison methods affecting PyCrust and
+  other tools.
 
-Fixed various GTK specific bugs and other cleanup in wx.lib.agw.aui.
+* Restore the simplified names for the wxGridSelectionModes enum that were
+  present in Classic.
 
-Updated to SIP 4.19.2
+* Add accessors for the internal widgets in the wx.EditableListBox.
 
-Restored builders for Python 3.4 to the buildbot.
+* Fixes in wx.lib.eventwatcher to avoid deprecated methods and other Phoenix
+  related changes.
 
-Restore the wrappers for GetPaperSize and SetPaperSize to
-wx.PrintData.
+* Correctly transfer ownership of the input stream in wx.FSFile.
 
-Fix crashing problem when a wx.TreeItemId was compared with None.
+* Ensure the license files are getting into the source tarball and the
+  binary wheel files.
 
-Fix for missing checkbox images in CheckListCtrlMixin on Linux and
-OSX.
+* Add wrappers for the classes derived from wxImageHandler.
+
+* Fix wx.lib.plot.polyline to not attempt to draw the spline if there are
+  less than 3 points.
+
+* Transfer the ownership of the prop arg in wx.propgrid.PGProperty.AddChild
+  and AddPrivateChild. Various other fixes in wx.propgrid classes for
+  backwards compatibility and to fix problems caused by mismatches between
+  customizations that were done for Classic and how Phoenix does things by
+  default. Also solved some problems in the PropertyGrid sample in the demo.
+
+* Add missing HtmlCell.FindCellByPos.
+
+* Enhance the DLG_UNIT convenience function such that if something other than
+  a wx.Point or wx.Size was passed in then the return value will be a tuple.
+  This eliminates some surprises that are possible due to auto-conversion of
+  tuples to points or sizes.
 
-Fix another crashing problem in propgrid, and a few other propgrid
-issues too.
 
-The release version of the documentation can now be found at
-https://docs.wxPython.org/ The documentation created during the
-snapshot builds is still located at https://wxPython.org/Phoenix/docs/html
 
 
 
diff --git a/packaging/HOWTO-Release.rst b/packaging/HOWTO-Release.rst
index 516b462f..8ed3ca5c 100644
--- a/packaging/HOWTO-Release.rst
+++ b/packaging/HOWTO-Release.rst
@@ -63,12 +63,12 @@ HOWTO Release wxPython Phoenix
 15. Upload the docs, demos and pdb archive files to wxpython.org/Phoenix/release-extras/::
 
         VERSION={current release version number}
-        ssh wxpython-extras "mkdir -p wxpython-extras/$VERSION"
-        scp wxPython-[^0-9]* wxpython-extras:wxpython-extras/$VERSION
+        ssh wxpython-extras "mkdir -p wxpython-extras/htdocs/wxPython4/extras/$VERSION"
+        scp wxPython-[^0-9]* wxpython-extras:wxpython-extras/htdocs/wxPython4/extras/$VERSION
 
 16. Upload the Linux wheels::
 
-        scp -r linux wxpython-extras:wxpython-extras/
+        scp -r linux wxpython-extras:wxpython-extras/htdocs/wxPython4/extras/
 
 17. Tag the released revision in git, using a name like wxPython-4.0.0 (using
     the actual version number of course.) Push the tag to all remotes.
@@ -83,3 +83,4 @@ HOWTO Release wxPython Phoenix
     packaging/ANNOUNCE.txt to the email addresses listed at the top of the
     file.
 
+20. Add a news post to the wxPython site about the release.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 4adad201..b99bc6b0 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -61,8 +61,8 @@ the `Migration Guide <{docs_base}/MigrationGuide.html>`_,
 or the `wxPython API documentation <{docs_base}/index.html>`_.
 
 Archive files containing a copy of the wxPython documentation, the demo and
-samples, and also a set of MSVC .pdb files for Windows are available at sourceforge, 
-`here <https://sourceforge.net/projects/wxpython/files/wxPython4/extras/>`_.
+samples, and also a set of MSVC .pdb files for Windows are available  
+`here <https://extras.wxPython.org/wxPython4/extras/>`_.
 """.format(version=cfg.VERSION, docs_base=DOCS_BASE)