diff --git a/packages/website/blog/2024/12-17-beta-release.md b/packages/website/blog/2024/12-17-beta-release.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e7264d51
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/website/blog/2024/12-17-beta-release.md
@@ -0,0 +1,75 @@
+---
+authors: garrettjstevens
+---
+
+# Apollo 3 Genome Annotation Editor - Beta Release
+
+Thank you to all those who have shown an interest in Apollo 3, our tool for
+collaborative genome annotation.Due to Apollo 3’s flexible client-server
+architecture, there are a few different ways you can use it, both single-user to
+collaborative, and using demo servers or configuring your own data. We would
+like to introduce four different ways you can try out Apollo, ranging from
+taking a quick look to provisioning a full multi-user installation.
+
+<!-- truncate -->
+
+## How to try it out
+
+### 1. Quick-look demo
+
+To quickly see what Apollo looks like and get a basic idea of its functionality,
+visit this link:
+
+[Try Apollo now!](https://demo.apollo.jbrowse.org/?session=share-oPRJK2yMUq&password=qMrK4)
+
+Log in either as a guest or use a Google account.
+
+The genome annotation database you see when you open this link represents a
+small slice of a genome stored directly in your JBrowse session. This genome
+database is not collaborative: anything you change is limited to your current
+browsing session and is only visible to you. Anything you do on this genome
+won't affect any else's experience, so feel free to experiment however you like.
+If you want to start fresh again without any of your changes, you can open the
+original link again.
+
+### 2. Full demo
+
+If you want to explore some larger genome annotation databases that are
+**collaborative** (meaning any changes you make will be visible to other users),
+there are a few other genomes loaded on our demo server.
+
+Click the link given in the quick-look demo above, go to the "Add" menu and
+choose "Linear genome view," choose either "Schistosoma haematobium" or
+"Schistosoma mansoni," and click "Open". To see the Apollo track, open the track
+selector and choose the "Annotations" track.
+
+### 3. Running Apollo on your own computer
+
+If you'd like to try setting up Apollo yourself, either with data we provide or
+with your own data,
+[this tutorial](https://apollo.jbrowse.org/docs/getting-started/try-it-out/setting-up)
+on our website walks you through setting up an Apollo instance that runs on your
+own computer, with all the steps for configuring the server and loading data.
+This is a great way to test Apollo out before doing a full multi-user
+installation
+
+### 4. Deploy a multi-user Apollo instance to a server
+
+Our
+[deployment guide](https://apollo.jbrowse.org/docs/getting-started/deployment/background)
+walks you through installing a fully-featured multi-user Apollo instance on a
+server, allowing you to take advantage of Apollo's collaborative features to
+annotate your own genomes.
+
+## What's next?
+
+We have a lot of plans for user interface improvements to make annotating
+easier. The official Apollo website is
+[apollo.jbrowse.org](https://apollo.jbrowse.org/), where you can find all the
+docs and announcements, including periodic new features and releases.
+
+We welcome questions in our
+[discussion forum](https://github.com/GMOD/Apollo3/discussions) and
+[bug reports](https://github.com/GMOD/Apollo3/issues/new/choose) on GitHub.
+
+Best wishes, [The Apollo Team](https://apollo.jbrowse.org/contact)
diff --git a/packages/website/blog/authors.yml b/packages/website/blog/authors.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..b4531159
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/website/blog/authors.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+garrettjstevens:
+  name: Garrett Stevens
+  title: Apollo Developer
+  url: https://github.com/garrettjstevens
+  image_url: https://github.com/garrettjstevens.png
+  email: stevens.garrett.j@gmail.com
+  socials:
+    github: garrettjstevens
diff --git a/packages/website/docusaurus.config.ts b/packages/website/docusaurus.config.ts
index 2442e6a1..6dd54484 100755
--- a/packages/website/docusaurus.config.ts
+++ b/packages/website/docusaurus.config.ts
@@ -66,11 +66,8 @@ const config: Config = {
           position: 'left',
           label: 'Docs',
         },
-        {
-          to: 'contact',
-          label: 'Contact',
-          position: 'left',
-        },
+        { to: 'blog', label: 'Blog', position: 'left' },
+        { to: 'contact', label: 'Contact', position: 'left' },
         {
           href: 'https://github.com/GMOD/Apollo3',
           label: 'GitHub',
@@ -82,21 +79,20 @@ const config: Config = {
       style: 'dark',
       links: [
         {
-          title: 'Docs',
+          title: 'Learn',
           items: [
             {
               label: 'Docs',
-              to: '/docs/',
+              to: 'docs',
             },
           ],
         },
         {
           title: 'More',
           items: [
-            {
-              label: 'GitHub',
-              href: 'https://github.com/GMOD/Apollo3',
-            },
+            { label: 'Blog', to: 'blog' },
+            { label: 'Contact', to: 'contact' },
+            { label: 'GitHub', href: 'https://github.com/GMOD/Apollo3' },
           ],
         },
       ],