diff --git a/.buildtools/generateStagingSiteInWebpageRepo b/.buildtools/generateStagingSiteInWebpageRepo
index cab0d515f..d58d2d9d6 100755
--- a/.buildtools/generateStagingSiteInWebpageRepo
+++ b/.buildtools/generateStagingSiteInWebpageRepo
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@
 ./mvnw -B package site site:stage
 
 # DEVHINT: with trailing slash please!
-targetDirectory=../creadur-site/rat100/
+targetDirectory=../creadur-site/rat018/
 
 echo "Copying site resources into asf-site repo under $targetDirectory"
 cp -rvf target/staging/* $targetDirectory > /dev/null
diff --git a/.github/workflows/sonarcloud.yml b/.github/workflows/sonarcloud.yml
index 5c46a30c1..adb5e9e62 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/sonarcloud.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/sonarcloud.yml
@@ -33,4 +33,4 @@ jobs:
       - name: Build and analyze at ASF-sonarcloud
         env:
           SONAR_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.SONAR_TOKEN }}
-        run: ./mvnw -B verify org.sonarsource.scanner.maven:sonar-maven-plugin:sonar -Dsonar.projectKey=apache_creadur-rat -Dsonar.token=${SONAR_TOKEN}
+        run: ./mvnw -X -e verify org.sonarsource.scanner.maven:sonar-maven-plugin:sonar -Dsonar.projectKey=apache_creadur-rat -Dsonar.token=${SONAR_TOKEN}
diff --git a/apache-rat-core/pom.xml b/apache-rat-core/pom.xml
index 4819f23bc..ae9cd0434 100644
--- a/apache-rat-core/pom.xml
+++ b/apache-rat-core/pom.xml
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@
   <parent>
     <groupId>org.apache.rat</groupId>
     <artifactId>apache-rat-project</artifactId>
-    <version>1.0.0-SNAPSHOT</version>
+    <version>0.18-SNAPSHOT</version>
   </parent>
   <artifactId>apache-rat-core</artifactId>
   <packaging>jar</packaging>
diff --git a/apache-rat-plugin/pom.xml b/apache-rat-plugin/pom.xml
index 6c56d599b..fa599ea7f 100644
--- a/apache-rat-plugin/pom.xml
+++ b/apache-rat-plugin/pom.xml
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@
   <parent>
     <artifactId>apache-rat-project</artifactId>
     <groupId>org.apache.rat</groupId>
-    <version>1.0.0-SNAPSHOT</version>
+    <version>0.18-SNAPSHOT</version>
   </parent>
   <artifactId>apache-rat-plugin</artifactId>
   <packaging>maven-plugin</packaging>
diff --git a/apache-rat-tasks/pom.xml b/apache-rat-tasks/pom.xml
index 35d003544..b04515038 100644
--- a/apache-rat-tasks/pom.xml
+++ b/apache-rat-tasks/pom.xml
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@
   <parent>
     <groupId>org.apache.rat</groupId>
     <artifactId>apache-rat-project</artifactId>
-    <version>1.0.0-SNAPSHOT</version>
+    <version>0.18-SNAPSHOT</version>
   </parent>
   <artifactId>apache-rat-tasks</artifactId>
   <packaging>jar</packaging>
diff --git a/apache-rat-testdata/pom.xml b/apache-rat-testdata/pom.xml
index 63f4040c7..1be67fc50 100644
--- a/apache-rat-testdata/pom.xml
+++ b/apache-rat-testdata/pom.xml
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@
   <parent>
     <groupId>org.apache.rat</groupId>
     <artifactId>apache-rat-project</artifactId>
-    <version>1.0.0-SNAPSHOT</version>
+    <version>0.18-SNAPSHOT</version>
   </parent>
   <artifactId>apache-rat-testdata</artifactId>
   <name>Apache Creadur RAT::Testdata</name>
diff --git a/apache-rat-tools/pom.xml b/apache-rat-tools/pom.xml
index 728694d89..5d440b463 100644
--- a/apache-rat-tools/pom.xml
+++ b/apache-rat-tools/pom.xml
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@
   <parent>
     <groupId>org.apache.rat</groupId>
     <artifactId>apache-rat-project</artifactId>
-    <version>1.0.0-SNAPSHOT</version>
+    <version>0.18-SNAPSHOT</version>
   </parent>
   <artifactId>apache-rat-tools</artifactId>
   <packaging>jar</packaging>
diff --git a/apache-rat/pom.xml b/apache-rat/pom.xml
index bcf8b1e23..ee662434e 100644
--- a/apache-rat/pom.xml
+++ b/apache-rat/pom.xml
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@
   <parent>
     <groupId>org.apache.rat</groupId>
     <artifactId>apache-rat-project</artifactId>
-    <version>1.0.0-SNAPSHOT</version>
+    <version>0.18-SNAPSHOT</version>
   </parent>
   <artifactId>apache-rat</artifactId>
   <packaging>jar</packaging>
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 058beba4e..c6644807b 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -20,11 +20,11 @@
   <parent>
     <groupId>org.apache</groupId>
     <artifactId>apache</artifactId>
-    <version>35</version>
+    <version>36</version>
   </parent>
   <groupId>org.apache.rat</groupId>
   <artifactId>apache-rat-project</artifactId>
-  <version>1.0.0-SNAPSHOT</version>
+  <version>0.18-SNAPSHOT</version>
   <packaging>pom</packaging>
   <name>Apache Creadur RAT</name>
   <url>https://creadur.apache.org/rat/</url>
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ agnostic home for software distribution comprehension and audit tools.
     <maven.compiler.source>${javaVersion}</maven.compiler.source>
     <maven.compiler.target>${javaVersion}</maven.compiler.target>
     <!-- This is the version of Maven required to use the RAT Maven Plugin -->
-    <mavenMinVersion>3.2.5</mavenMinVersion>
+    <mavenMinVersion>3.9</mavenMinVersion>
     <mavenVersion>3.9.12</mavenVersion>
     <creadur.jira.id>RAT</creadur.jira.id>
     <velocity.core.version>2.4.1</velocity.core.version>
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ agnostic home for software distribution comprehension and audit tools.
     <mavenPmdPluginVersion>3.28.0</mavenPmdPluginVersion>
     <!-- Used to generate download page for RAT during site builds, please adapt versions manually BEFORE doing a release -->
     <!-- START - adapt manually before doing a release -->
-    <previousRatVersion>0.17</previousRatVersion>
+    <previousRatVersion>0.18</previousRatVersion>
     <currentSnapshotRatVersion>1.0.0-SNAPSHOT</currentSnapshotRatVersion>
     <!-- END - adapt manually before doing a release -->
   </properties>
diff --git a/src/changes/changes.xml b/src/changes/changes.xml
index b1f1a20f7..672c118e2 100644
--- a/src/changes/changes.xml
+++ b/src/changes/changes.xml
@@ -61,13 +61,13 @@ in order to be properly linked in site reports.
     <author email="dev@creadur.apache.org">Apache Creadur RAT developers</author>
   </properties>
   <body>
-    <!--release version="2.0.0-SNAPSHOT" date="xxxx-yy-zz" description="Current SNAPSHOT - release to be done">
-      <action issue="RAT-xyz" type="update" dev="pottlinger" due-to="dependabot">
-        TODO/TBD: collect all dependabot updates for release 2.0.0.
+    <!--release version="1.0.0-SNAPSHOT" date="xxxx-yy-zz" description="Current SNAPSHOT - release to be done">
+      <action issue="RAT-532" type="update" dev="pottlinger" due-to="dependabot">
+        TODO/TBD: collect all dependabot updates for release 1.0.0.
       </action>
     </release>
     -->
-    <release version="1.0.0" date="xxxx-yy-zz" description="Current SNAPSHOT - release to be done">
+    <release version="0.18" date="xxxx-yy-zz" description="Current SNAPSHOT - release to be done">
       <action issue="RAT-531" type="fix" dev="pottlinger" due-to="huangxiaoping">
         Fix NPE that license families is null if licenses are defined manually, reported by huangxiaoping from Hudi.
       </action>
@@ -138,7 +138,7 @@ in order to be properly linked in site reports.
         Changed '/.externalToolBuilders' to '/.externalToolBuilders/**' in the ECLIPSE standard exclusion list and added '**/bin/**' to ignore generated binary folders in Eclipse IDE.
       </action>
       <action issue="RAT-498" type="update" dev="pottlinger" due-to="dependabot">
-        TODO/TBD: collect all dependabot updates for release 1.0.0.
+        TODO/TBD: collect all dependabot updates for release 0.18.
       </action>
     </release>
     <release version="0.17" date="2025-10-12" description=