Copy the draft release note from the release page

Author: seisman

doc/changes.md

@@ -1,5 +1,88 @@
 # Changelog
 
+## Release v0.18.0 (20YY/MM/DD)
+
+[![Digital Object Identifier for PyGMT v0.18.0](https://zenodo.org/badge/DOI/10.5281/zenodo.3781524.svg)](https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3781524)
+
+### Highlights
+
+*
+
+### New Features
+
+* Add the Position class for GMT embellishment placement ([#4212](https://github.com/GenericMappingTools/pygmt/pull/4212))
+
+### Enhancements
+
+* pygmt.grdfilter: Let the parameter 'nans' support descriptive arguments ([#4310](https://github.com/GenericMappingTools/pygmt/pull/4310))
+* Figure.wiggle: Add parameters position/length/label/label_alignment for the scalebar position and properties ([#4049](https://github.com/GenericMappingTools/pygmt/pull/4049))
+* Figure.logo: Add parameters position/width/height to specify logo position and dimensions ([#4014](https://github.com/GenericMappingTools/pygmt/pull/4014))
+* Figure.legend: Add parameters position/width/height/line_spacing to specify legend position and properties ([#4046](https://github.com/GenericMappingTools/pygmt/pull/4046))
+* Figure.legend: Add aliases for -S (scale) and -B (frame) ([#4254](https://github.com/GenericMappingTools/pygmt/pull/4254))
+* Figure.inset: Add parameters position/width/height to specify inset position and dimensions ([#4047](https://github.com/GenericMappingTools/pygmt/pull/4047))
+* Figure.image: Add the parameter 'invert' for option -I ([#4089](https://github.com/GenericMappingTools/pygmt/pull/4089))
+* Figure.image: Add the frame parameter for option -B ([#4301](https://github.com/GenericMappingTools/pygmt/pull/4301))
+* Figure.image: Add parameters position/width/height/dpi/replicate to control image position and properties ([#4045](https://github.com/GenericMappingTools/pygmt/pull/4045))
+* Figure.histogram: Split parameter bar_width into bar_width and bar_offset ([#4316](https://github.com/GenericMappingTools/pygmt/pull/4316))
+* Figure.grdview: Improve parameters plane/facade_fill/facade_pen to set the plane and facade ([#4235](https://github.com/GenericMappingTools/pygmt/pull/4235))
+* AliasSystem: Migrate the 'registration' parameter to the new alias system and support descriptive arguments ([#4182](https://github.com/GenericMappingTools/pygmt/pull/4182))
+
+### Deprecations
+
+* pygmt.x2sys_cross: Deprecate parameter trackvalues to track_values (Will be removed in v0.20.0) ([#4282](https://github.com/GenericMappingTools/pygmt/pull/4282))
+* pygmt.surface: Deprecate parameter maxradius to max_radius (Will be removed in v0.20.0)  ([#4300](https://github.com/GenericMappingTools/pygmt/pull/4300))
+* pygmt.select: Deprecate parameter mask to mask_values (Will be removed in v0.20.0) ([#4288](https://github.com/GenericMappingTools/pygmt/pull/4288))
+* pygmt.select: Deprecate parameter gridmask to mask_grid (Will be removed in v0.20.0)  ([#4283](https://github.com/GenericMappingTools/pygmt/pull/4283))
+* pygmt.grdsample: Deprecate parameter 'translate' to 'toggle' (remove in v0.21.0) ([#4187](https://github.com/GenericMappingTools/pygmt/pull/4187))
+* pygmt.grdlandmask: Deprecate parameters bordervalues/maskvalues to broder_values/mask_values (Will be removed in v0.20.0) ([#4281](https://github.com/GenericMappingTools/pygmt/pull/4281))
+* pygmt.grdfill: Deprecate parameters splinefill/constantfill/neighborfill/gridfill to spline_fill/constant_fill/neighbor_fill/grid_fill (Will be removed in v0.20.0) ([#4273](https://github.com/GenericMappingTools/pygmt/pull/4273))
+* SPEC 0: Bump minimum supported version to Python 3.12 ([#4248](https://github.com/GenericMappingTools/pygmt/pull/4248))
+* Figure: Remove the deprecated _preprocess method (Deprecated since v0.16.0) ([#4146](https://github.com/GenericMappingTools/pygmt/pull/4146))
+* Figure.wiggle: Deprecate parameters fillnegative/fillpositive to negative_fill/positive_fill (Will be removed in v0.20.0) ([#4271](https://github.com/GenericMappingTools/pygmt/pull/4271))
+* Figure.velo: Deprecate parameters uncertaintyfill to uncertainty_fill (Will be removed in v0.20.0)  ([#4272](https://github.com/GenericMappingTools/pygmt/pull/4272))
+* Figure.meca: Deprecate parameters compressionfill/extensionfill to compression_fill/extension_fill (Will be removed in v0.20.0) ([#4269](https://github.com/GenericMappingTools/pygmt/pull/4269))
+* Figure.meca: Deprecate parameter labelbox to label_box (Will be removed in v0.20.0) ([#4274](https://github.com/GenericMappingTools/pygmt/pull/4274))
+* Figure.inset: Deprecate parameter margin to clearance (Will be removed in v0.20.0) ([#4296](https://github.com/GenericMappingTools/pygmt/pull/4296))
+* Figure.histogram: Deprecate parameter barwidth to bar_width (Will be removed in v0.20.0)  ([#4279](https://github.com/GenericMappingTools/pygmt/pull/4279))
+* Figure.grdview: Deprecate parameters contourpen/facadepen/meshpen to contour_pen/facade_pen/mesh_pen (Will be removed in v0.20.0) ([#4260](https://github.com/GenericMappingTools/pygmt/pull/4260))
+* Figure.grdview: Deprecate parameter drapegrid to drape_grid (Will be removed in v0.20.0) ([#4276](https://github.com/GenericMappingTools/pygmt/pull/4276))
+
+### Bug Fixes
+
+* load_earth_relief: Clarify that 03s/01s resolutions are available for iggp source only ([#4192](https://github.com/GenericMappingTools/pygmt/pull/4192))
+* geopandas: Fix UnicodeEncodeError on Windows for geopandas.GeoDataFrame with non-ASCII characters ([#4224](https://github.com/GenericMappingTools/pygmt/pull/4224))
+* Figure.grdview: Fix the default z-plane to the grid z minimum when plane is set to True or only facede_fill/facede_pen is set ([#4287](https://github.com/GenericMappingTools/pygmt/pull/4287))
+
+### Documentation
+
+* Tutorial "Plotting data points": Add legend for size coding ([#4214](https://github.com/GenericMappingTools/pygmt/pull/4214))
+* Example for geopandas polygon geometry: Use the Natural Earth dataset, change to Africa ([#4228](https://github.com/GenericMappingTools/pygmt/pull/4228))
+* Example for geopandas line geometry: Use Natural Earth dataset, change to Asia ([#4229](https://github.com/GenericMappingTools/pygmt/pull/4229))
+* Advanced tutorial on legends: Add example for adjusting line spacing ([#4265](https://github.com/GenericMappingTools/pygmt/pull/4265))
+* Add gallery example for geopandas point geometry (cities in Europe from Natural Earth) ([#4231](https://github.com/GenericMappingTools/pygmt/pull/4231))
+
+### Maintenance
+
+* fmt_docstrings: Use string template syntax for docstring placeholders and support curly braces in docstrings  ([#4210](https://github.com/GenericMappingTools/pygmt/pull/4210))
+* SPEC 0: Bump minimum supported version to NumPy 2.0 and Xarray 2024.5 ([#4090](https://github.com/GenericMappingTools/pygmt/pull/4090))
+* Remove dev dependency on "geodatasets" ([#4230](https://github.com/GenericMappingTools/pygmt/pull/4230))
+* Intros / Tutorials / Gallery: Include folder in colormap name ([#4311](https://github.com/GenericMappingTools/pygmt/pull/4311))
+* Fix deprecated string[pyarrow_numpy] in test_to_numpy_pandas_string ([#4186](https://github.com/GenericMappingTools/pygmt/pull/4186))
+* DOC: Update naming convention in contributors guide: separate words in parameter names by underscores ([#4284](https://github.com/GenericMappingTools/pygmt/pull/4284))
+* CI: Test NumPy 2.4 in the GMT Tests workflow ([#4319](https://github.com/GenericMappingTools/pygmt/pull/4319))
+* CI: Migrate the welcome bot to GitHub Actions ([#4149](https://github.com/GenericMappingTools/pygmt/pull/4149))
+* CI: Add a new workflow to cache dvc cache ([#4184](https://github.com/GenericMappingTools/pygmt/pull/4184))
+* Add support for Python 3.14 ([#4150](https://github.com/GenericMappingTools/pygmt/pull/4150))
+* Add an issue template for wrapping GMT modules ([#4152](https://github.com/GenericMappingTools/pygmt/pull/4152))
+
+**Full Changelog**: <https://github.com/GenericMappingTools/pygmt/compare/v0.17.0...v0.18.0>
+
+### Contributors
+
+[@Chuan1937](https://github.com/Chuan1937), [Dongdong Tian](https://github.com/seisman), [Wei Ji Leong](https://github.com/weiji14) and [Yvonne Fröhlich](https://github.com/yvonnefroehlich)
+
+---
+
 ## Release v0.17.0 (2025/10/03)
 
 [![Digital Object Identifier for PyGMT v0.17.0](https://zenodo.org/badge/DOI/10.5281/zenodo.17156962.svg)](https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17156962)