diff --git a/.github/workflows/pull-request-commentor.yaml b/.github/workflows/pull-request-commentor.yaml
index 1b17150b2d0..6f681412474 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/pull-request-commentor.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/pull-request-commentor.yaml
@@ -18,16 +18,16 @@ jobs:
 
     strategy:
       matrix:
-        branch: [release-v3.8, release-v3.9, devel]
+        branch: [release-v3.9, release-v3.10, devel]
         k8s: ["1.25", "1.26", "1.27", "1.28"]
         exclude:
           # the next Ceph-CSI version will not be tested with old Kubernetes
           - k8s: "1.25"
             branch: "devel"
+          - k8s: "1.25"
+            branch: "release-v3.10"
 
           # Ceph-CSI <= 3.9 was released before Kubernetes 1.28
-          - k8s: "1.28"
-            branch: "release-v3.8"
           - k8s: "1.28"
             branch: "release-v3.9"
 
diff --git a/.mergify.yml b/.mergify.yml
index 79ebed0d8f3..ac5fb46b4a8 100644
--- a/.mergify.yml
+++ b/.mergify.yml
@@ -16,13 +16,37 @@ defaults:
       # Use ceph-csi-bot for rebasing, not the account of the PR owner.
       # bot_account: ceph-csi-bot
 
+      # by default Mergify requires manual merging of PRs that modify its own
+      # configuration (this file), allowing this makes it easier to prepare for
+      # releases (new branches added here)
+      allow_merging_configuration_change: true
+
 queue_rules:
   - name: default
     conditions:
       # Conditions to get out of the queue (= merged)
       - or:
           - and:
-              - base=release-v*
+              - base~=^(release-.+)$
+              - "status-success=codespell"
+              - "status-success=multi-arch-build"
+              - "status-success=go-test"
+              - "status-success=golangci-lint"
+              - "status-success=mod-check"
+              - "status-success=lint-extras"
+              - "status-success=ci/centos/k8s-e2e-external-storage/1.26"
+              - "status-success=ci/centos/k8s-e2e-external-storage/1.27"
+              - "status-success=ci/centos/k8s-e2e-external-storage/1.28"
+              - "status-success=ci/centos/mini-e2e-helm/k8s-1.26"
+              - "status-success=ci/centos/mini-e2e-helm/k8s-1.27"
+              - "status-success=ci/centos/mini-e2e-helm/k8s-1.28"
+              - "status-success=ci/centos/mini-e2e/k8s-1.26"
+              - "status-success=ci/centos/mini-e2e/k8s-1.27"
+              - "status-success=ci/centos/mini-e2e/k8s-1.28"
+              - "status-success=ci/centos/upgrade-tests-cephfs"
+              - "status-success=ci/centos/upgrade-tests-rbd"
+          - and:
+              - base=release-v3.9
               - "status-success=codespell"
               - "status-success=multi-arch-build"
               - "status-success=go-test"
@@ -105,7 +129,7 @@ pull_request_rules:
           - and:
               - author=dependabot[bot]
               - label!=DNM
-              - base=release-v*
+              - base~=^(release-.+)$
               - "#approved-reviews-by>=2"
               - "#changes-requested-reviews-by=0"
               - "approved-reviews-by=@ceph/ceph-csi-contributors"
@@ -171,7 +195,7 @@ pull_request_rules:
       - or:
           - and:
               - label!=DNM
-              - base=release-v*
+              - base~=^(release-.+)$
               - "#approved-reviews-by>=2"
               - "#changes-requested-reviews-by=0"
               - "approved-reviews-by=@ceph/ceph-csi-contributors"
@@ -230,7 +254,7 @@ pull_request_rules:
     conditions:
       - or:
           - and:
-              - base=release-v*
+              - base~=^(release-.+)$
               - label!=DNM
               - label=ready-to-merge
               - "approved-reviews-by=@ceph/ceph-csi-maintainers"
@@ -284,23 +308,23 @@ pull_request_rules:
         name: default
       delete_head_branch: {}
 
-  - name: backport patches to release-v3.8 branch
+  - name: backport patches to release-v3.9 branch
     conditions:
       - base=devel
-      - label=backport-to-release-v3.8
+      - label=backport-to-release-v3.9
     actions:
       backport:
         branches:
-          - release-v3.8
+          - release-v3.9
 
-  - name: backport patches to release-v3.9 branch
+  - name: backport patches to release-v3.10 branch
     conditions:
       - base=devel
-      - label=backport-to-release-v3.9
+      - label=backport-to-release-v3.10
     actions:
       backport:
         branches:
-          - release-v3.9
+          - release-v3.10
 
   - name: remove outdated approvals on ci/centos
     conditions:
diff --git a/PendingReleaseNotes.md b/PendingReleaseNotes.md
index f93d0a89fbc..7b9f1dd836b 100644
--- a/PendingReleaseNotes.md
+++ b/PendingReleaseNotes.md
@@ -1,20 +1,7 @@
-# v3.10 Pending Release Notes
+# v3.11 Pending Release Notes
 
 ## Breaking Changes
 
-- Removed the deprecated grpc metrics flag's in [PR](https://github.com/ceph/ceph-csi/pull/4225)
-
-- Support for pre-creation of cephFS subvolumegroup before creating subvolume
-  is removed in [PR](https://github.com/ceph/ceph-csi/pull/4195)
-
 ## Features
 
-- Support for configuring read affinity for individuals cluster within the ceph-csi-config
-  ConfigMap in [PR](https://github.com/ceph/ceph-csi/pull/4165)
-
-- Support for CephFS kernel and fuse mount options per cluster in [PR](https://github.com/ceph/ceph-csi/pull/4245)
-
 ## NOTE
-
-- Support is limited to only the active Ceph releases. Support for EOLed Ceph
-  releases are removed [PR](https://github.com/ceph/ceph-csi/pull/4262)