1913: 1.8 release (backport #1912) r=mergify[bot] a=Diman0

## What type of PR?

1.8 release.

## What does this PR do?
Final changes required for the 1.8 release.

### Related issue(s)
- #1829 can be closed after this PR is merged.

## Prerequistes
Before we can consider review and merge, please make sure the following list is done and checked.
If an entry in not applicable, you can check it or remove it from the list.

- [x] In case of feature or enhancement: documentation updated accordingly
- [x] Unless it's docs or a minor change: add [changelog](https://mailu.io/master/contributors/workflow.html#changelog) entry file.


Co-authored-by: Diman0 <diman@huisman.xyz>
Co-authored-by: Dimitri Huisman <52963853+Diman0@users.noreply.github.com>