diff --git a/.ci/scripts/check_release.py b/.ci/scripts/check_release.py
index 496ad2e..48a070e 100755
--- a/.ci/scripts/check_release.py
+++ b/.ci/scripts/check_release.py
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ def main():
             if branch != DEFAULT_BRANCH:
                 # Check if a Z release is needed
                 changes = repo.git.ls_tree("-r", "--name-only", f"origin/{branch}", "CHANGES/")
-                z_release = False
+                z_changelog = False
                 for change in changes.split("\n"):
                     # Check each changelog file to make sure everything checks out
                     _, ext = os.path.splitext(change)
@@ -75,18 +75,48 @@ def main():
                             f"{branch} release branch!"
                         )
                     elif ext in Z_CHANGELOG_EXTS:
-                        z_release = True
-                if z_release:
+                        z_changelog = True
+
+                last_tag = repo.git.describe("--tags", "--abbrev=0", f"origin/{branch}")
+                req_txt_diff = repo.git.diff(
+                    f"{last_tag}", f"origin/{branch}", "--name-only", "--", "requirements.txt"
+                )
+                if z_changelog or req_txt_diff:
                     # Blobless clone does not have file contents for Z branches,
                     # check commit message for last Z bump
                     git_branch = f"origin/{branch}"
-                    next_version = repo.git.log(
-                        "--oneline", "--grep=Bump to", "-n 1", git_branch, "--", ".bumpversion.cfg"
-                    ).split("to")[-1]
+                    next_version = None
+                    bump_commit = repo.git.log(
+                        "--oneline",
+                        "--grep=Bump version",
+                        "-n 1",
+                        git_branch,
+                        "--",
+                        ".bumpversion.cfg",
+                    )
+                    if bump_commit:
+                        next_version = bump_commit.split("→ ")[-1]
+                    # If not found - try old-commit-msg
+                    if not next_version:
+                        bump_commit = repo.git.log(
+                            "--oneline",
+                            "--grep=Bump to",
+                            "-n 1",
+                            git_branch,
+                            "--",
+                            ".bumpversion.cfg",
+                        )
+                        next_version = bump_commit.split("to ")[-1] if bump_commit else None
+
+                    # You could, theoretically, be next_vers==None here - but that's always
+                    # been true for this script.
                     next_version = Version(next_version)
+                    reason = "CHANGES" if z_changelog else "requirements.txt"
                     print(
                         f"A Z-release is needed for {branch}, "
-                        f"New Version: {next_version.base_version}"
+                        f"Prev: {last_tag}, "
+                        f"Next: {next_version.base_version}, "
+                        f"Reason: {reason}"
                     )
                     releases.append(next_version)
             else:
diff --git a/.ci/scripts/collect_changes.py b/.ci/scripts/collect_changes.py
index 35cf0b7..4785672 100755
--- a/.ci/scripts/collect_changes.py
+++ b/.ci/scripts/collect_changes.py
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
 
 import toml
 from git import GitCommandError, Repo
-from pkg_resources import parse_version
+from packaging.version import parse as parse_version
 
 # Read Towncrier settings
 tc_settings = toml.load("pyproject.toml")["tool"]["towncrier"]
@@ -28,8 +28,12 @@
 TITLE_FORMAT = tc_settings.get("title_format", "{name} {version} ({project_date})")
 
 
+# Build a regex to find the header of a changelog section.
+# It must have a single capture group to single out the version.
+# see help(re.split) for more info.
 NAME_REGEX = r".*"
-VERSION_REGEX = r"([0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9][0-9ab]*)"
+VERSION_REGEX = r"[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9][0-9ab]*"
+VERSION_CAPTURE_REGEX = rf"({VERSION_REGEX})"
 DATE_REGEX = r"[0-9]{4}-[0-9]{2}-[0-9]{2}"
 TITLE_REGEX = (
     "("
@@ -37,6 +41,7 @@
         TITLE_FORMAT.format(name="NAME_REGEX", version="VERSION_REGEX", project_date="DATE_REGEX")
     )
     .replace("NAME_REGEX", NAME_REGEX)
+    .replace("VERSION_REGEX", VERSION_CAPTURE_REGEX, 1)
     .replace("VERSION_REGEX", VERSION_REGEX)
     .replace("DATE_REGEX", DATE_REGEX)
     + ")"
diff --git a/.github/template_gitref b/.github/template_gitref
index 8b7135e..9ec4e6f 100644
--- a/.github/template_gitref
+++ b/.github/template_gitref
@@ -1 +1 @@
-2021.08.26-320-g4fd782b
+2021.08.26-326-ge5addc7
diff --git a/.github/workflows/nightly.yml b/.github/workflows/nightly.yml
index 65ddcee..2400d3a 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/nightly.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/nightly.yml
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ jobs:
       - name: "Install python dependencies"
         run: |
           echo ::group::PYDEPS
-          pip install gitpython toml
+          pip install gitpython packaging toml
           echo ::endgroup::
 
       - name: "Configure Git with pulpbot name and email"
diff --git a/.github/workflows/scripts/script.sh b/.github/workflows/scripts/script.sh
index be25117..9e07b46 100755
--- a/.github/workflows/scripts/script.sh
+++ b/.github/workflows/scripts/script.sh
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ if [[ "$TEST" = "docs" ]]; then
   if [[ "$GITHUB_WORKFLOW" == "Certguard CI" ]]; then
     towncrier build --yes --version 4.0.0.ci
   fi
+  # Legacy Docs Build
   cd docs
   make PULP_URL="$PULP_URL" diagrams html
   tar -cvf docs.tar ./_build
diff --git a/lint_requirements.txt b/lint_requirements.txt
index 0f4c675..4e8fb2f 100644
--- a/lint_requirements.txt
+++ b/lint_requirements.txt
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 # For more info visit https://github.com/pulp/plugin_template
 
 # python packages handy for developers, but not required by pulp
-black==23.12.1
+black==24.3.0
 check-manifest
 flake8
 flake8-black
diff --git a/template_config.yml b/template_config.yml
index 710be46..853e67f 100644
--- a/template_config.yml
+++ b/template_config.yml
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 # This config represents the latest values used when running the plugin-template. Any settings that
 # were not present before running plugin-template have been added with their default values.
 
-# generated with plugin_template@2021.08.26-319-ga283c28
+# generated with plugin_template@2021.08.26-326-ge5addc7
 
 api_root: /pulp/
 black: true
@@ -70,4 +70,6 @@ test_performance: false
 test_reroute: true
 test_s3: true
 use_issue_template: true
+use_legacy_docs: true
+use_unified_docs: false