Versioning

This theme follows Semantic Versioning (SemVer). The version number is formatted as MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH, where each segment has a specific meaning and upgrade impact:

Segment	Name	When it increments	Upgrade impact
MAJOR	Major	Incompatible breaking changes (API / config / template structure overhaul)	Requires manual migration of config or templates — not a smooth upgrade
MINOR	Minor	Backward-compatible new features or non-breaking adjustments	git pull, then review the release notes and check the config
PATCH	Patch	Bug fixes / security hardening / performance optimizations only, no new features	Upgrade directly, no config changes needed

Naming rules

• Version numbers are prefixed with v (e.g. v1.6.1), consistent with the Git tag.
• Each release is accompanied by full release notes on GitHub Releases.
• When a release includes both new features and bug fixes, only MINOR is incremented (features take precedence; fixes are bundled).
• When a release contains only bug fixes / security hardening, PATCH is incremented.
• No separate pre-release versions (alpha / beta / rc) are published. All releases are considered stable.

Historical versions

The table below explains how each segment was decided, based on the actual release history from v1.4.0 to v1.6.1:

Version	Type	Incremented segment	Rationale
v1.4.0	Theme refactor	MINOR	Added Hitokoto toggle, article-driven timeline, Hexo-native about page, RSS recent updates; removed the CV feature. Although it contained breaking config changes, it was the first independent release after the fork, so MAJOR was not bumped.
v1.5.0	SEO & discoverability	MINOR	Added 6 features (dark mode / Open Graph / JSON-LD / sitemap / PWA / image lazy loading), all backward-compatible.
v1.5.1	Performance & bug fixes	PATCH	Scroll throttling, template cache optimization, 6 functional bug fixes, no new features.
v1.5.2	Security hardening	PATCH	16 XSS / injection protection, robustness, and SEO compliance fixes, no new features.
v1.6.0	New features & Gitalk removal	MINOR	Added 5 features (back-to-top / reduced-motion / RSS auto-discovery / robots.txt / font loading); removed Gitalk comments.
v1.6.1	Robustness fixes	PATCH	4 robustness fixes (RSS auto-discovery, JSON-LD image, carousel arrows, search no-result branch), no new features.

Upgrade recommendations

• PATCH releases (e.g. v1.6.0 → v1.6.1): just git pull, no config changes required.
• MINOR releases (e.g. v1.5.2 → v1.6.0): after git pull, read the release notes and compare your config against _config-template.yml to check for new options.
• MAJOR releases: read the full release notes and the Upgrade Guide carefully — manual migration of config or custom templates may be required.

Differences from strict SemVer

As a Hexo theme (frontend templates + scripts) rather than a traditional library / API, this theme makes the following practical adjustments to SemVer:

1. MAJOR is rarely incremented: breaking changes to templates or config are clearly marked in the release notes but are still released as MINOR to avoid the psychological burden of frequent major version bumps. The main criterion for a MAJOR bump is "whether the user's config file can be smoothly migrated."
2. No alpha / beta / rc distinction: all releases are considered stable. Tags are only created after complete self-testing.
3. Deprecated config options do not immediately trigger MAJOR: deprecated options are kept for a compatibility window of 1–2 MINOR releases (during which a deprecation warning is logged) and then removed — the removal is highlighted in the release notes.

For the full version history summary, see the Changelog.