diff --git a/.markdownlintignore b/.markdownlintignore
index ee681114..38896a95 100644
--- a/.markdownlintignore
+++ b/.markdownlintignore
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
 build
 node_modules
 vendor
+CHANGELOG.md
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 93b01666..895c3b1a 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,11 +1,21 @@
-# Changelog
+### Changelog
 
 All notable changes to this project will be documented in this file. Dates are displayed in UTC.
 
 Generated by [`auto-changelog`](https://github.com/CookPete/auto-changelog).
 
-## [v4.0.0](https://github.com/WebDevStudios/wd_s/compare/v3.5...v4.0.0)
+#### [v4.0.0](https://github.com/WebDevStudios/wd_s/compare/v4.0...v4.0.0)
 
+- Hotfix/fix footer heading level [`#1101`](https://github.com/WebDevStudios/wd_s/pull/1101)
+- WDSUS-44 Update package json dependencies [`975ae45`](https://github.com/WebDevStudios/wd_s/commit/975ae45c8a284362c9d54704f8dfeb6475bf1ef9)
+- WDSUS-44 - Update package lock [`da26fbe`](https://github.com/WebDevStudios/wd_s/commit/da26fbe73524ae9d4e3501b34992a5f1d04e384b)
+- WDSUS-44 Downgrade wordpress/eslint-plugin from 16.0 to 15.1 [`fed3b11`](https://github.com/WebDevStudios/wd_s/commit/fed3b113d2d18ef30f70185117dbcfdc754a4f71)
+
+### [v4.0](https://github.com/WebDevStudios/wd_s/compare/v3.5...v4.0)
+
+> 29 September 2023
+
+- Release/WDSUS-2 V4.0 [`#1023`](https://github.com/WebDevStudios/wd_s/pull/1023)
 - Add scaffolding code for the acf block generated using CLI [`#1094`](https://github.com/WebDevStudios/wd_s/pull/1094)
 - Feature/site editor index [`#1097`](https://github.com/WebDevStudios/wd_s/pull/1097)
 - Feature/WDSUS-45 WDS Cleanup [`#1072`](https://github.com/WebDevStudios/wd_s/pull/1072)
@@ -19,7 +29,7 @@ Generated by [`auto-changelog`](https://github.com/CookPete/auto-changelog).
 - WDSUS-2 - Update packages [`82cde06`](https://github.com/WebDevStudios/wd_s/commit/82cde06325363bd80a79bf63f545d16ea9f20a2a)
 - WDSUS-2 Update package lock file [`c1406ab`](https://github.com/WebDevStudios/wd_s/commit/c1406abac10765eb667e81e12352947d7697d8af)
 
-## [v3.5](https://github.com/WebDevStudios/wd_s/compare/3.0...v3.5)
+#### [v3.5](https://github.com/WebDevStudios/wd_s/compare/3.0...v3.5)
 
 > 20 May 2023
 
@@ -193,7 +203,7 @@ Generated by [`auto-changelog`](https://github.com/CookPete/auto-changelog).
 - Update text domains and package names [`ddb6fb8`](https://github.com/WebDevStudios/wd_s/commit/ddb6fb8e141edb6b24faf52693eccd5d3b7ced11)
 - Fix spacing issues [`0c601aa`](https://github.com/WebDevStudios/wd_s/commit/0c601aa5176bac0d0edcf84a28cd9d7dd5dd8d2c)
 
-## [2.1](https://github.com/WebDevStudios/wd_s/compare/v2.0.1...2.1)
+#### [2.1](https://github.com/WebDevStudios/wd_s/compare/v2.0.1...2.1)
 
 > 20 April 2021
 
@@ -231,7 +241,7 @@ Generated by [`auto-changelog`](https://github.com/CookPete/auto-changelog).
 - fix merge conflict [`0abaf96`](https://github.com/WebDevStudios/wd_s/commit/0abaf96a60004bb97652a0185552931de45c61bf)
 - Adds browsersync and scripts [`ac9af1b`](https://github.com/WebDevStudios/wd_s/commit/ac9af1bbb386e5042ee6bab4c369f5d127a1ecca)
 
-## [v2.0.1](https://github.com/WebDevStudios/wd_s/compare/v2.0.0...v2.0.1)
+#### [v2.0.1](https://github.com/WebDevStudios/wd_s/compare/v2.0.0...v2.0.1)
 
 > 10 November 2020
 
@@ -717,13 +727,13 @@ Generated by [`auto-changelog`](https://github.com/CookPete/auto-changelog).
 - Merges in ACF + Gutenberg update [`43a56d8`](https://github.com/WebDevStudios/wd_s/commit/43a56d8eaf261903cd2b2d74d4d4c0b7421035a9)
 - packages & dependencies bump [`7d5f7b4`](https://github.com/WebDevStudios/wd_s/commit/7d5f7b4512fe76b7caf138266e6eaef7616a8327)
 
-## 1.2
+#### 1.2
 
 > 28 December 2012
 
 - Remove generic Theme Options page in favor of the Customizer. [`#115`](https://github.com/WebDevStudios/wd_s/pull/115)
 - Escape home_url() in #site-title link. props @sixhours [`#113`](https://github.com/WebDevStudios/wd_s/pull/113)
-- Introduces a filter for wp_title instead of hard-coding things in header.php [`#79`](https://github.com/WebDevStudios/wd_s/pull/79)
+- * Introduces a filter for wp_title instead of hard-coding things in header.php [`#79`](https://github.com/WebDevStudios/wd_s/pull/79)
 - Fix tag list separator i18n in content-single.php [`#110`](https://github.com/WebDevStudios/wd_s/pull/110)
 - Remove extra word "for" in README.md. props @bryanstedman [`#101`](https://github.com/WebDevStudios/wd_s/pull/101)
 - Add a space before colons. props @corvannoorloos [`#102`](https://github.com/WebDevStudios/wd_s/pull/102)
diff --git a/lefthook.yml b/lefthook.yml
index 6584b14c..b526032b 100644
--- a/lefthook.yml
+++ b/lefthook.yml
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ pre-commit:
             run: npx markdownlint-cli {staged_files} --fix
         other:
             glob: '*.{yml,json,html}'
-            exclude: 'group_*.json' # Exclude specific files
+            exclude: 'group_*.json,CHANGELOG.md' # Exclude specific files, including CHANGELOG.md
             run: |
                 staged_files="$LEFTHOOK_STAGED_FILES"
                 for file in $staged_files