Default characterset: utf8mb4_general_ci
Across the whole database, unless otherwise stated within the settings, all tables will now use utf8mb4_general_ci
as the default characterset.
This removes any issues when dealing with multibyte characters such as emoji, and simplifies the use of string functions using user-supplied variables within queries and stored procedures.
Alongside these changes are dependency upgrades and the switch to native Github Dependabot, for keeping dependencies up to date.