diff --git a/Neos.Fusion/Classes/FusionObjects/ComponentImplementation.php b/Neos.Fusion/Classes/FusionObjects/ComponentImplementation.php
index 873128d0c2d..8d7f9da3209 100644
--- a/Neos.Fusion/Classes/FusionObjects/ComponentImplementation.php
+++ b/Neos.Fusion/Classes/FusionObjects/ComponentImplementation.php
@@ -80,8 +80,10 @@ protected function getProps(array $context): \ArrayAccess
     protected function render(array $context)
     {
         $this->runtime->pushContextArray($context);
-        $result = $this->runtime->render($this->path . '/renderer');
-        $this->runtime->popContext();
-        return $result;
+        try {
+            return $this->runtime->render($this->path . '/renderer');
+        } finally {
+            $this->runtime->popContext();
+        }
     }
 }
diff --git a/Neos.Media.Browser/Classes/Controller/AssetController.php b/Neos.Media.Browser/Classes/Controller/AssetController.php
index c17b24b671c..a4ee773a8ca 100644
--- a/Neos.Media.Browser/Classes/Controller/AssetController.php
+++ b/Neos.Media.Browser/Classes/Controller/AssetController.php
@@ -50,6 +50,7 @@
 use Neos\Media\Domain\Repository\AssetRepository;
 use Neos\Media\Domain\Repository\TagRepository;
 use Neos\Media\Domain\Service\AssetService;
+use Neos\Media\Domain\Service\AssetVariantGenerator;
 use Neos\Media\Exception\AssetServiceException;
 use Neos\Media\TypeConverter\AssetInterfaceConverter;
 use Neos\Neos\Controller\BackendUserTranslationTrait;
@@ -140,6 +141,12 @@ class AssetController extends ActionController
      */
     protected $assetSourceService;
 
+    /**
+     * @Flow\Inject
+     * @var AssetVariantGenerator
+     */
+    protected $assetVariantGenerator;
+
     /**
      * @var AssetSourceInterface[]
      */
@@ -469,6 +476,32 @@ public function variantsAction(string $assetSourceIdentifier, string $assetProxy
         }
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Create missing variants for the given image
+     *
+     * @param string $assetSourceIdentifier
+     * @param string $assetProxyIdentifier
+     * @param string $overviewAction
+     * @throws StopActionException
+     * @throws UnsupportedRequestTypeException
+     */
+    public function createVariantsAction(string $assetSourceIdentifier, string $assetProxyIdentifier, string $overviewAction): void
+    {
+        $assetSource = $this->assetSources[$assetSourceIdentifier];
+        $assetProxyRepository = $assetSource->getAssetProxyRepository();
+
+        $assetProxy = $assetProxyRepository->getAssetProxy($assetProxyIdentifier);
+        $asset = $this->persistenceManager->getObjectByIdentifier($assetProxy->getLocalAssetIdentifier(), Asset::class);
+
+        /** @var VariantSupportInterface $originalAsset */
+        $originalAsset = ($asset instanceof AssetVariantInterface ? $asset->getOriginalAsset() : $asset);
+
+        $this->assetVariantGenerator->createVariants($originalAsset);
+        $this->assetRepository->update($originalAsset);
+
+        $this->redirect('variants', null, null, ['assetSourceIdentifier' => $assetSourceIdentifier, 'assetProxyIdentifier' => $assetProxyIdentifier, 'overviewAction' => $overviewAction]);
+    }
+
     /**
      * @return void
      * @throws NoSuchArgumentException
diff --git a/Neos.Media.Browser/Configuration/Policy.yaml b/Neos.Media.Browser/Configuration/Policy.yaml
index 24e025b8edb..a237114296c 100644
--- a/Neos.Media.Browser/Configuration/Policy.yaml
+++ b/Neos.Media.Browser/Configuration/Policy.yaml
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ privilegeTargets:
 
     'Neos.Media.Browser:ManageAssets':
       label: Allowed to manage assets
-      matcher: 'method(Neos\Media\Browser\Controller\(Asset|Image)Controller->(index|new|show|edit|update|initializeCreate|create|replaceAssetResource|updateAssetResource|initializeUpload|upload|tagAsset|delete|createTag|editTag|updateTag|deleteTag|addAssetToCollection|relatedNodes|variants)Action()) || method(Neos\Media\Browser\Controller\ImageVariantController->(update)Action())'
+      matcher: 'method(Neos\Media\Browser\Controller\(Asset|Image)Controller->(index|new|show|edit|update|initializeCreate|create|replaceAssetResource|updateAssetResource|initializeUpload|upload|tagAsset|delete|createTag|editTag|updateTag|deleteTag|addAssetToCollection|relatedNodes|variants|createVariants)Action()) || method(Neos\Media\Browser\Controller\ImageVariantController->(update)Action())'
 
     'Neos.Media.Browser:AssetUsage':
       label: Allowed to calculate asset usages
diff --git a/Neos.Media.Browser/Resources/Private/Templates/Asset/Variants.html b/Neos.Media.Browser/Resources/Private/Templates/Asset/Variants.html
index 0c035452335..e024a452100 100644
--- a/Neos.Media.Browser/Resources/Private/Templates/Asset/Variants.html
+++ b/Neos.Media.Browser/Resources/Private/Templates/Asset/Variants.html
@@ -24,6 +24,13 @@
     <f:form action="update" controller="ImageVariant" package="Neos.Media.Browser" format="json" id="postHelper" method="post" useParentRequest="{isSubRequest}">
         <f:render partial="ConstraintsHiddenFields" arguments="{constraints: constraints}" />
     </f:form>
+
+    <div class="neos-footer">
+        <f:form action="createVariants" addQueryString="true">
+            <button type="submit" class="neos-button">{neos:backend.translate(id: 'createMissingVariants', package: 'Neos.Media.Browser')}</button>
+        </f:form>
+    </div>
+
 </f:section>
 
 <f:section name="Scripts">
diff --git a/Neos.Media.Browser/Resources/Private/Translations/en/Main.xlf b/Neos.Media.Browser/Resources/Private/Translations/en/Main.xlf
index 81cddf67e1e..07f3354ed02 100644
--- a/Neos.Media.Browser/Resources/Private/Translations/en/Main.xlf
+++ b/Neos.Media.Browser/Resources/Private/Translations/en/Main.xlf
@@ -427,6 +427,9 @@
 			<trans-unit id="missingDocumentNode" xml:space="preserve">
 				<source>No document node found for this node</source>
 			</trans-unit>
+			<trans-unit id="createMissingVariants" xml:space="preserve">
+				<source>Create missing variants</source>
+			</trans-unit>
 		</body>
 	</file>
 </xliff>
diff --git a/Neos.Media/Classes/Domain/Service/AssetVariantGenerator.php b/Neos.Media/Classes/Domain/Service/AssetVariantGenerator.php
index 4a8224515c0..69d4c12e379 100644
--- a/Neos.Media/Classes/Domain/Service/AssetVariantGenerator.php
+++ b/Neos.Media/Classes/Domain/Service/AssetVariantGenerator.php
@@ -127,6 +127,11 @@ public function createVariant(AssetInterface $asset, string $presetIdentifier, s
         $createdVariant = null;
         $preset = $this->getVariantPresets()[$presetIdentifier] ?? null;
         if ($preset instanceof VariantPreset && $preset->matchesMediaType($asset->getMediaType())) {
+            $existingVariant = $asset->getVariant($presetIdentifier, $variantIdentifier);
+            if ($existingVariant !== null) {
+                return $existingVariant;
+            }
+
             $variantConfiguration = $preset->variants()[$variantIdentifier] ?? null;
 
             if ($variantConfiguration instanceof Configuration\Variant) {
diff --git a/Neos.Media/Classes/Package.php b/Neos.Media/Classes/Package.php
index 299f827307c..dd5b7b06fb5 100644
--- a/Neos.Media/Classes/Package.php
+++ b/Neos.Media/Classes/Package.php
@@ -11,8 +11,10 @@
  * source code.
  */
 
+use Neos\Flow\Configuration\ConfigurationManager;
 use Neos\Flow\Core\Bootstrap;
 use Neos\Flow\Package\Package as BasePackage;
+use Neos\Media\Domain\Model\AssetInterface;
 use Neos\Media\Domain\Model\ImportedAssetManager;
 use Neos\Media\Domain\Service\AssetService;
 use Neos\Media\Domain\Service\AssetVariantGenerator;
@@ -30,7 +32,12 @@ class Package extends BasePackage
     public function boot(Bootstrap $bootstrap)
     {
         $dispatcher = $bootstrap->getSignalSlotDispatcher();
-        $dispatcher->connect(AssetService::class, 'assetCreated', AssetVariantGenerator::class, 'createVariants');
+        $dispatcher->connect(AssetService::class, 'assetCreated', function (AssetInterface $asset) use ($bootstrap) {
+            $configurationManager = $bootstrap->getObjectManager()->get(ConfigurationManager::class);
+            if ($configurationManager->getConfiguration(ConfigurationManager::CONFIGURATION_TYPE_SETTINGS, 'Neos.Media.autoCreateImageVariantPresets')) {
+                $bootstrap->getObjectManager()->get(AssetVariantGenerator::class)->createVariants($asset);
+            }
+        });
         $dispatcher->connect(AssetService::class, 'assetCreated', ThumbnailGenerator::class, 'createThumbnails');
         $dispatcher->connect(AssetService::class, 'assetCreated', ImportedAssetManager::class, 'registerCreatedAsset');
         $dispatcher->connect(AssetService::class, 'assetRemoved', ImportedAssetManager::class, 'registerRemovedAsset');
diff --git a/Neos.Media/Configuration/Settings.yaml b/Neos.Media/Configuration/Settings.yaml
index 035e4020d23..8025a3d5774 100644
--- a/Neos.Media/Configuration/Settings.yaml
+++ b/Neos.Media/Configuration/Settings.yaml
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ Neos:
     # Variant presets
     variantPresets: []
     # Automatically create asset variants for configured presets when assets are added
-    autoCreateImageVariantPresets: false
+    autoCreateImageVariantPresets: true
 
     thumbnailGenerators:
 
diff --git a/Neos.Media/Documentation/VariantPresets.rst b/Neos.Media/Documentation/VariantPresets.rst
index 02976ec41b2..d43dd11e921 100644
--- a/Neos.Media/Documentation/VariantPresets.rst
+++ b/Neos.Media/Documentation/VariantPresets.rst
@@ -92,14 +92,14 @@ The following example shows the required structure and possible fields of the pr
                   options:
                     aspectRatio: '1:1'
 
-The automatic variant generation for new assets has to be enabled via setting as
-by default this feature is disabled.
+The automatic variant generation for new assets is active by default.
+It can be disabled via setting:
 
 .. code-block:: yaml
 
   Neos:
     Media:
-      autoCreateImageVariantPresets: true
+      autoCreateImageVariantPresets: false
 
 To show and edit the variants in the media module the variants tab has to be enabled.
 
diff --git a/Neos.Neos/Documentation/Appendixes/ChangeLogs/7316.rst b/Neos.Neos/Documentation/Appendixes/ChangeLogs/7316.rst
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..512236f16b2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Neos.Neos/Documentation/Appendixes/ChangeLogs/7316.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,175 @@
+`7.3.16 (2023-10-21) <https://github.com/neos/neos-development-collection/releases/tag/7.3.16>`_
+================================================================================================
+
+Overview of merged pull requests
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+`BUGFIX: Only discard nodes in same workspace <https://github.com/neos/neos-development-collection/pull/4578>`_
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+* Resolves: `#4577 <https://github.com/neos/neos-development-collection/issues/4577>`_
+
+* Packages: ``ContentRepository``
+
+`BUGFIX: Load all thumbnails for an asset to skip further requests <https://github.com/neos/neos-development-collection/pull/4624>`_
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+For the usecase of images with responsive variants this change prevents additional database requests for each additional variant of an image.
+
+This can greatly reduce the number of queries on pages with many source tags or sources attributes for pictures and images.
+
+**Review instructions**
+
+As soon as an image is rendered in several sizes on a page the patch should skip additional db requests in the thumbnails repository.
+Persistent resources and image entities are still queried as via the node property getter and to resolve the thumbnail.
+
+
+* Packages: ``Neos`` ``Media``
+
+`BUGFIX: Allow unsetting thumbnail presets <https://github.com/neos/neos-development-collection/pull/4516>`_
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+* Resolves: `#3544 <https://github.com/neos/neos-development-collection/issues/3544>`_
+
+* Packages: ``Neos`` ``Media``
+
+`BUGFIX: Don’t query for abstract nodetypes in nodedata repository <https://github.com/neos/neos-development-collection/pull/4501>`_
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+As abstract nodetypes don't (shouldn't) appear in the database it makes no sense to query them.
+
+This is a regression that was introduced a long time ago, when the default parameter to include abstract nodetypes was added to the ``getSubNodeTypes`` method in the ``NodeTypeManager`` without adjusting the call in the ``NodeDataRepository->getNodeTypeFilterConstraintsForDql`` which relied on the previous behaviour.
+
+The call in the method ``getNodeTypeFilterConstraints`` was fixed some years ago, but that method seems unused.
+
+* Packages: ``ContentRepository``
+
+`BUGFIX: Consistently initialize asset sources via `createFromConfiguration` <https://github.com/neos/neos-development-collection/pull/4008>`_
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+fixes: `#3965 <https://github.com/neos/neos-development-collection/issues/3965>`_
+
+**The Problem**
+
+The case at hand was an asset source that uses a value object to validate the incoming asset source options. I expected to be able to define a promoted constructor property with said value object as its declared type:
+
+```php
+final class MyAssetSource implements AssetSourceInterface
+{
+    public function __construct(
+        private readonly string $assetSourceIdentifier,
+        private readonly Options $options
+    ) {
+    }
+
+   /* ... */
+}
+```
+
+...and initialize the value object in the ``createFromConfiguration`` static factory method defined by the ``AssetSourceInterface``:
+
+```php
+final class MyAssetSource implements AssetSourceInterface
+{
+   /* ... */
+
+    public static function createFromConfiguration(string $assetSourceIdentifier, array $assetSourceOptions): AssetSourceInterface
+    {
+        return new static(
+            $assetSourceIdentifier,
+            Options::fromArray($assetSourceOptions)
+        );
+    }
+}
+```
+
+This failed with a Type Error, because the ``AssetSourceService``, which is responsible for initializing asset sources, at one point does not utilize ``createFromConfiguration`` to perform initialization, but calls the asset source constructor directly:
+
+https://github.com/neos/neos-development-collection/blob/`a4791b623161259b31d2d11b343310bd7ef76507 <https://github.com/neos/neos-development-collection/commit/a4791b623161259b31d2d11b343310bd7ef76507>`_/Neos.Media/Classes/Domain/Service/AssetSourceService.php#L178
+
+**The Solution**
+
+I adjusted the aforementioned routine of the ``AssetSourceService`` to use the ``AssetSourceInterface``-defined ``createFromConfiguration`` static factory method instead of the asset source's constructor.
+
+Even though the pattern I described above only makes sense in a PHP >8.0 environment, I decided to target Neos 7.3 with this PR, because it should constitute a non-breaking bugfix.
+
+* Packages: ``Neos`` ``Media``
+
+`BUGFIX: Guard that Fusion path cannot be empty <https://github.com/neos/neos-development-collection/pull/4547>`_
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+Previously in php 7.4 this ``Neos\\Fusion\\Exception\\MissingFusionObjectException`` was thrown
+
+> No Fusion object found in path ""
+
+but with php 8 this ``ValueError`` is thrown which is unexpected
+
+> strrpos(): Argument `#3 <https://github.com/neos/neos-development-collection/issues/3>``_($offset) must be contained in argument ``#1 <https://github.com/neos/neos-development-collection/issues/1>`_($haystack)
+
+This change takes care of throwing an explicit ``Neos\\Fusion\\Exception`` instead:
+
+> Fusion path cannot be empty.
+
+
+--------
+
+This error was noticed in the out of band rendering, when there is no content element wrapping: https://discuss.neos.io/t/argument-3-offset-must-be-contained-in-argument-1-haystack/6416/4
+
+<img width="593" alt="image" src="https://github.com/neos/neos-development-collection/assets/85400359/0ac8d025-3ab4-44e8-9034-eb883f0b1894">
+
+
+
+**Upgrade instructions**
+
+**Review instructions**
+
+
+* Packages: ``Neos`` ``Fusion``
+
+`BUGFIX: Fix `NodeType` `getTypeOfAutoCreatedChildNode` and `getPropertyType` <https://github.com/neos/neos-development-collection/pull/4482>`_
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+resolves partially `#4333 <https://github.com/neos/neos-development-collection/issues/4333>`_
+resolves partially `#4344 <https://github.com/neos/neos-development-collection/issues/4344>`_
+
+**Upgrade instructions**
+
+**Review instructions**
+
+
+* Packages: ``Neos`` ``ContentRepository``
+
+`TASK: Fix documentation builds <https://github.com/neos/neos-development-collection/pull/4607>`_
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+… by pinning updated dependencies.
+
+**Review instructions**
+
+Best is to see if the builds succeed on RTD again with this merged…
+
+
+* Packages: ``Neos`` ``Media``
+
+`TASK: Fix paths for Neos.Media RTD rendering setup <https://github.com/neos/neos-development-collection/pull/4568>`_
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+The paths need to be from the repo root, not relative to the ``.readthedocs.yaml`` file (it seems).
+
+
+* Packages: ``Neos`` ``Media``
+
+`TASK: Add configuration files for RTD <https://github.com/neos/neos-development-collection/pull/4565>`_
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+This add ``.readthedocs.yaml`` files for the collection (handling ``Neos.Neos``) and for ``neos.Media``, to solve failing documentation rendering.
+
+**Review instructions**
+
+This can be compared to the configuration we have in place for ``Neos.Flow`` in the Flow development collection.
+
+
+* Packages: ``Media``
+
+`Detailed log <https://github.com/neos/neos-development-collection/compare/7.3.15...7.3.16>`_
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
diff --git a/Neos.Neos/composer.json b/Neos.Neos/composer.json
index cf50b030147..8d7ace8e9a7 100644
--- a/Neos.Neos/composer.json
+++ b/Neos.Neos/composer.json
@@ -7,18 +7,18 @@
     "description": "An open source Content Application Platform based on Flow. A set of core Content Management features is resting within a larger context that allows you to build a perfectly customized experience for your users.",
     "require": {
         "php": "^8.0",
-        "neos/diff": "~8.0.0",
+        "neos/diff": "self.version",
         "neos/flow": "~8.0.0",
-        "neos/media-browser": "~8.0.0",
+        "neos/media-browser": "self.version",
         "neos/party": "*",
         "neos/twitter-bootstrap": "*",
-        "neos/content-repository": "~8.0.0",
-        "neos/fusion": "~8.0.0",
+        "neos/content-repository": "self.version",
+        "neos/fusion": "self.version",
         "neos/fusion-afx": "self.version",
         "neos/fusion-form": "^1.0 || ^2.0",
         "neos/fluid-adaptor": "~8.0.0",
         "behat/transliterator": "~1.0",
-        "neos/media": "~8.0.0"
+        "neos/media": "self.version"
     },
     "suggest": {
         "neos/site-kickstarter": "Helps with creating new site packages for Neos.",