Release workflow update

.github/workflows/release.yml

@@ -21,9 +21,10 @@ on:
       - '.github/**'
       - README.md
       - README_TEMPLATE.md
-      - gradle.properties
       - CHANGELOG.md
 
+  workflow_dispatch:
+
 env:
   VERSION_FILE: gradle.properties
   VERSION_EXTRACT_PATTERN: '(?<=version=).+'
@@ -37,6 +38,9 @@ jobs:
     steps:
       - name: Checkout repository
         uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        with:
+          ref: 'master'
+          fetch-depth: 0
 
       - name: Generate versions
         uses: HardNorth/github-version-generate@v1
@@ -96,15 +100,13 @@ jobs:
           body: ${{ steps.readChangelogEntry.outputs.changes }}
 
       - name: Checkout develop branch
-        if: ${{github.ref}} == 'master'
         uses: actions/checkout@v4
         with:
           ref: 'develop'
           fetch-depth: 0
 
       - name: Merge release branch into develop
         id: mergeIntoDevelop
-        if: ${{github.ref}} == 'master'
         run: |
           git merge -m 'Merge master branch into develop after a release' origin/master
           git status | (! grep -Fq 'both modified:') || git status | grep -F 'both modified:' \