starting to work on release v1.9
diff --git a/docs/conf.py b/docs/conf.py
index 39d4933..4e2c4ce 100644
--- a/docs/conf.py
+++ b/docs/conf.py
@@ -56,9 +56,9 @@
 # built documents.
 #
 # The short X.Y version.
-version = '1.8'
+version = '1.9'
 # The full version, including alpha/beta/rc tags.
-release = '1.8'
+release = '1.9.dev0'
 
 # The language for content autogenerated by Sphinx. Refer to documentation
 # for a list of supported languages.