Koha 22.05: Patrons & Circulation Overview

by Sara Brown on Nov 29, 2022

This post will review the new features and enhancements to Koha's Patron and Circulation functions coming in 22.05.

New Features

Circulation

[19532] Recalls for Koha
This new feature allows patrons to recall items via the OPAC.

Library staff can view and manage current and inactive recalls from a new Recalls section in the Circulation module.

For more information, see this Wiki Page.

Patrons

[6815] Capture member photo via webcam
Read the full blog post and watch the tutorial video here:
Monday Minutes: Seamlessly Add Patron Images

Enhancements

Circulation

[18392] Allow exporting circulation conditions as CSV or spreadsheet

[27946] Add a charge per article request to patron categories

[29519] Add option to resolve a return claim at checkin
When items that have been claimed as returned are checked in, there is now a message with an option to resolve the claim directly from the check-in screen instead of having to do so from the claiming patron’s account.

[30226] Add system preference to disable auto-renew checkbox at checkout
The new AllowSetAutomaticRenewal system preference allows a library to hide the ‘Automatic renewal’ checkbox available under ‘Checkout settings’ when checking items out to patrons.

Fines and fees

[28138] Add system preference to make the payment type required (RequirePaymentType)

[29759] Refund credit when cancelling an article request

Hold requests

[27868] Adding the Expiration Date to the Holds Awaiting Pickup report
This enhancement adds a column to the Holds Awaiting Pickup report with each hold’s expiration date. This new ‘Expiration date’ column (reserves.expirationdate) appears on the Holds Waiting and Holds Waiting Over # Days tabs.

Full post: Koha 22.05: New holds functionality

[29346] Real-time holds queue update Sponsored by Montgomery County Public Libraries
This enhancement adds a new system preference called RealTimeHoldsQueue: “[Enable/Disable] updating the holds queue in real time.” Setting to Enable will make the Holds queue update in realtime by using a background job.

[29760] Show patron category in Holds queue
This enhancement adds the patron category as a new column in the Holds queue.

[30108] Allow making hold dates required
The new OPACMandatoryHoldDates system preference gives libraries the option to make hold dates mandatory when patrons place holds via the OPAC. The options are:

No hold dates
Both hold dates (a start date and an end date)
Hold end date
Hold start date (requires that AllowHoldDateInFuture and OPACAllowHoldDateInFuture are enabled)

Full post: Koha 22.05: New holds functionality

Lists

[26346] Add option to make a public list editable by library staff only
This enhancement adds a ‘Staff only’ option for who can edit public lists. Previously, the options were ‘Nobody’, ‘Owner only’, and ‘Anyone seeing this list’ - which included patrons.

Notices

[29491] Improve display of notices in patron details
In patrons’ Notices tab, clicking on a notice now shows its content in a popup box instead of expanding the table.

Patrons

[9097] Add option to trigger ‘Welcome mail’ manually
This enhancement adds a ‘Send welcome email’ option to the More menu of patrons’ records so that staff can manually trigger this notice. For more information about this feature, visit this Monday Minutes blog post:

Monday Minutes: Welcome Emails Sent With a Click of a Button

[15156] Get all Borrowers with pending/unpaid fines/accountlines

[29005] Add option to send WELCOME notice for new patrons added via patron imports
Libraries will be able to send the WELCOME notice to patrons added via patron import by selecting this checkbox:

For more, see Monday Minutes: Welcome Emails Sent With a Click of a Button.

[29059] Keep non-repeatable attribute from patron to preserve
If library staff merge two patrons where one or both has a patron attribute that cannot be repeated, the attribute from the selected patron will now be retained. Previously, one or both patrons having a non-repeatable attribute blocked the merge.

[29525] Privacy settings for patrons should also affect holds history
Patrons’ holds history will now be kept according to their privacy preferences for reading history: Never, Forever, or for the Default time defined by the library until anonymization.

[29617] BorrowerUnwantedField should exclude the ability to hide categorycode

[30120] Allow extended attributes during self registration when using PatronSelfRegistrationVerifyByEmail

[30237] Rename/rephrase AutoEmailOpacUser/ACCTDETAILS feature to clarify intended use
This enhancement updates the system preference description for AutoEmailNewUser (formerly AutoEmailOpacUser) and replaces the ACCTDETAILS notice with a new WELCOME notice. For more, see Monday Minutes: Welcome Emails Sent With a Click of a Button.

[30563] Add system preference to make the cash register field required when collecting a payment (RequireCashRegister)

[30611] Add ability to trigger a patron password reset from the staff client
Previously, patrons could only request a new password from the OPAC. This enhancement allows staff to send an email to patrons with a reset link.

Staff client

[17748] Show due date in item search results
Items that are checked out will now have their due date shown in a new ‘Due date’ column in Item search results.

[20398] Add a system preference to disable search result highlighting in the staff interface
The new StaffHighlightWords system preference can be turned on to highlight search terms or off to not highlight them in the staff interface.

[21225] Add Syndetics cover images to staff client

[30081] Display item type in patron’s holds table
This enhancement adds an ‘Item type’ column to the holds table in patrons’ accounts. The item type shown is based on the specific item (rather than the bib), so it will show for any filled holds and for any item-level holds. It will not show for bib-level holds that aren’t yet filled.

More 22.05:
Koha 22.05: Upgrades Hub