Koha 23.05: Circulation, Fines and fees, & Hold requests

by Catrina Berka on Nov 27, 2023

Circulation Enhancements

[25856] - Suspended holds should be styled differently on request.pl

Some records may have many holds on them. With this feature, libraries can customize the holds tab to make it more obvious that a hold is suspended. By adding this little bit of CSS into the system preference, IntranetUserCSS, you can change the color of suspended holds to red, for example:

.suspend > td {

color: red;

}

Libraries can customize the CSS to include a background color or other visual elements to make the suspended holds more visible. To see some basic CSS text options, check out https://htmlcheatsheet.com/css

[31557] - Add ability for holds queue builder to prioritize either matching a patron’s home library to the item’s home or holding library

This enhancement gives libraries greater flexibility with how their holds queue prioritizes matching available holds. Prior to this update, the holds queue builder first looked for items with matching patron and item home libraries. Now, libraries have the ability to select the item’s home or holding library, potentially minimizing transfers for libraries whose collections float.

A new system preference, HoldsQueuePrioritizeBranch, can be set to either home library (homebranch) or holding library (holdingbranch). At upgrade, this system preference will be set to homebranch, preserving existing behavior. For libraries whose collections float, they will want to set this system preference to holdingbranch to minimize transfers.

To illustrate, imagine that I have two branches and items:

Item 1 with homebranch=A, holdingbranch=B

Item 2 with homebranch=B, holdingbranch=A

My patron’s home library is branch A.

Prior to this enhancement, Koha would target item 1 to fill the patron’s hold because they share home branch A, even though filling it would require a transfer from library B to library A.

If HoldsQueuePrioritizeBranch is set to home library (homebranch), then the hold will still show on library B’s holds queue to fill the hold with item 1 for the same logic used above.

However, if HoldsQueuePrioritizeBranch is set to holding library (holdingbranch), then the hold will show on library A’s holds queue to fill the hold with item 2.

Please note that the LocalHoldsPriority system preferences still apply. When building the holds queue, Koha first checks LocalHoldsPriority. However, because this system preference gives matching patrons the ability to potentially “jump” other waiting patrons in priority, many of our libraries don’t enable it. After checking LocalHoldsPriority, Koha will next look at HoldsQueuePrioritizeBranch to decide how to fill the waiting holds. It will not skip or jump any waiting patrons.

Fines and fees Enhancements

[32450] - Make it possible to exclude debit types from charges counted for circulation restriction (noissuecharge)

Prior to this enhancement, libraries had four system preferences to manipulate in deciding whether a patron should be restricted from checkouts. Three of those system preferences have been eliminated: ManInvInNoissuesCharge, RentalsInNoissuesCharge, and HoldsInNoissuesCharge. The system preference, noissuescharge remains. Now, libraries can specify by charge type in Administration > Accounting: Debit types whether to include the charge type in the amount considered in noissuescharge for patron restrictions.

Rather than including all manual invoices, rentals, or holds, libraries have greater flexibility to define by the charge type whether it should be included towards the total.

[32977] Add call number column to list of charges on transactions tab in patron account

The call number column already exists on the “Make a payment” tab of the patron accounting page, but now it is also visible as its own column on the “Transactions” tab. This helps staff quickly see which section a missing item might be shelved at. With permissions, you can configure to hide the column by default in Administration > Additional parameters: Table settings > Patrons > Page: fines > Table id: account-fines.

Hold requests Enhancements

[32421] - Add collection ( ccode ) column to holds to pull

When using holds to pull in Circulation, you will now also have the option to select “Available collections” as a column in your results table. Collection already exists as a column in the holds queue. This feature has been backported to 22.11, so you don’t need to wait for the upgrade to see this active on your existing site.