Koha Upgrades
Q&A from 18.11 Upgrade Webinars
by Kelly McElligott on May 6, 2019
[7534] New OPACAllowUserToChooseBranch setting for only showing libraries allowing holds
Q: Are customers able to change their pick-up location after the Hold is placed and processed by staff?
A: No, customers are not able to change their pickup location or suspend or cancel their hold once the hold is waiting on the hold shelf.
Q: Going back to customer "Holds", currently if a customer cancels a Hold while on the Hold shelf, the canceled Hold does not appear?
A: As of Koha 17.11, patrons should no longer be able to cancel holds that are already on the hold shelf. This was fixed in Bug 18856. If your patrons are still able to cancel waiting holds, please submit a ticket.
Q: If you turn off the hold pickup at a certain branch, is it visible on the staff side or is it hidden there too?
A: This branch will also not appear on the staff side if it has been set to "no' as a pickup location in the Admin section.
[17602] Integrate support for RecordedBooks (formerly OneClickDigital) API
Q: What Ebook Vendors is there currently integration into Koha with?
A: Recorded Books formerly OneClickDigital, CloudLibrary (3M) and Overdrive.
Here are the blog posts for how each of these integrations works:
Q: With this integration work for a consortium- some who have Recorded Books and some that don't?
A: The system preference that enables RecordedBooks content in the OPAC will make it visible to all patrons within the consortium, but only patrons who have a valid RecordedBooks account will actually be able to check RecordedBooks content out. If requested, we could hide the RecordedBooks elements from the OPAC for some patron types.
Q: Does e-content results appear in Staff Client?
A: No, this e-content will only be visible on the OPAC. However, some libraries import MARC records for their e-content instead of or in addition to this integration and those records would be visible in the staff client.
Q: How do we get the integration for OverDrive and Recorded Books?
A: There is some information needed from your Overdrive or Recorded Book vendor in order to set up the system preferences- see the blog posts linked above for more information.
Q: Does the integration work with RBDigital magazines?
A: At this time, only books and audiobooks are included in this API.
Q: Does it work with Hoopla too?
A: Koha does not Integrate with Hoopla in this way.
Q: The summary of the RecordedBooks is currently not working.
A: Currently, the Recorded book functionality is there, but the display on the Recorded Book tab is not working. The patron can check out items and place holds, but their account summary will not display. Here is this bug: [22010].
Q: Do we have a timeline to know when the search integration for Overdrive, etc will be more seamless? As in, not having to click the link to see the results?
A: At this time, this functionality is waiting for ElasticSearch. The bug in the community for this is [18514].
[11897] Stock Rotation for Koha
Q: Is Stock Rotation only used for Branch to Branch transfers? Or can it be used for Area to Area (i.e., New Book area to Reference area)?
A: Yes, Stock rotation is for Branch to Branch transfers. There is a tool currently in Koha for Area to Area transfers, Automatic Item Modification Tool.
Q: Rather than daily, can the cron job be set to run on, let's say, the first of each month?
A: Yes, though you could also accomplish monthly changes by setting the stages of your rota to be monthly.
Q: Are checked out items forcibly moved or do they remain at the location they're checked out at?
A: Checked out items are removed from the rota and go back into it when returned. In other words, an item's time at a given branch does not continue to elapse while the item is checked out.
Q: In your example, how does the Main Branch know which titles to move after 2 days? How are they alerted?
A: Right now, via the reports we have available.
Q: This question is probably outside of the scope of this discussion, but I'm curious as to where the rotation data is stored in the database? That's something that can be answered in a later webinar rather than the overview today.
A: In three tables, stockrotationrotas, stockrotationstages, and stockrotationitems.
Q: Is there a way to 'hide' a branch location from the OPAC but still visible from the staff side? If so, we might be able to use the stock rotation internally by creating a 'storage' branch location?
A: Yes, you can absolutely hide a branch from the OPAC- using OPAChiddenItems system preference. Yes, if you created a new branch for storage, this new feature, stock rotation could be used.
[19191] Add the ability to email receipts for account payments and write-offs
Q: Is this a digest-able email or is it sent for each line item?
A: These emails are per payment or per writeoff.
Q: Will this system preference be defaulted "On" or "Off"?
A: Email receipts will default to off.
Q: Since these new notices are only available in Template Toolkit, will all notices be updated to use this?
A: The broad plan is to transition all notices to template toolkit, and most notices already can use it, but don't worry about being forced to change to template toolkit any time soon.
Q: Are e-mails sent when a patron pays through a SIP enabled system like a biblioteca self-check machine?
A: Yes, emails will be sent if a payment is made through a SIP enabled system.
[19039] Results of virtual shelves (lists) not sortable by date added
Q: So that is date added to the list, not acquisition date?
A: Yes, the date that it is using is the date that the item was added to the list.
Q: When the Lists button is clicked once in Koha, is it possible to customize that list? (like toggle on/off what gets featured)?
A: At this time, that is not possible- but a great suggestion. I have created a bug for this [22861].
Q: Could Lists be sortable?
A: There is already a bug for this enhancement in the Koha community [18148].
[18236] MARC21: Add classes to material type icons on intranet result lists and detail pages.
Q: The icons for DVD, Magazines, Book etc, is it possible to customize the icons using CSS ? Or will it just be standardized once released?
A: Item Type icons can be customized through the Administration module. There is a variety of icons displayed that a library can choose from, or a library can use their own images, which would need to be uploaded. For material type icons, the hope would be to move to Font Awesome type icons, which would work better for these purposes.
[14222] Sort holds in OPAC by priority
Q: Can the [hold] priorities be changed?
A: From the OPAC, no, the patron can not change their hold priority. If the library allows for a patron to suspend a hod, this is the best alternative for this. Staff can change the hold priorities if they have the permissions to do so.
[18821] TrackLastPatronActivity is a performance killer
Q: Can a report be written for this?
A:
SELECT CONCAT('<a href=\"/cgi-bin/koha/members/moremember.pl?borrowernumber=', borrowernumber, '\">', borrowernumber, '</a>' ) AS borrowernumber,
cardnumber,
concat(surname,', ',firstname) as name,
lastseen
FROM borrowers
WHERE (date(lastseen)<=date_sub(curdate(), interval 1 month) or lastseen is null)
order by lastseen
Q: Will this track if SIP has accessed an account to verify a patron, eg- OVERDRIVE?
A: Yes.
[21755] Show patron updated date in circ menu- in agenda
Q: Does the "Change password" button change the patron's updated date?
A: Yes it does.
[11897] Stock Rotation for Koha- in agenda
Q: What's the difference between cyclical and non-cyclical?
A: If a stock rotation is named cyclical, it will go through the cycles and continue back around. For example - Main Branch 25 days then South Branch for 25 days- it would then go back to Main for 25 days. Non-cyclical would stop at the last branch in the rotation instead of going back to the beginning.
[15494] Block renewals by arbitrary item values
Q: If you set up these ItemsDeniedRenewals, will these override the circ rules you have set up?
A: Yes, it will.
Q: Can you demonstrate the ability (or not) to override a renewal blocked by the new setting based on collection code?
A: If your library has the ability to override renewal blocks, it was found that this did not work with this system preference. Andrew created a bug for this: [22866].
Q: Is there a way to do if/else logic with items denied renewal? For example, If branch=A and CCODE=BOARDBOOK.
A: No.
Q: Will that “denied by syspref” wording also be viewable to patrons on the OPAC when they try to renew?
A: They will see that a renewal is not available.
[18639] Separate replacement cost and retail price fields in acquisitions
Q: Can we have the SQL for that report?
A:
select title, aqorders.ecost as 'aqorders.ecost', aqorders.replacementprice as 'aqorders.replacementprice', items.price as 'items.price', items.replacementprice as'items.replacementprice' from aqorders left join biblio using (biblionumber) left join items using (biblionumber) where ecost>0 and aqorders.replacementprice>0 and price>0 and items.replacementprice>0
[19349] Allow to store biblio record’s creator and last modifier in MARC
Q: Will this marc field show up on the OPAC?
A: This depends on how your library's framework is set up, but it can be set to not show on the OPAC through the framework if it is showing up.
Comment: The name being stored in the record after editing makes me want to change my name in Koha to WonderWoman or similar...:)
[15836] Labels: Offer configuration option for splitting call numbers
Q: If we pick "RegEx," will is still sort the same way as, e.g., LCC?
A: Koha will still sort the correct schema way, currently there is no custom sorting rules.
[20819] GDPR: Add a consent field for processing personal data in account menu and self-registration
Q: Can the wording be adjusted on the acceptance page?
A: Yes, this could be changed with JavaScript.
Q:Does one have to agree each time they log in?
A: No, this is a one time agreement.
Q: Hello! If a patron accepts the policy today and a change to the policy happens in three months, is there a way to make them re-accept it?
A: The data that the patron accepted this lives in the Patron_Consent table, this value could be cleared, however, this would be a database level change, not something that can be done through the staff client.
[21896] Add Koha::Account::reconcile_balance
Q: Is there a plan to adjust the “apply credits” reconciliation to have it only apply to selected debits?
A: There is a bug currently in the Koha Community [21916].
[15520] Add more granular permission for only editing own library’s circ rules
Q: Is the editing limited to editing the rules at the library you're logged in at or at the user's home library?
A: The library you are logged in at.
[20703] Add the ability to void any credit
Q: Are patrons able to see when you void a payment on their online account?
A: Yes, patrons can see a void on the OPAC.
Q: Can patron's fine be reinstated if voided by accident?
A: No, once a void is created, there is no undo for this.
[19469] Add ability to split view of holds view on record by pickup library and/or itemtype
Q: Will this work to help patron's choose which item to place a hold on when we have LP and regular copies so they'll get it faster?
A: This is a display for the staff client not for the OPAC. Also, your Large Print books would need to be on the same biblio record as your Regular Copies for this display to be constructed this way.
[19524] Share patron lists between staff
[19263] Advanced Editor – Rancor – Add auto control number (001) widget
Q: If you set up the 001 Control number sequence feature, will it replace a control number already existing in a MARC that you import?
A: No, it will not automatically replace the 001 field. The 001 field is not repeatable so you would need to first delete this field, and then add one, so it would need to be a manual change done by the library.
Q: Is list shared with patrons, staff, or both?
A: This can just be shared with staff.
[20078] Indexes ‘arl’ (Accelerated reading level) and ‘arp’ (Accelerated reading point) not usable in search menus
Q: Can we have the javascript to include these searches in our advanced search drop down?
A: This code would be added to the OPACuserJS system preference to display on the OPAC:
$(document).ready(function(){
// Add Accelerated Reading Level to advanced search
if (window.location.href.indexOf("opac-search.pl") > -1) {
$("select[id^='search-field_']").append('Accelerated Reading Level');
}
// Add Accelerated Reading Point to advanced search
if (window.location.href.indexOf("opac-search.pl") > -1) {
$("select[id^='search-field_']").append('Accelerated Reading Point');
}
});
This code would be added to the IntranetUSERJS system preference (so these would appear on the staff client in the advanced search):
$(document).ready(function(){
// Add Accelerated Reading Level to advanced search
if (window.location.href.indexOf("catalogue/search.pl") > -1) {
$("select.advsearch").append('Accelerated Reading Level');
}
// Add Accelerated Reading Point to advanced search
if (window.location.href.indexOf("catalogue/search.pl") > -1) {
$("select.advsearch").append('Accelerated Reading Point');
}
});
Additional Questions
Q: Is Elasticsearch coming in 18.11, or is it still in the future?
A: ElasticSearch is not ready for 18.11, Bywater is working with a partner that is testing this functionality and it is getting modified and adjusted currently. It hasn't been decided when ElasticSearch will be released into Koha.
Q: Is there a separate page for mobile devices? The regular web page isn't very friendly for small screens.
A: Koha is mobile responsive. If you are experiencing issues with your display on a mobile device, please submit a ticket and we would be happy to help you.
Q: Is there a blog post concerning collection code and the new and upcoming uses for collection code?
A: Not yet, but great idea. We will add it to our list to create!
Q: Is there possibly a legend key or something that might tell us which bugs/updates require syspref entries (esp. which updates need turning on?)
A: Here is a link to the Upgrade Note page which lists most of the enhancements in 18.11, however, the master document from the Koha Community would be best for this. Also, a master list of new system preferences is also located on both these documents.
Q: Can you please add the stats to the 18.11 chat?
A: In the Koha release of 18.11.00, there were 27 new system preferences added, 16 new features, 235 enhancements, and 432 bugfixes!
Q: Schema and Tables- what do we need to know as far as changes?
A: 18.11 Schema page has a new look! There are new tables introduced in 18.11.
Q: Do we know which type of reports will need to be rewritten because of changes to tables and new fields?
A: Table structures aren’t changing, there are just additions to the databases.
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