.. include:: images.rst
+.. _faqs-label:
+
FAQs
====
.. _custom-item-type/authorized-value-icons-label:
-Custom item type/Authorized value icons
+Custom item type/authorized value icons
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
**Question:** Can I have my own set of item type images (or authorized
value icons)?
-**Answer:**\ Absolutely. To add additional icons to your system you
+**Answer:** Absolutely. To add additional icons to your system you
simply add a new directory to
koha-tmpl/intranet-tmpl/prog/img/itemtypeimg/ and to
-koha-tmpl/opac-tmpl/prog/itemtypeimg and put your icons in the new
+koha-tmpl/opac-tmpl/bootstrap/itemtypeimg and put your icons in the new
directory. Your icons will show up in a new tab as soon as they are in
the folders.
- :ref:`DisplayOPACiconsXSLT` = show
-The OPAC Results page shows:
+The OPAC results page shows:
- 245
- 856
-The OPAC Details page shows:
+The OPAC details page shows:
- 245
- 785
-- plus all of the 5xx fields in the Notes tab at the bottom
-
-.. _subtitle-display-on-bib-records-label:
-
-Subtitle display on bibliographic records
-~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-
-**Question**: How do I get the subtitle to display on the detail pages
-for my bib records?
-
-**Answer**: Subtitle display now depends on there being a :ref:`keyword
-mapping <keywords-to-marc-mapping-label>` for the MARC field in question. Adding a
-mapping for "subtitle" -> "245b" for an item's framework results in
-display of the subtitle in OPAC and staff client search and detail pages
-(although not in all instances where subtitles might be displayed, e.g.
-the Cart).
+- plus all of the 5xx fields in the 'Notes' tab at the bottom
.. _show-patrons-the-barcodes-of-items-they-have-checked-out-label:
Book drop date
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-**Question**: How is the book drop date is determined? Is it the last
-open date for the checkout branch? Is it today's date minus one? Can the
+**Question**: How is the book drop date determined? Is it the last
+open date for the checkout library? Is it today's date minus one? Can the
book drop checkin date be set?
**Answer**: If the library is closed for four days for renovations, for
example, there would be more than one day needed for the book drop date.
You will only have one book drop date and that will be the last day that
-the library open (determined by the holiday calendar) because there is
+the library was open (determined by the holiday calendar) because there is
no real way to know what day the books were dropped into the box during
-the 4 closed days. The only way to change the effective checkin date in
-book drop mode is to modify the calendar.
+the 4 closed days.
+
+If you need to set a different checkin date, you can use
+the :ref:`SpecifyReturnDate` system preference. This will allow you to
+set an arbitrary date and any overdue fines will be recalculated
+accordingly.
.. _holds-to-pull-and-holds-queue-label:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
**Question**: What is the difference between the :ref:`Holds
-Queue <holds-queue-label>` and :ref:`Holds to Pull <holds-to-pull-label>`?
+queue <holds-queue-label>` and :ref:`Holds to pull <holds-to-pull-label>`
+reports?
**Answer**: The holds to pull report gives a simple list of what holds
-need to be filled with available items. It should only be used in Koha
-installations where there is only one library.
-
-The holds queue tries to do the same thing, but in a 'smarter' way. This
-allows it to split up the list by library, consult the :ref:`transport cost
-matrix <transport-cost-matrix-label>` and refresh regularly to provide
-different pull lists to each library.
-
-.. _duplicate-overdue-notices-label:
-
-Duplicate overdue notices
-~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-
-**Question**: Why are patrons getting two overdue notices?
-
-**Answer**: This tool takes all branches in the overdue rules and sent
-notifications to them. So, if you have a default rule & a branch rule,
-the notification will be generated twice. A quick fix is to discard
-"default rule" for instance.
+need to be filled with available items. It shows the 'live' data of your
+database, so new holds will turn up there immediately.
+It shows information about each hold including all libraries where items of
+the requested title are available.
+
+The holds queue report is divided by libraries and will list the hold only
+for one library where it is available. For libraries with lots of holds and
+multiple branches this will prevent multiple libraries pulling the item
+off the shelf at the same time.
+
+The holds queue report is generated by the :ref:`build_holds_queue.pl <holds-queue-label>`
+cron job. By default it runs hourly, but it might be changed to run at any other
+interval. There are various configuration options to determine the library
+to provide the item. For example:
+
+- :ref:`Library transfer limits <library-transfer-limits-label>`
+- :ref:`Transport cost matrix <transport-cost-matrix-label>`
+- :ref:`StaticHoldsQueueWeight`, :ref:`HoldsQueueSkipClosed`, and
+ :ref:`RandomizeHoldsQueueWeight` system preferences
.. _printing-overdue-notices-label:
**Question**: Can I print overdue notices for patrons without email
addresses on file?
-**Answer**: Yes. The :ref:`overdue notice cron job <overdue-notice-label>`
+**Answer**: Yes. By default Koha will email all overdue notices to
+patrons without email address to the library.
+
+Additionally the :ref:`overdue notice cron job <overdue-notice-label>`
has a setting to generate the overdue notices as HTML for printing. An
example of this usage would be:
::
-
overdue_notices.pl -t -html /tmp/noticedir -itemscontent issuedate,date_due,title,barcode,author
In this example, we wanted to use only certain item fields in our
The command line needs to specify a web-accessible directory where the
print notices will go -- they get a filename like
-notices-2009-11-24.html (or holdnotices-2009-11-24.html). The overdue
+notices-2018-11-24.html (or holdnotices-2018-11-24.html). The overdue
notice itself can be formatted to fit a Z-mailer. Within the notice
file, the text is spaced down or over to where it will print properly on
the form. The script has code that wraps around the notice file to tell
the HTML to obey the formatting, and to do a page break between notices.
-That's so that when staff print it out, they get one per page. We had to
-add an extra syspref (:ref:`PrintNoticesMaxLines`)
-to specify page length because our client allows a \_lot\_ of checkouts
-which meant some notices were running onto multiple pages. That syspref
+The system preference :ref:`PrintNoticesMaxLines` can be used to specify
+the page length for libraries that allow a lot of checkouts which can lead
+to some notices running onto multiple pages. That system preference
says to truncate the print notice at that page length and put in a
message about go check your OPAC account for the full list.
"renewal failed". Any idea what's going on here?
**Answer**: At the very least you will need to set an absolute :ref:`default
-circulation rule <circulation-and-fine-rules-label>`. This rule should be set for the
-default itemtype, default branchcode and default patron category. That
-will catch anyone who doesn't match a specific rule. Patrons who do not
+circulation rule <circulation-and-fine-rules-label>`. This rule should be as
+standard rule for all libraries, 'All' itemtype', and 'All' patron category.
+That will catch anyone who doesn't match a specific rule. Patrons who do not
match a specific rule will get blocked from placing holds or renewing
items, since there was no baseline number of holds or renewals to
utilize.
turned on.
**Answer**: You probably need to set a default circulation rule. At the
-very least you will need to set an default circulation rule. This rule
-should be set for all item types, all branches and all patron
-categories. That will catch all instances that do not match a specific
-rule. When checking out if you do not have a rule for the default
-branch, default item and default patron category then you may see
-patrons getting blocked from placing holds.
+very least you will need to set a default circulation rule. his rule should be as
+standard rule for all libraries, 'All' itemtype', and 'All' patron category.
+That will catch all instances that do not match a specific
+rule.
.. _keyboard-shortcuts-label:
Keyboard shortcuts
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-**Question**: Do I have to use my mouse to access the checkout, checkin
-and cataloging tabs at the top of the circulation pages?
+**Question**: Do I have to use my mouse to access the checkout, checkin,
+renewal and catalog tabs at the top of the circulation pages?
**Answer**: You can jump between the tabs on the quick search box at the
top of the screen by using the following hot keys (if the tab is
available):
-- jump to the catalog search with Alt+Q
+- jump to the catalog search with Alt+q
-- jump to the checkout with Alt+U
+- jump to the checkout with Alt+u
- this will not work for Mac user
-- jump to the checkin with Alt+R
+- jump to the renewal tab with Alt+w
+
+- jump to the checkin with Alt+r
**Note**
- Mac users use the OPTION button in place of ALT
+ Mac users use the OPTION button in place of Alt
.. _sms-notices/messages-label:
-SMS notices/Messages
+SMS notices/messages
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
**Question**: I want Koha to send notices via SMS, what do I need to do?
- Clickatell
+Alternatively you can configure Koha to send SMS via Email. In order
+to use this feature you need to set the ::ref::`SMSSendDriver` system
+preference to 'Email' and confiugre the email gateways for the different
+:ref:`SMS cellular providers <sms-cellular-providers-label>` of your patrons.
+
+In any case you might want to check if sending SMS to your patrons is
+legal in your location.
+
**Question**: What about in India?
**Answer**: India does not yet have too many options here. This is
partly due to the Telecom regulatory authority's (TRAI) stipulations
about transactional SMSes and limits on the number of SMSes that may be
-sent / received per users per day. India specific drivers include:
+sent/received per users per day. India specific drivers include:
- Unicel Technologies Pvt Ltd (`unicel.in <http://unicel.in>`__)
Authority fields
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-**Question:**\ Why can't I edit 1xx, 6xx, or 7xx fields in my catalog
+**Question:** Why can't I edit 1xx, 6xx, or 7xx fields in my catalog
record?
**Answer:** These fields are authority controlled and you probably have
Fields affected by this preference will show a lock symbol in them
+If you don't want to create authorities for your reacords at all, you can
+remove the authority link by removing the Thesaurus setting for the fields
+in your MARC bibliographic frameworks.
+
|image1115|
.. _faq-koha-to-marc-mapping-label:
Koha to MARC mapping
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-**Question**: What's the relationship between 'Koha to MARC Mapping' and
-'MARC Bibliographic Frameworks'?
+**Question**: What's the relationship between 'Koha to MARC mapping' and
+'MARC bibliographic frameworks'?
-**Answer**: Mapping can be defined through 'MARC Bibliographic
-Frameworks' OR 'Koha to MARC Mapping'. 'Koha to MARC Mapping' is just a
+**Answer**: Mappings can be defined through 'MARC bibliographic
+frameworks' OR 'Koha to MARC mapping'. 'Koha to MARC mapping' is just a
shortcut to speed up linkage. If you change a mapping in one of these
-modules, the mapping will change in the other as well. (In other words,
+modules, the mapping will change in the other as well. In other words,
the two modules 'overwrite' each other in order to prevent conflicts
-from existing in Koha).
+from existing in Koha.
.. _number-of-items-per-bib-record-label:
**Question**: Is there a limit on the number of items I can attach to a
bib record?
-**Answer**: There is no explicit limit to the number of items you can
-attach to a bibliographic record, but if you attach enough of them, your
-MARC record will exceed the maximum file size limit for the ISO 2709
-standard, which breaks indexing for that record. I've found this occurs
-somewhere between 600 and 1000 items on a 'normal' bibliographic record.
+**Answer**: There is no limit to the number of items you can
+attach to a bibliographic record. For records with a big number of items
+exporting the MARC record as ISO 2709 might be problematic as this format
+has a size limit. Item numbers somewhere between 600 and 1000 items on a
+'normal' bibliographic record should be ok.
.. _analytics-label:
**Question**: I am using the
:ref:`EasyAnalyticalRecords` feature, but my links
-in the OPAC and Staff Client to 'Show Analytics' are not working.
+in the OPAC and Staff client to 'Show analytics' are not working.
**Answer**: If you plan on using
:ref:`EasyAnalyticalRecords` you will want to make
- > 10 years
-The list is meant to represent when the books acquired where published.
-Then you plan for it, saying: we went to spend at list 40% of our
+The list is meant to represent when the books acquired were published.
+Then you plan for it, saying: we want to spend at least 40% of our
budgets on books published less than a year ago, 10% on books more than
10 years old, etc.
Upon acquiring new material, you'll be able to select, for a given item,
a value from this list in a drop down. Then, after the material has been
acquired, at the end of the year, you'll be able to compare the goals
-set, with what's been achieved.
+set with what's been achieved.
.. _serials-label:
- Add : 1
-- once every : 12
+- Every : 12
-- When more than 9999999
+- When more than: 9999999
-- inner counter : 3
+- Inner counter: 3
-- Set back to 0
+- Set back to: 0
-- Begins with 2010
+- Begins with: 2010
Year is going to change after 12 received issues from April 2010, that
is in April 2011 if you don't set inner counter. Set inner counter to 3
-will say to Koha : change year after 12-3 = 9 received issues.
+will say to Koha: change year after 12-3 = 9 received issues.
Inner counter says to Koha to take into account the first issues of the
year, even if they are not received with Koha. If you begin with first
.. _define-codes-stored-in-db-label:
-Define codes stored in database
+Codes stored in the database
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
.. _fines-table-label:
Statistics table
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
-**Question:**\ What are the possible codes for the type field in the
+**Question:** What are the possible codes for the type field in the
statistics table?
**Answer:**
- NULL: means the patron requested the 1st available, and we haven't
chosen the item
-- T = Transit: the reserve is linked to an item but is in transit to
- the pickup branch
+- T = Transit: the hold is linked to an item but is in transit to
+ the pickup library
-- W = Waiting: the reserve is linked to an item, is at the pickup
- branch, and is waiting on the hold shelf
+- W = Waiting: the hold is linked to an item, is at the pickup
+ library, and is waiting on the hold shelf
- F = Finished: the reserve has been completed, and is done
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
**Question**: What are the possible codes for the privacy field in the
-borrowers table?
+borrowers and deleted_borrowers tables?
**Answer**:
**Question**: Is there a way to filter my custom SQL reports before they
run?
-**Answer**: If you feel that your report might be too resource intensive
-you might want to consider using runtime parameters to your query.
+**Answer**: If you want to make your reports easy to reuse with different
+filters and date ranges, you can add runtime parameters to your query.
Runtime parameters basically make a filter appear before the report is
-run to save your system resources.
+run.
There is a specific syntax that Koha will understand as 'ask for values
when running the report'. The syntax is <<Question to
-ask\|authorized\_value>>.
+ask\[|type]>>.
- The << and >> are just delimiters. You must put << at the beginning
and >> at the end of your parameter
-- The 'Question to ask' will be displayed on the left of the string to
- enter.
+- The 'Question to ask' will be displayed as a label before the form
+ field.
+
+- The type can be omitted if you want a free text input field. If it
+ contains an authorized value category, 'branches' (libraries), 'itemtype'
+ (itemtypes), 'categorycode' (patron categories), or 'biblio\_framework'
+ (MARC bibliographic frameworks), a pull down will be displayed
+ with the options from your configuration instead of a free text field.
+
+- When using 'date' as type, the date picker will be displayed to help
+ with entering dates. The date will be automatically changed to the ISO
+ date needed for the SQL query, while you can enter it according to your
+ :ref:`DateFormat` system preference setting.
+
+- Note that you can
+ have more than one parameter in one SQL query. If you need the same value
+ multiple times in your SQL query, make sure you use the same label. This
+ will make the form field only appear once.
-- The authorized\_value can be omitted if not applicable. If it
- contains an authorized value category, or branches or itemtype or
- categorycode or biblio\_framework, a list with the Koha authorized
- values will be displayed instead of a free field Note that you can
- have more than one parameter in a given SQL Note that entering
+- Note that entering
nothing at run time won't probably work as you expect. It will be
considered as "value empty" not as "ignore this parameter". For
example entering nothing for : "title=<<Enter title>>" will display
patron surname (% if none)>>
- SELECT \* FROM items WHERE homebranch = <<Pick your
- branch\|branches>> and barcode like <<Partial barcode value here>>
+ branch\|branches>> and barcode like <<Partial barcode value here, use
+ % to truncate>>
-- SELECT title , author FROM biblio WHERE frameworkcode=<<Enter the
+- SELECT title, author FROM biblio WHERE frameworkcode=<<Enter the
frameworkcode\|biblio\_framework>>
- **Note**
-
- To generate a date picker calendar to the right of the field when
- running a report you can use the 'date' keyword like this: <<Enter
- Date\|date>>
-
|image1116|
**Note**
- You have to put "%" in a text box to 'leave it blank'. Otherwise, it
- literally looks for "" (empty string) as the value for the field.
-
- **Important**
-
- In addition to using any authorized value code to generate a
- dropdown, you can use the following values as well: Framework codes
- (biblio\_framework), Branches (branches), Item Types (itemtypes) and
- Patron Categories (categorycode). For example a branch pull down
- would be generated like this <<Branch\|branches>>
+ You have to use 'like' in your SQL query and put "%" in a text box
+ to 'leave it blank'. Otherwise, it literally looks for "" (empty string)
+ as the value for the field.
|image1117|
-.. _results-limited-label:
-
-Results limited
-~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-
-**Question**: When I download my report it's limited to 10,000 results,
-how do I get all of the results to download?
-
-**Answer**: There is a limit of 10,000 records put on SQL statements
-entered in Koha. To get around this you want to add 'LIMIT 100000' to
-the end of your SQL statement (or any other number above 10,000.
-
.. _searching-label:
Searching
**Answer**: When you choose an index, enter a term, click 'scan indexes'
and do the search, Koha displays the searched term and the following
-terms found in this index with the number of corresponding records That
-is search is not made directly in the catalog, but first in the indexes
-It works only for one index at once, and only with no limit in Location
-(All libraries needed)
+terms found in this index with the number of corresponding records. That
+search is not made directly in the catalog, but first in the indexes.
+It works only for one index at once, and only with no limit on library or
+library group (All libraries needed).
.. _searching-for-terms-that-start-with-a-character-label:
depending on what is your database.
The bottom line in searching with wildcards: '\*' is more exact while
-'%' searches for like terms.
+'%' searches for similar terms.
.. _title-searching-label:
**Question**: Why does my Zebra title search for 'Help' not turn up 'The
help' in the first pages of results?
-**Answer**: When doing a title search, you actually want to search for
-the title (i.e., 'the help' rather than just 'help'), and it will bubble
-right up to the top. If you're just searching for 'help' then the
-relevance ranking is going to affect the results you see.
-
-When it comes to relevance in Zebra, here's what's happening. First, the
-search is done. If you search for the title "help", then any title that
-has "help" in it comes back. Then from those records, separately, it
-does relevance on the \*whole\* record. The more your word appears, the
-more relevant, and some MARC tags are worth more points than others. So
-a self-help book with 505 notes where "help" appears a \*lot\* will be
-at the top, regardless of keyword or title.
-
-But when you add a \*second word\*, that helps it figure things out, as
-it's weighing the relevance of both words and the phrase. Because of the
-way relevance works, if you search "the help", then "the help" or "the
-help I need" are more relevant than "the way to help", because they
-appear together in order. Likewise, "help the girl" would be lower
-relevance, because it's out of order, and "help for the homeless" would
-be lower still, as they're out of order, and apart.
-
-The moral of the story is that single word searches, particularly on
-common words, will always struggle a bit; it can't evaluate relevance
-well, because you've not given it enough input.
+**Answer**: In general, the more terms you enter, the better your results will
+be. Koha doesn't use stop words, so searching for "the" and "an" will work
+just fine. So "the help" shoudl bring better results than just a title search
+for help. Also using "Title, phrase" would further improve the results as it
+means that these terms have to appear in this sequence and with no other
+terms in between.
+
+Some system preferences are known to affect relevancy ranking negatively.
+These are :ref:`QueryAutoTruncate`and :ref:`UseICU`. With the latter also
+requiring the server setup to actually use ICU for indexing.
+
+Note: If multiple results have the same relevancy score, they will be
+sorted by biblionumber as second criteria.
.. _reset-the-zebra-index-label:
Enhanced content
------------------------------------------
-.. _frbrizing-content-label:
-
-FRBRizing content
-~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-
-**Question:**\ At our public library we are running a Koha installation
-and we've tried to turn on all the nice functionalities in Koha such as
-the frbrising tool, but do not get the same result as Nelsonville public
-library.
-
-**Answer:**\ In fact, this feature is quite tricky to make that right.
-First it looks at XISBN service. And then search in your database for
-that ISBN. So both XISBN and your internal ISBN (in biblio table) have
-to be normalized. You could therefore use the script
-misc/batchupdateISBNs.pl (it removes all the - in your local ISBNs)
-
.. _faq-amazon-label:
Amazon
.. _system-administration-label:
-System administration
+Server administration
--------------------------------------
.. _errors-in-zebra-cron-label:
Making Z39.50 target public
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-**Question**: Could someone tell me the exact steps I need to take to
-configure Zebra to expose my Koha 3 db as a public Z39.50 service?
+**Question**: How can I configure Zebra to make my database searchable
+via Z39.50?
**Answer**: Edit the KOHA\_CONF file that your Koha is using. Uncomment
the publicserver line like:
**Question**: When editing an item, the new shelving location I created
is not showing up by default in the items where I assigned it to.
-**Answer**: This is because you created the new shelving location with a
-code value of 0 (zero) Just FYI the system interprets authorized values
-of 0 as equaling a null so when you edit a record in cataloging where
-the authorized value in a field was assigned where the code was 0, the
-value displays as null in the item editor (or MARC editor) instead of
-the value the library meant it to be.
+**Answer**: One possible reason is that you created the location
+in the LOC authorized value category with the code '' or 0 (zero). This
+will be treated as 'no location' and not display correctly.
.. _why-do-i-need-authorized-values?-label:
sessions from the table? We don't want to backup all the useless session
data every night.
-**Answer**: You can run :ref:`cleanup database cron job <clean-up-database-label>`.
+**Answer**: You can regularly run the :ref:`cleanup database cron job <clean-up-database-label>`.
Or just before doing a backup command (mysqldump), you can truncate
session table:
**Question**: What barcode scanners have been known to work with Koha?
-**Answer**: The simple rule of thumb is, does it act like a keyboard
-device?, if so, it will work. (i.e. can you take the scanner, scan a
-barcode and have it show up in a text editor, if so, it will work.)
+**Answer**: The simple rule of thumb is: does it act like a keyboard
+device? If so, it will work. (i.e. can you take the scanner, scan a
+barcode and have it show up in a text editor.)
The main points to check are that it connects to your PC conveniently
(can be USB or "keyboard wedge" which means it connects in line with the
Printers used by Koha libraries
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
+General rule of thumb here is that if you can print with the printer
+from your browser, it will work with Koha.
+
- POS-X receipt printer
- Star Micronics printer (exact model unknown) with a generic/plain
Braille support
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
-**Question**: Are there any braille embosser or printer which has
-inbuilt braille converter and it is accessible with UNIX environment?
+**Question**: Are there any braille embossers or printers which have
+inbuilt braille converters and are accessible within the UNIX environment?
**Answer**: You may want to look into BRLTTY
(http://www.emptech.info/product_details.php?ID=1232).
.. _additional-support-label:
-Additional support
+Additional information
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
- http://www.nexpresslibrary.org/go-live/configure-your-receipt-printers/
projects / kohadocs.git / commitdiff