What’s new
This section highlights new features and enhancements in the latest Koha releases.
This section is updated as the manual is updated. Therefore, it may not contain all the new features and enhancements in the release. Please consult the release notes to find an exhaustive list of all changes in Koha for each version.
24.05
Tip
Koha version 24.05 will be released in May 2024.
New system preferences
WaitingNotifyAtCheckout
The new WaitingNotifyAtCheckout generates a pop-up in the circulation module alerting staff that the patron they are checking out items to also has holds waiting for them.
23.11
Preservation module
The brand new Preservation module is used for integrating preservation treatments into the Koha workflow and keep track of them. For every single step of the preservation workflow, data is attached to the Koha items.
The module comes with its own set of system preferences.
Protected patrons
It is now possible to protect patrons from deletion. When adding or editing a patron, a new ‘Protected’ flag can be set in the ‘Library management’ section. This will disable the ‘Delete’ option in the patron file. Furthermore, protected patrons cannot be deleted by batch deletion, cron jobs, or patron merging.
Use this for your statistical patrons, SIP2 users, self checkout users and superadmins.
Custom slips
It is now possible to create custom slips that will be available from the ‘Print’ menu in a patron’s account.
Go to Tools > Notices and slips and create a new slip with the new ‘Patrons (custom slip)’ category.
Custom report templates
It is now possible to create templates in the notices and slips tool and use those in the reports module when running SQL reports.
Vendor issues
It is now possible to record problems with vendors in the acquisitions module. It is a way to keep track of the various issues that might arise in the course of a contract, and it might be helpful when the time comes to renegotiate.
Library-level OPAC CSS and JS
It is now possible to add custom CSS and JavaScript to an OPAC for a specific library. Two new fields were added to the library form:
UserJS
UserCSS
This code will be used when a patron logs in to the OPAC, or if the system has more than one OPAC (through apache configuration files).
Deprecation of the offline circulation module
The offline circulation module has been deprecated. Only the Firefox plugin and Windows tool are now supported.
Accordingly, the AllowOfflineCirculation system preference was removed.
Template for serial publication date
It is now possible to create a template to automatically fill the ‘Published on (text)’ field when receiving a new serial. This is set at the subscription-level, therefore, you can have different templates for different subscriptions.
OPAC self checkout
The new OPAC self checkout feature allows patrons to check out items to themselves via the OPAC.
This is different from the self checkout module, which is a module onto itself, meant to be used on dedicated computers. The OPAC self checkout can be used on any computer or device that has access to the OPAC.
It is enabled with the OpacTrustedCheckout system preference.
New display locations for HTML customizations
There are several new display locations for the HTML customization tool.
StaffAcquisitionsHome: content will appear at the bottom of the Acquisitions module main page.
StaffAuthoritiesHome: content will appear at the bottom of the Authorities main page.
StaffCataloguingHome: content will appear at the bottom of the Cataloguing module main page.
StaffListsHome: content will appear at the bottom of the Lists main page.
StaffPatronsHome: content will appear at the bottom of the Patrons module main page.
StaffPOSHome: content will appear at the bottom of the Point of sale main page.
StaffSerialsHome: content will appear at the bottom of the Serials module main page.
The move of system preferences to HTML customizations continues. These were moved to the HTML customization tool in version 23.11.
OpacMaintenanceNotice
OPACResultsSidebar
OpacSuppressionMessage
PatronSelfRegistrationAdditionalInstructions
SCOMainUserBlock
SelfCheckHelpMessage
SelfCheckInMainUserBlock
New system preferences
AcquisitionsDefaultEMailAddress
The new AcquisitionsDefaultEMailAddress allows you to set a specific email address that will be used to send orders and late order claims from the acquisitions module.
AcquisitionsDefaultReplyTo
The new AcquisitionsDefaultReplyTo allows you to set a specific reply-to email address that will receive replies to orders and late order claims sent from the acquisitions module.
CancelOrdersInClosedBaskets
The new CancelOrdersInClosedBaskets system preference can be set to allow cancelling acquisitions orders in baskets that are closed. This is useful if something cannot be delivered and you don’t want to reopen the basket or go through the receive shipment process.
DefaultAuthorityTab
The new DefaultAuthorityTab system preference allows libraries to choose which tab is selected first when viewing an authority record.
ForceLibrarySelection
The new ForceLibrarySelection can be used to require staff to choose a library when logging into the staff interface.
LoadCheckoutsTableDelay
The new LoadCheckoutsTableDelay system preference can be used to delay the loading of the checkouts table in a patron’s account to prevent too many service queries when checking out a number of items in a row.
OpacTrustedCheckout
The new OpacTrustedCheckout system preference enables libraries with trusted communities to allow patrons to check out to themselves via the OPAC. This is different from the self checkout module, which is a module onto itself, meant to be used on dedicated computers. The OPAC self checkout can be used on any computer or device that has access to the OPAC.
OverdueNoticeFrom
The OverdueNoticeFrom system preference already existed, but a new option was added to it in version 23.11. The new option ‘patron home library’, allows libraries to choose that library as the source of information for overdue notices.
SerialsDefaultEMailAddress
The new SerialsDefaultEMailAddress allows you to set a specific email address that will be used to send late serial issues claims from the serials module.
SerialsDefaultReplyTo
The new SerialsDefaultReplyTo allows you to set a specific reply-to email address that will receive replies to late serial issues claims sent from the serials module.
SerialsSearchResultsLimit
The new SerialsSearchResultsLimit system preference allows you to limit the number of serial subscription search results per page, to be used in systems where there are a lot of subscriptions.
showLastPatronCount
The new showLastPatronCount system preference allows you to choose how many patrons are shown by the link created by showLastPatron.
TrackLastPatronActivityTriggers
The new TrackLastPatronActivityTriggers system preference replaces the TrackLastPatronActivity system preference and allows a more granular control of which action triggers the update of the patron’s “last seen” date (borrowers.lastseen). Previously, this database column was only updated when the patron logged into the OPAC or via SIP2. But this excluded patrons who might check out a lot of items from the library, but never log into the OPAC. The library can now decide which activities to track from a list.
UpdateItemLocationOnCheckout
The new UpdateItemLocationOnCheckout system preference allows you to automatically change an item’s location when it is checked out.
New options for command line tools
The runreport.pl script has two new parameters:
--send_emptyadds the option to send the email even if the report returns no results--quoteadds the option to specify the quote character for CSV output
The writeoff_debts.pl script has two new parameters:
--category-codeadds the option to limit writeoffs to a specific patron category--added-afteradds the option to limit writeoffs to charges added after a specific or calculated date
The borrowers-force-messaging-defaults.pl script has two new parameters:
--libraryadds the option to limit updates to patrons from a specific library--message-nameadds the option to limit updates to a specific message
The membership_expiry.pl script has four new parameters:
-activeadds the option to send notices to “active” patrons only. Activity is determined by the new TrackLastPatronActivityTriggers system preference.-inactiveadds the option to send notices to “inactive” patrons only. Activity is determined by the new TrackLastPatronActivityTriggers system preference.-renewadds the option to automatically renew patron memberships instead of simply advising them that their membership is about to expire.-letter_renewadds the option to use a different notice than the default one, MEMBERSHIP_RENEWED.