How to view the Patron Categories saved on your site
This document outlines how to view patron categories which already exist on your site and explains the purpose of the different fields that will need to be addressed to create new patron categories.
Relevance of patron categories
Patron categories are important because they are used within the fine and circulation rules to determine which items can be taken out by which patrons and for how long. They can also be used to determine a variety of features and functions that will be applied to individual patron accounts, including the circulation messages patrons receive.
How to navigate to the patron category table
Go to KOHA administration > Patrons and circulation > Patron categories.
This will take you to a new page with a table of the patron categories already defined on your site.
How to view the details of a specific patron category
To view the details of a specific category click the link in the Category Name column
OR click Edit under the Actions column.
This will take you to a new page where the details of a specific category can be set or edited.
Full patron category form
Category Code
This data is used by Koha to track the patron category. It cannot be changed after being saved.
It should follow coding conventions already on your site. For instance, if the codes for other patron categories follow the pattern AB.ST (Staff),
AB. STU (Student) then any new ones should be formatted AB.XXX, XXX being a three letter pattern to denote the description.
Description
This denotes the type of patron that should be sorted into the category. This can be edited after the fact and is intended to be explanatory for patrons and staff.
Enrolment period
This sets how long a patron account will be active for. If the expiry date is not specified then the site will automatically generate an expiry date. It is possible to set this with a specific date or with a specific time period, i.e 19/08/19 vs. 6 months. A patron account that reaches the end of the enrolment period will not be deleted, but will no longer be active. At the very least, if a patron is no longer active they will not be able to complete checkouts, but individual libraries can set other restrictions for expired patrons.
For more information on patron expiry dates, please check our FAQ page or submit a ticket to Interleaf Technology directly.
Password expiration
This option allows for a time limit to be set for how long a patron account in this category can have the same password. This means that a patron will need to reset their password after a set amount of time.
Age required
This feature allows the option to place a minimum age for a patron in this category. If the patron age recorded in the specific patron account is lower than the defined amount in this option then it will not be possible to place them in this category.
Upper age limit
This feature allows the option to place an age limit for a patron in this category. If the patron age recorded in the specific patron account is higher than the defined amount in this option then it will not be possible to place them in this category.
Enrolment fee
This is a field that will automatically add a charge to all newly created patron accounts in this category.
Overdue notice required
This gives the option to allow patrons to receive overdue notices.
Please note, this setting will only make it possible for patrons within the patron category to receive overdue notices. To actually set overdue notices to go out, the Overdue notices/status triggers area of Koha will need to be configured. For more information on overdue notices, please check our FAQ page or submit a ticket to Interleaf Technology directly.
Lost items in staff client
This feature allows items marked as Lost to either be hidden or shown to patrons within the defined category.
Hold fee
This is an optional field that allows the library to charge a fee to a patron account in the category if a hold is placed on a item.
Category type
This determines limitations across the entire category. Type includes adult, child and staff and each type has particular features and potential limitations. For example, a child category can have limitations for checkout and cannot be made a guarantor for another user.
Can be a guarantee
This feature allows any patron created in this category to be assigned a guarantor.
For more information on the guarantee/guarantor relationship, please check our FAQ page or submit a query to Interleaf Technology.Library limitations
This allows the library to restrict patron categories to certain branches. If a staff member from a branch not within the limitation tries to add a new user with a limited patron category it will not be allowed. It is possible to set a limitation to one or more libraries.
Password reset in OPAC
This determines if patrons are able to use the Forgot your password? link on the OPAC. There are three options for this feature:
Follow system preference OpacResetPassword:
This setting results in whether or not the patron can reset their password via email being determined by the OpacResetPassword system preference.
Allowed:
This setting gives patrons the ability to reset their password via email regardless of how the OpacResetPassword system preference is set.
Not allowed:
This setting prevents patrons from resetting their password via email regardless of how the OpacResetPassword system preference is set.
Password change in OPAC
This determines if patrons are able to alter their password from within their account after logging into the OPAC. There are three options for this feature:
Follow system preference OpacPasswordChange:
This setting results in whether or not the patron can reset their password via email being determined by the OpacPasswordChange system preference.
Allowed:
This setting gives patrons the ability to reset their password via email regardless of how the OpacPasswordChange system preference is set.
Not allowed:
This setting prevents patrons from resetting their password via email regardless of how the OpacPasswordChange system preference is set.
Minimum password length
This feature allows a custom password length to be set for any patron account created in this category. If not filled in, the default length for a password will be 8 characters.
Require strong password
This feature determines if a patron account created under this category will be forced to use a strong password. In Koha, a strong password must contain at least one digit, one lowercase letter and one uppercase letter.
There are three options under this heading:
Follow system preference RequireStrongPassword
For more information on the RequireStrongPassword system preference please check our FAQ page or submit a query to Interleaf Technology.
Yes
No
Force new patron password reset
This feature determines if patrons in this category can be required to reset the password the first time they log into the OPAC if their account has been created by a staff member.
There are three options under this heading:
Follow system preference ForcePasswordResetWhenSetByStaff
Selecting this option will determine if a patron in this category will be required to reset their password for the first time when the log into the OPAC based on how the ForcePasswordResetWhenSetByStaff option.
Force
Selecting this option will require a patron in this category to reset their password for the first time when the log into the OPAC if their account was created by a staff member.
Don't Force
Selecting this option will not require a patron in this category to reset their password for the first time when the log into the OPAC if their account was created by a staff member.
Block expired patrons OPAC actions
This determines if patrons in this category will be able to place holds, place ILL requests or renew an item on the OPAC after their account has expired.
There are two sections in the dropdown. Only the options under one heading can be selected at a time, meaning if the option under BlockExpiredPatronOPACActions is selected then no options under Block specific actions can be selected at the same time.
If Block actions specified in BlockExpiredPatronOpacActions is ticked, then the options for expired patrons on the OPAC will be determined by how the BlockExpiredPatronOpacActions system preference is set.
For more details on the BlockExpiredPatronOpacActions system preference, please check our FAQ page or submit a query to Interleaf Technology directly.
Block specific actions
Placing a hold on an item:
Ticking this option will prevent an expired patron in this category from placing holds on the OPAC.
Placing an ILL request:
Ticking this option will prevent an expired patron in this category from placing an Inter Library Loan request on the OPAC.
Renewing an item:
Ticking this option will prevent an expired patron in this category from renewing a item on the OPAC.
One, some or none of these options under Block specific actions can be selected at once as long as no option under the BlockExpiredPatronOpacActions is selected.
Can place ILL in OPAC
This feature determines if a patron in this category can place an Inter Library Loan from the OPAC.
Default privacy
This dictates the length of time which checkout history is kept for a patron. There are three options:
Default:
Checkouts will be anonymised as often as is set by the cron batch_anonymise.pl.
Please contact Interleaf Technology for details about how this cron is set on your own system.
Never
Checkouts will be anonymised when they are checked back in.
Forever
Checkouts are never anonymised.
Exclude from local holds priority
This feature will determine if holds placed for this patron account should be priorities based on LocalHoldsPriority system preference or should be ignored by the LocalHoldsPriority system preference.
Checkout charge limit
This feature will prevent a patron in this category from having an item checked out to them if they owe more than the defined amount in fines.
Guarantees checkout charge limit
Guarantors with guarantees checkout charge limit
This feature will prevent a patron in the defined category from checking out if they are marked as guarantors and their guarantees owe more than a specific amount in fines.
Default messaging preferences for this patron category
This allows the library to set if and how certain circulation notices are sent.
For more information on the messaging preferences, please checkout FAQ page or submit a query to Interleaf Technology.
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