How to set the default search method for patron accounts
When searching for a patron it is possible to set the process to automatically search the term only if an entry starts with the information or to search for any instance of the search term, in any order in a patron account.
Set the DefaultPatronSearchMethod system preference
Navigate to Koha administration > System Preferences and search for DefaultPatronSearchMethod.
This will bring up a system preference of the same name.
This system preference can be set to Contains (Enable this search method to determine whether to use 'search with' or 'contains' for all patron searches, including auto-complete) or Starts with (Enable this search method to determine whether to use 'search with' or 'contains' for all patron searches, including auto-complete) .
Contains Enable this search method to determine whether to use 'starts with' or 'contains' for all patron searches, including auto-complete.
Set the system preference to Contains (Enable this search method to determine whether to use 'search with' or 'contains' for all patron searches, including auto-complete) and click Save all Patrons preferences.
This will set the patron search option both in the search bar at the top of the page and under the Patrons module to search all the content of the patron accounts for any instance of the search term in any order.
Starts with Enable this search method to determine whether to use 'starts with' or 'contains' for all patron searches, including auto-complete.
Set the system preference to Starts with (Enable this search method to determine whether to use 'search with' or 'contains' for all patron searches, including auto-complete) and click Save all Patrons preferences.
This will set the patron search option both in the search bar at the top of the page and under the Patrons module to search all the content of the patron accounts for the search term but only bring back results where the search term appears at the start of the information string.
Example of search:
| Version | Date | Detail | Author |
| 1.0 | 26/02/26 | Document created | Holly Cooper |
| 1.1 | 06/03/26 | Adding details | Holly Cooper |
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