An alternative is to use the Patron Overdue Notices plugin which allows the user to run a report on patrons, or one specific patron, who have overdues which will then generate a copy of the selected overdue notice that can be printed.

The drawback of using this function is that everything must be done manually, as opposed to using the Notices Triggers section of Koha, where overdues go out automatically once everything has been configured correctly. Also, the notice created cannot be edited once it has been produced. Changes can only be made in the Notices & slips area of Koha, and then the plugin will need to be run again to create a new version of the notice.  

Step 1 - Downloading the Plugin

Go to https://github.com/bywatersolutions/koha-plugin-overdue-notices-printer where you will find a link to download to correct plugin as well as other general information about the plugin. Download the most recent version of the .kpz file. 

Step 2 - Uploading Plugin to Koha

Go to Koha administration > Plugins > Manage plugins.

If plugins have been enabled on your system there will be the option to upload plugins.

If plugins have not been enabled on your system please create a ticket in vtiger to have this completed, or check the FAQ section for any tutorials related to this.

Once you have clicked Upload plugin you will be taken to a new page where you will be prompted to choose a file to upload. 

Upload the .kpz file from earlier. 

Once this has been successfully uploaded the Patron Overdue Notices plugin will appear:

Step 3 - Running the report

Clicking on actions beside the Patron Overdue Notices will create a dropdown with the option to run the report. Click Run report.

This will bring you to a new page where you must determine the parameters for the report. 

You will be able to choose a single patron to run the report on by inserting their cardnumber under the Specific patron box. 

If you want to run the report for multiple patrons you can fill out as many other options on the form as you want, limiting the search to different patron categories or libraries and/or within a date range. The only rule in such a case is not to also fill in a specific cardnumber at the same time as this will prevent the report from bringing back any results. 

Finally, select a notice for the report to generate. In order for the Patron Overdue Notices Plugin to correctly display the notice it must have a printed version configured. 

To do this go to Tools > Patrons and circulation > Notices & slips. Choose a notice from the list of notices, go to Edit to the right of the notice name. On the page that you are brought to choose the print box and create a notice there. Click the HTML box and hit submit. 

Once the report parameters have been set and you have selected the correct notice to be produced, click submit.

This will take you to a new page with the patron’s information and overdue item and the notice ready to be printed. 

From this page choose to print from your browser and mail the resulting page to the particular patron.

If you generate the report for multiple patrons at once the resulting page will look something like this:

Choose to print from your browser and the individual notices will print one per page for each patron.