[Koha] koha 2.2.6RC2 is ...

Thu Aug 3 02:00:12 NZST 2006

... available for download at :
http://download.savannah.nongnu.org/releases/koha/

WARNING : this is a Release Candidate, so, if you decide to install it, 
you must know that :
- some bugs may remain
- you MUST backup your database before updating
- you must know how to roll-back to previous version if things goes wrong.

Otherwise, don't install it and wait for official 2.2.6 !

Release notes :
***************************************
RELEASE NOTES
=============

Koha is the first Open-Source Integrated Library System.
Released in New Zealand, in January 2000, it is maintained by a team of 
volunteers from around the globe. The Koha system is a full catalogue, 
opac, circulation and acquisitions system.

Koha 2.2.6 is more than 247 000 lines of code, developed by more than 30 
differents developers (and even more translators).

With the 2.2.6 version, Koha is now a mature product, with a lot of nice 
features. It's used in more than 100 libraries, of all kinds (public, 
schools, religious...), of different sizes (from 1 to 8 branches, from 
1000 to 300 000 items).

========
WARNINGS
========
* The librarian interface is tested only with Mozilla/Firefox. Should 
work (partially) with IE. OPAC should work fine with any browser.
* In this release, french & english are uptodate. Other language po 
files are provided in the package. If you update/complete one of them, 
please send it to paul.poulain @ free.fr, it will be included in a 
2.2.6b release !
* NEW PACKAGES REQUIRED :
- Class::Accessor (0.25)
- XML::SAX (0.14)
- MARC::File::XML (0.83),
- MARC::Charset (0.95),
- LWP::Simple
- XML::Simple

KNOWN BUGS
**********
Critical/blocking : none
see bugs.koha.org for more information. Please report any problem in 
bugs.koha.org

Apple users : it seems there is an annoying bug in Firefox, that you can 
have in librarian biblio search: only the first MARC field list is 
available and the others can't be opened. The problem is described and 
fixed at http://www.macfixit.com/article.php?story=20051226091140372

=======
CHANGES
=======
Changes 2.2.5 => 2.2.6
**********************

DB CHANGES
**********

DB structure : dewey field has been moved to a char(30)
DB content : many many new systempreferences
Koha opac stylesheets : none

BUGFIXES
=== CATALOGUING ===
	* result page display was incorrect when searching a biblio before 
adding a new one.
	* no more saving of an empty field in the DB
	* Fix for splitting up fixed fields containing | in them causing 
incorrect storage of fixed fields in Koha DB.
	* An item that is on loan can't be deleted anymore.

=== CIRCULATION ===
	* minor bugfix : Adding 0 before days and months in order to make date 
comparison work.

=== PARAMETERS ===
	* adding page facility in book funds.

IMPROVEMENTS
Almost nothing has changed in the DB, so the stability should be good. 
But you are warned that some/few bugs may occur.
Please READ the release notes. Everything is compatible with previous 
versions, so, if you just install Koha, you should have the same 
behaviour as previously, but you will miss many interesting features!

=== ACQUISITION ===
* added a (crontab) script : check_suggestion.pl, that send a mail to 
the librarian when a suggestion is pending
* *MAJOR IMPROVEMENT* :
- online help has been added
- the order.pl page doesn't show baskets closed for more than 6 months 
anymore.
- when recieving an order, you now see the list of existing parcels. The 
parcel code used to be the "Supplier invoice information". Now when you 
go to the reciept page, you see all previous recieves, and can create a 
new parcel, exactly as before. This does not require any change in Koha 
internals, but we hope it's clearer than before.
- when recieving an order in a parcel, you now see all orders still 
waiting for a receipt. Thus, you can enter isbn/title as previously, or 
directly click on a title in the list.
We worked hard on those new acquisition screens, and hope that you'll 
find it easier to use than before.

=== AUTHORITIES ===
* if the library doesn't define a summary for an authority, a 
standard/default one will be built automatically.
* if the librarian set * as subfield, all subfields will be shown, 
without any separator, but respecting the order. Previously, you had to 
define every subfield, causing problems in case of reordered subfields.

=== CIRCULATION===
* added a (crontab) script : overduenoticesSelect.pl, that can be used 
as replacement for the overduenotice script. This one has many more 
parameters, including a filter on branches and an external letter (to 
avoid the need to modify the script on each release)
* merged today & previous issues list during issuing. Added a button to 
renew issues & return issues in 1 click

=== CATALOGUE ===
* highly improved MARC21 default framework
* new systempref "sortbynonfiling". If you catalogue with complete MARC 
(including indicators), you can set this pref to Yes. It will remove non 
filing chars and order "The King Henry IV" to letter "K". This 
systempref is USELESS for UNIMARC (as UNIMARC doesn't manage non-filing 
chars in an indicator, unlike MARC21)

=== CATALOGUING ===
* added a (crontab) script : delete_authority.pl, that deletes all 
entries of an authority in a biblio.
* *MAJOR IMPROVEMENT* in MARC editing :
- duplicating a field (+ on the tag) does not require a server call 
anymore : it's much faster.
- duplicating a subfield is no longer done with a pipe (|), but by 
clicking on the + facing the subfield
- the "hidden" property of the framework now has 19 possible values. 
Look in the online help to see them. The immediate interesting value is 
-1, which means the subfield is minimized on the MARC editor and you 
must click on it to expand it. Rarely used fields/subfields are easier 
to manage.
- a advancedMARCeditor systempref has been added. If set, tag/subfield 
values are not shown, except when putting the mouse on the tag/subfield. 
This systempref is only for "MARC addicts"!
* MARC21 : many plugins have been added (by joshua). It seems you now 
have as many plugins for fixed length fields in MARC21 as in UNIMARC! 
Note that plugins help you filling a tag/subfield in the MARC editor.

=== MEMBERS ===
* patron images management. A new systempreference has been added 
(patronimages, in borrowers section). If set (to an image extension, 
like jpg or gif), the image will be shown on patron detail or 
circulation page. The images must be stored in 
KOHADIR/htdocs/intranet-tmpl/patronimages/ . The image must be named 
<borrowernumber>.<patronimagessystempref> (1.jpg for example, for 
borrower #1)

=== OPAC ===
Many preferences have been added to OPAC. Read them carefully, as you 
will be able to modify highly the look and behaviour of your OPAC!
* new default stylesheet for css (purple on white). A new stylesheet 
(contributed by liblime.com) has been added to show everybody the 
changes in OPAC. If you want to stay with the old one (dark/light 
green), just reach Koha >> Parameters >> Systempreferences >> OPAC >> 
opacstylesheet > modify > /opac-tmpl/default/opac_old.css
* Amazon content : if the new AmazonContent systempref is set AND an 
AmazonDevKey/AmazoneDevTag (available on www.amazon.com) is entered in 
systempreferences AND XML::Simple package is installed, OPAC will show 
amazon cover pages when available. Note that this feature may not be 
legal everywhere. For example, it seems it may not be legal in France 
(you must ask each editor for permission)
* new systempref : opaccredit. If something (including html) is stored 
there, the footer of OPAC pages will contain what is there (instead of 
the "Library powered by Koha..." that is on css default templates)
* new systempref : opacnav. In this preference, you can put any html 
that will be added to your menu. For example, to add a button to reach 
the koha website : <a class="menu" href="http://www.koha.org" 
title="Koha world website">Koha</a>
* new systempref : opacbookbag : if set to 0, the basket/book bag 
features will be hidden in OPAC (even for logged in users).
* authorities heading search : a new menu has been added so the user can 
search in authorities (same behaviour as in intranet)
* new systempref : opaclanguagesdisplay. If set to "yes" (default 
value), the list of available language is shown. Otherwise, there is no 
list, koha will stay in default language only.
* new systempref : opacreadinghistory. If set to "yes" (default value), 
the reading history will be available on OPAC (for logged in users). If 
set to "no", the reading history never appears.
* Recent Acquisition : added a new page to filter recent acquisitions on 
a given branch.
* if you use npl templates, you can have an alternate stylesheet (to set 
it, go to librarian interface >> Parameters > Systempreferences > OPAC > 
opacstylesheet > modify > /opac-tmpl/npl/en/includes/opac.liblime.css)
* when there is more than 1 item at a given location 
(branch/callnumber/location), the list shows the number of items, not 1 
line for each (same) value.

=== REPORTS ===
* Inventory : you can now scan in a text file, on an unconnected laptop, 
with every book in your library. Then, just upload the file in Koha. It 
will "mark as seen" all books. Once you've scanned everything in your 
library, just query for all books not seen since the beginning of the 
inventory, and you'll get "lost" books.

=== SERIALS ===
* MAJOR IMPROVEMENT : Adding item creation on the fly when receiving 
serial : if you activate systempref > Catalogue > serialsadditems, 
you'll have a form to create an item on the fly at the end of the serial 
receipt form. The item contains the callnumber, the branch, the barcode 
and the location (where applicable). Go to the catalogue after setting a 
serial to "arrived", and you should see the item created. If you let 
serialsadditems to OFF, behaviour is unchanged from previous releases.
* the last 5 arrived serials are shown when receiving serials.
-- 
Paul POULAIN et Henri Damien LAURENT
Consultants indépendants
en logiciels libres et bibliothéconomie (http://www.koha-fr.org)
Tel : 04 91 31 45 19