[Koha-announce] Koha 2.2.6 is available...

[Paul POULAIN]

We worked hard, but, finally, it's here !!!

Koha 2.2.6 has been released & is available at :
http://download.savannah.nongnu.org/releases/koha/koha-2.2.6.tar.gz

IMPORTANT : a package (not announced) was at this address, named 
"koha-2.2.6" was here since some days (2 weeks ?)
this packages contained some bugs that were discovered just before 
announcing the release.
So, if you had downloaded & installed this "2.2.6", you MUST reinstall, 
as it's not the same version.

Here are the release notes :


RELEASE NOTES
=============

Koha is the first Open-Source Integrated Library System.

Koha is a full-featured open-source ILS. Developed initially in New 
Zealand by Katipo Communications Ltd and first deployed in January of 
2000 for Horowhenua Library Trust, it is currently maintained by a team 
of software providers and library technology staff from around the globe.

Koha 2.2.6 is more than 250,000 lines of code (see : 
http://bureau.paulpoulain.com/cvslog/) , contributed by about 50 
different developers (46, +translators).

The 2.2.6 version of Koha is a mature product, with a lot of nice features.

More than 100 libraries are registered as users on wiki.koha.org, and we 
are sure that at least 300 libraries use the software. There are 2 
projects derived from Koha.

========
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 &ukrainian are up to date. Other 
language po files are provided in the package. If you update/complete 
one of them, please send it to paul @ koha-fr.org, 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
- GD::Barcode
- Data::Random
- ZOOM
They will be checked during upgrade process.

* during install, you may get some warnings during package dependency 
checkings. Something like :
"Too late to run INIT block at /usr/local/lib/perl/5.8.4/ZOOM.pm line 37."
or
"Subroutine PDF::API2::Resource::Font::Postscript::O_RDONLY redefined at 
/usr/share/perl/5.8/Exporter.pm line 65."

You can ignore them.


KNOWN BUGS
**********
Critical/blocking :

* mySQL5.0 : Koha is NOT compatible with mySQL 5.0 We plan to add 5.0 
compatibility in Koha 3. If you want to give a try to 2.2.6 with mySQL5, 
you can have a look at 
http://bugs.koha.org/cgi-bin/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=1089, but it's 
untested & unofficial.
* child card craziness, see 
http://bugs.koha.org/cgi-bin/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=1117 for details
* Update child looses guarantor and address., see 
http://bugs.koha.org/cgi-bin/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=1065 for details
* don't use spaces in currencies codes. Use USD, not US DOLLAR, for 
example. spaces breaks acquisition module.

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, but the opac css stylesheet has been 
redesigned even if it contains no new classes.

********
BUGFIXES
********
=== ACQUISITION ===
    * Acquisition has been deeply investigated & tested. should work 
fine. (there was complex problems depending on prices rebates, VAT 
charging,...)

=== CATALOGUE ===
	* Major bugfixes in encoding handling for MARC21 : there was bugs using 
the MARC21 indicators for character encoding. They should have been 
fixed for now, and koha 2.2.6 handles MARC21 with unicode correctly.

=== 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.
        
=== MEMBERS ===
    * fixed a but to be able to modify an Institution.

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

************    
IMPROVEMENTS
************
Almost nothing has changed in the DB & this version has been heavily 
tested, 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) will show a number of creation to 
do. Thus, you can quickly create 6 subjects lines (for example)
		- 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 LibLime). 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.
        
=== SYSTEM PREFERENCES ===
        
=== ALL ==
    * Unimarc datas in english are provided
    * Unimarc datas in ukrainian are provided

--
Paul POULAIN et Henri Damien LAURENT
Consultants indépendants
en logiciels libres et bibliothéconomie (http://www.koha-fr.org)
Tel : 04 91 31 45 19