Update: Sending Checkout Reminders & Overdue Notices

While we don't have a built-in patron notification system for TinyCat, we've just made it a little easier for libraries to send out their own notices & reminders.

From your TinyCat Admin's Patrons > Fields page, we've brought in "Current" lending information, so you can see who has items currently checked out or overdue. You can customize this page to show exactly what you need (using the "Change fields shown" link), including contact info like email address, phone number, or any other custom patron field. This should make it easier for you to reach out directly to your patrons and send out notices as needed. Hope this helps!

Definitely progress. Is there a way to see this custom format for just active patrons? I only need to see the e-mails for the patrons that have something checked out, and I'm missing how to make that happen.

Thanks -

>2 cavlibrary: Yes, by clicking on the "Active" link in the left-hand menu on the Patrons >Fields pages (as Kristi indicated in >1 kristilabrie: ).

To adjust the fields shown, go to that link, and click "Fields" in the left-hand menu. At the top of that page is where the "Change fields shown" link lives. The fields you select will apply to both the All Patrons and Active Patrons pages.

>3 lorannen: Actually no, that's not true.

You can only customize what fields you're showing on the Patrons > Fields page, but, you should be able to sort that page by the "Checked out" or "Overdue" column/s.*

*I'm actually finding a bug that isn't letting you sort by those columns at the moment, but we'll fix that asap! You should be able to do that in the next day or so. Sorry for the trouble.

Could you let me know when that gets fixed? I'm still not able to sort the fields by "Checked out" or "Overdue."
Thanks -
Betsy

Absolutely—we're testing a fix now and should be set within the next day or two. I'll post here when it's ready.

Okay, the sorting bug posted in >4 kristilabrie: should now be fixed!

Will we be able to mass export emails eventually to send overdue notices? We have over 5000 books in our collection and emailing each person one buy one just isn't feasible. Is this a feature that is being planned for?

How are you expecting that feature to function, exactly? You can export all of your patron data now, through the 'More' button options on your TinyCat Admin's Patrons page (https://www.librarycat.org/admin/patrons). I'm not sure how you're wanting to export emails to send overdue notices, though, if you can provide more explanation here.

Hm, in fact, we would need the Information about the book(s) overdue to send out proper reminders from a spreadsheet.

However, what about a different approach: The Transaction > Statuses > Overdue page contains almost all information (except for the patron's email address) that a proper reminder needs.

So, wouldn't it be easy for you developers to create a link button next to each Book that is overdue?
It should contain something like: mailto:patron's email&subject="Books overdue"&Text="Dear Patron, the following books are overdue: ..." So any administrator who has an email client configured could simply click the link to send out a reminder. Done.

Automatic overdue notices and checkout reminders are on our list of things to develop for TinyCat, we just haven't had the time to do so yet. (I hope sooner than later, personally!) We'll be sure to announce if/when this does finally happen, thanks for your patience in the meantime!

Would love that feature also. it is the only thing our school library finds lacking in the system. Otherwise this has been an amazing way for us to keep track of all our books!

We are just getting started with a library in a new school and automatic email reminders on overdue items would be great (possibly with an option of an email to the librarian or other chosen email if the patron has no email account).
Would also be great if Groups could be setup allowing borrowing limits to be set by Group by the school (eg STAFF can borrow unlimited - Grade 1 can borrow 2 per week - Grade 5 can borrow 4 per week, etc)
Otherwise the system is working well

>13 wyndhamcc: Thanks for your feedback! The features you propose are on our list, and we hope to eventually add them. We'll be sure to announce any changes. I'm glad you're enjoying the system so far.

Have you thought of working with a third party like zapier? Or adding a quick one click "export to excel" (or sheets) button for overdue email addresses? I would love to get some integrations with Tiny Cat and Library thing.
-Sincerely,
S.C.

>15 StoryCenter: You can actually export your transactions data (which will include the relevant patron information and any email address/es you have for them), including just exporting by status now (such as only "Overdue" items).

Just go to your Transactions page in the Admin portal (https://www.librarycat.org/admin/transactions) and find the relevant Export buttons on each page.

Hope this helps!

I've actually been doing this from the "stats" on my TinyCat Admin home page. I just click on the "overdue" link and then export the transactions. I created a mail merge to email from the spreadsheet.

I too would love an automatic email, especially if it combined all of the patrons' overdue resources into one email (the way I do it they get one email per resource).

Thanks for your hard work on this!

>17 hefclibrary: Yep, you're reaching the same place by using your quick stats on your TinyCat Admin home page. :) That's great!

Your input is noted, and the feature is high on our list! We'll announce any updates, of course. Thanks for your patience in the meantime.

>11 kristilabrie: Are automatic overdue notices an available feature yet?

Yes, as long as you have patrons added into your system you can find the "Patron Email Reminders" settings on your Circulation Settings page: https://www.librarycat.org/admin/settings/circsettings. Hope this helps.

Hi there!

I can't seem to find the section called "Patron Email Reminders". Is there something I should be enabling beforehand?

Many thanks in advance for your help :)

Possibly: your TinyCat account needs to be non-personal, and you need to have added at least one patron to your Patrons page (https://www.librarycat.org/admin/patrons)! Hope this helps.

Our automatic notices don't include our library's name (e.g. "You have renewed the following item at ."). Is there any way to edit those notices, or to refresh the template somehow?

>23 EHAC: Our automated circulation notifications should be filling in whatever is in your "Library name" field at https://www.librarycat.org/admin/settings/general

I see you already have something saved there: did you save the library name after posting this message? If you already had the library name before posting here, you may want to try refilling the field and resaving, to see if that helps.

If you've saved your library name at https://www.librarycat.org/admin/settings/general and you're still getting a blank "..at ." in your notifications from us, please forward your most recent one to me at kristiATlibrarythingDOTcom and I'll be happy to take a closer look! Thanks for your patience.