FAQs

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Trending FAQs

Here are the most common questions recently answered by Customer Support!

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title	How do I import patrons or items through FTP?

You'll need to create a saved import. Go to the import you want and click Create Saved Import at the bottom of the window. Then you'll need to enter a name and fill out the Settings tab with your preferences. Lastly, go to the File Source tab and select FTP or FTPS from the Protocol dropdown. Enter your FTP/FTPS server's information. (If you don't have your own server, COMPanion offers secure and private folders on our FTP server!) Want to check if it works? Click Test FTP Connection. From there, you can run the import whenever necessary.

Tip
We recommend using FTP imports for larger files like patron pictures and BestMARC imports.

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title	It's inventory season! What should I know?

Great question! We've got loads of resources to help you make inventory go smoothly:

Inventory Workshop

6 Steps to an Easy Inventory

Do inventory through either Inventory Management or Circulation (you can even do some inventory while in Offline Mode, allowing you to walk around with a phone or tablet)

Check out our three Inventory reports

Use the Inventory Circulation commands:
- Inventory (I). Starts inventory mode with the current day's date. Each scanned item is recorded as inventoried.
- Inventory Suppressed (IS). This mode is the same as Inventory mode, except that dialogs are suppressed.
- Inventory Bookdrop (IB). Starts Inventory mode for the current date with automatic bookdrop. (If an item is checked out, it is automatically checked in.)
- Inventory Bookdrop Suppressed (IBS). This mode is the same as Inventory Bookdrop mode, except that dialogs are suppressed.

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title	How can I forgive charges?

There are two ways to forgive charges:

With the patron pulled up in Circulation, go to the Charges tab. Select the charge and click Make Payment. Enter the amount you'd like to forgive in the Forgive field and click Process.

Use the Forgive Charges utility to forgive charges, fines, and/or fees for multiple patrons at once.

stop email reports from going out during the summer?

Go to Reports > Saved. Scheduled reports will have a calendar icon Image Added to the right. Select a report you want to pause, go to the Scheduled tab, and turn off Schedule Report. You may want to keep a list of these reports so you can remember to re-schedule them when school resumes.

Also see our instructions in the End-of-year prep—Disable emails tip if you have automatic email notifications turned on in Circulation Preferences.

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title	How do I advance my patron grades?

Everyone updates their patron records differently. Advancing patron grades may already be taken care of if you use imports or a SIS integration.

If not, go to your Grade Table Preferences and click Advance All Grades once. Check a patron record to make sure it worked properly.

Note
Advancing grades does not also change policies. If your patron policies match grade levels, see our Patron Imports Best Practices for instructions on updating those.

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title	Do you have any tips for using the Loaned Items Information report?

Get a list of loaned items (including temporary items) along with their due dates with the Loaned Items Information report!

Turn on Page Break on Major Sort if you're sorting by level (grade) or location (homeroom) and using the Detailed or Complete formats. Then you won't need to run a separate report for each.

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title	I just finished with inventory and all of my items are showing as lost! What do I do?

Oops! To prevent this in the future, remember to always use the correct start date and double check which items will be set to lost before completing inventory.

If you caught this quickly, you can restore from a previous archive (usually one from the night before). Please contact Customer Support so they can guide you through this process.

If your library had a lot of circulation or you made significant changes to Alexandria before catching this, you may need to plan a full inventory. You could use the Inventory Bookdrop Suppressed mode in Circulation to quickly scan items back in. This allows you to run your library as usual until you have time to do inventory again.

Tip
Run a Copies Not Inventoried report before setting anything as lost. That will give you a list of what will be set to lost, and you can correct any mistakes before making a big change. Also be sure to run the Lost Copies report and Discarded Copies report before permanently removing lost or discarded copies.

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title	How do I see who has an unpaid charge?

Alexandria has multiple reports that will show you who has unpaid charges:

Tip
Send patrons a notice about their unpaid charges!

Discarded Copies report: See which copies have been discarded throughout the year and make sure the list is correct before permanently removing them with the Remove Discarded Copies utility.

Copies Labels Reports: Create labels for new copies.

Send patrons notices about their coming due items, overdue items, and charges:

Coming Due Items Notice report

Overdue Items Notice report

Unpaid Charges Notice report

Overdue Items and Unpaid Charges Notice report

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title	Which reports can help me with end of year tasks?

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Administration

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Switch to 7 FAQs

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Makeover FAQs

We are thrilled to announce our Alexandria and Textbook Tracker Dream Makeover! Yep, that's right. We're giving the programs a new look while adding various improvements, such as responsive design and exciting features. Learn more about it!

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Beginning-of-Year FAQs

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End-of-Year FAQs

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Circulation FAQS

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title	How can I forgive charges?

There are two ways to forgive charges:

With the patron pulled up in Circulation, go to the Charges tab. Select the charge and click Make Payment. Enter the amount you'd like to forgive in the Forgive field and click Process.

Use the Forgive Charges utility to forgive charges, fines, and/or fees for multiple patrons at once.

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title	How do I see who has an unpaid charge?

Alexandria has multiple reports that will show you who has unpaid charges:

Tip
Send patrons a notice about their unpaid charges!

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Circulation FAQS

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title	How can I forgive charges?

There are two ways to forgive charges:

With the patron pulled up in Circulation, go to the Charges tab. Select the charge and click Make Payment. Enter the amount you'd like to forgive in the Forgive field and click Process.

Use the Forgive Charges utility to forgive charges, fines, and/or fees for multiple patrons at once.

Expand

title	How do I see who has an unpaid charge?

Alexandria has multiple reports that will show you who has unpaid charges:

Tip
Send patrons a notice about their unpaid charges!

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Circulation FAQS

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title	How can I forgive charges?

There are two ways to forgive charges:

With the patron pulled up in Circulation, go to the Charges tab. Select the charge and click Make Payment. Enter the amount you'd like to forgive in the Forgive field and click Process.

Use the Forgive Charges utility to forgive charges, fines, and/or fees for multiple patrons at once.

Expand

title	How do I see who has an unpaid charge?

Alexandria has multiple reports that will show you who has unpaid charges:

Tip
Send patrons a notice about their unpaid charges!

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Patrons FAQs

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Items FAQs

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Researcher FAQs

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Inventory FAQs

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Reports FAQs

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