The Support Center has moved!! See the new website https://support.goalexandria.com/ 
21.8 Release Notes
22 January 2022
Highlights
You know if there’s a snow day, or a pandemic, you can run the Change Due Date utility to make sure patrons don’t have items due when the library isn’t open. But what if there isn’t a crisis, and you just want to help patrons renew their items while respecting renewal limits and holds? Now you can, by using the brand new Renew Items utility. You could even schedule this utility to automatically renew items checked out to teachers!
Using a ‘legacy' report? Those reports now point to the report we recommend instead.
Do you have books or materials in multiple languages? Now you can Search your catalog for the 130 Uniform Title. (Alexandria Researcher only)
Thanks to Andrew, NACMS for this idea!
Did you get our notice about paperless renewals? Going forward, your renewal notices will be coming via email. Contact notices@companioncorp.com for questions or to request paper renewals.
New & Improved
Circulation
- In-Stock Hold receipts show patron barcode. (Alexandria Librarian only) (Thanks to Jeanette from Jenison Junior High)
- ALERT: If you don't have a printer installed, then when printing from the Holds tab in Circulation, we are currently experiencing a browser error. We apologize for the inconvenience; it will be fixed in the next update.
- Removed Textbook Tracker data from Patron Details dialogs if users are not subscribed to that service.
- “Undefined” on receipts is now showing the patron barcode.
Operations
- Fixed bug for saved reports or exports that prevented the file link from being included in the email notification.
- Saved Exports going to an FTP or FTPS location will have the file name (once), and then a time stamp.
- Fixed bug that was stripping out punctuation when importing.
Reports
- Titles for items that are overdue and still checked out to the patron will show on Overdue Items and Unpaid charges notices.
- A pop-up notice has been added when you use legacy reports.
- Improved recognition of new lines in the Send Patron Details email report (ie. your formatting).
- Fixed overlapping call numbers and publishers in Titles with No Copies report.
Textbook Tracker copy reports (Copy Information, Copy Labels 3x10, and Copy Usage Detailed) now have a selection for Department.
The Account Expiration Notice lets you select by a relative date, so you can send notices to patrons who have expired or who are expiring. (Thanks to Nikolas from Sonoma County Law Library)
Researcher
- Items with multiple 505 note fields are now searchable by all content notes.
Textbook Tracker
- Copy barcodes are now added to lost item charges.
Self-Hosted Notice
If you self-host on a Mac, hold off updating your servers to macOS 10.15 Catalina. Alexandria will be 64-bit compatible in a future release. We highly recommend you consider Cloud Hosting.
This page has been moved over to https://support.goalexandria.com/release-notes/
All release notes 23.9 and onward are on the new Support Center.
Cloud-Hosted Updates
When you host with us, we take care of all updates! During these updates—the second to last or last weekend every month (Saturday and Sunday)—please plan for possible downtimes with Alexandria. And if you need to contact Customer Support over the weekend, please call us (emails are only responded to during regular business hours Monday–Friday).
Self-Hosted Updates
Once all of the Cloud-Hosted servers have been updated, we will make the update available to Self-Hosted servers.
We highly recommend you consider Cloud Hosting.
Not every version is able to update to the newest version, so the Available Updates window will only include those versions that meet your machine and version requirements.
Self-Hosted Notice - Mac
If you self-host on a Mac, hold off updating your servers to macOS 10.15 Catalina until you can update to Alexandria 22.8 or later (64-bit compatible releases).
If you self-host on a Mac, here's how to install the update on your Self-Hosted server:
- Log in to Alexandria.
- Append /admin to the end of your Alexandria URL.
- Click the Actions menu, then select Check For Updates.
- Select the update version from the list, then click Update. Your update will now download.
- The update screen will close automatically and you will be redirected to the login window.
Self-Hosted Notice - Windows
As of 2023 our self-hosted update process has changed.
If you self-host on a Windows machine and are on Alexandria 22.6 or earlier: Contact us for instructions and assistance updating to the latest version.
If you self-host on a Windows machine and are on Alexandria 22.12 or later, here's how to install the update on your Self-Hosted server:
- Log in to Alexandria.
- Append /admin to the end of your Alexandria URL.
- Click the Actions menu, then select Check For Updates.
- Select the update version from the list, then click Update. Your update will download to the Updates folder in your Alexandria Support folder.
- The download may take several minutes.
- The update screen will close automatically and you will be redirected to the login window.
- Once the installer has downloaded, and not before, quit Alexandria.
- Remove your existing Alexandria application using Add or Remove Programs in System Settings.
- Run the newly-downloaded Alexandria Installer.
Important Information
Version Numbering Change
As of 20.1, we've simplified our versioning scheme by dropping the series version. We now use the following:
- xx = academic year, beginning in June; yy = month
For example, 20.1 means:
- 20 = 2020 academic year
- 1 = The first monthly update (June)
Centralized Catalogs
If you have more sites than you are licensed for, contact our Sales team immediately at 1-800-347-6439. You can check this in Sites Management; the number of total sites plus the Union Site shows at the top, and the number you have licensed is at the bottom. The Union Site does not require an additional license.
Data Conversion
These Data Conversion notes are for Self Hosted users updating from v7 and switching from v6. If you are cloud-hosted or moving to cloud-hosted, we do everything for you!
Data conversions from older versions may not be supported. Before updating, please check the version you're currently running.
Updating from v7
If you're already running 7.17.12 or newer, you can update to the latest version. But if you're running an older version, you'll need to update a few times.
- Running 7.16.3? Update to 7.17.12 before updating to the latest version.
- Running 7.16.2? Update to 7.16.3, then to 7.17.12, before updating to the latest version.
- Running an even older version? Contact COMPanion Support for assistance. Depending on your current version, your upgrade path may go through one or more of the following: 7.15.3 → 7.16.2.6 → 7.16.3 → 7.17.12 → Current Version
Upgrading from v6
The process to update from 6.23.1 to v7 is quite a bit different than updating from a more recent version. Check out our v6 to v7 Conversion Guide for more information.
Running 6.22.9 or older? Update to 6.23.1, then to 7.17.12, before updating to the latest version.
Data conversion can take up to 10 minutes for a single database of average size or longer for larger collections and Centralized Catalogs, during which time the program will be inaccessible in your browser. Do not fear; it's still working. If you're concerned, check your server logs for a progress update.
