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<h1>Patron import</h1>

<p>The patron import tool can be used at any time to add patrons in bulk. It is commonly used in universities and schools when a new batch of students registers.</p>

<h2>Creating Patron File</h2>

<p>Your Koha installation comes with a blank CSV file that you can use as a template for your patron records. If you would like to create the file yourself, make sure that your file has the following fields in this order as the header row:</p>

<blockquote>cardnumber, surname, firstname, title, othernames, initials, streetnumber, streettype, address, address2, city, state, zipcode, country, email, phone, mobile, fax, emailpro, phonepro, B_streetnumber, B_streettype, B_address, B_address2, B_city, B_state, B_zipcode, B_country, B_email, B_phone, dateofbirth, branchcode, categorycode, dateenrolled, dateexpiry, gonenoaddress, lost, debarred, debarredcomment, contactname, contactfirstname, contacttitle, guarantorid, borrowernotes, relationship, ethnicity, ethnotes, sex, password, flags, userid, opacnote, contactnote, sort1, sort2, altcontactfirstname, altcontactsurname, altcontactaddress1, altcontactaddress2, altcontactaddress3, altcontactstate, altcontactzipcode, altcontactcountry, altcontactphone, smsalertnumber, privacy, patron_attributes </blockquote>

<p style="color: #990000;">Important: The 'password' value should be stored in plain text, and will be converted to a Bcrypt hash (which is an encrypted version of the password).</p>

<ul>
    <li>If your passwords are already encrypted, talk to your systems administrator about options</li>
</ul>

<p style="color: #990000;">Important: Date formats should match your system preference, and must be zero-padded, e.g. '01/02/2008'.</p>

<p style="color: #990000;">Important: The fields 'branchcode' and 'categorycode' are required and must match valid entries in your database.</p>

<p style="background-color: #ffe599">Tip : If loading patron attributes, the 'patron_attributes' field should contain a comma-separated list of attribute types and values.</p>
<ul>
	<li>The attribute type code and a colon should precede each value.
<ul>
	<li>For example: "INSTID:12345,BASEBALL:Cubs"</li>
	<li>This field must be wrapped in quotes if multiple values are defined.</li>
	<li>Since values can contain spaces, additional doubled-quotes may be required:
<ul>
	<li>"INSTID:12345,BASEBALL:Cubs,""BASEBALL:White Sox"""</li>
</ul>
</li>
	<li>When replacing a patron record, any attributes specified in the input file replace all of the attribute values of any type that were previously assigned to the patron record.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>

<h2>Importing Patrons</h2>

<p>Once you have created your file, you can use the Patron Import Tool to bring the data into Koha.</p>

<ul>
	<li>Choose your CSV file and choose to match on 'Cardnumber' to prevent adding of duplicate card numbers to the system</li>
	<li>Next you can choose default values to apply to all patrons you are importing
<ul>
	<li>ex. If you're importing patrons specific to one library you can use the field on the Import form to apply the branchcode to all those you are importing.</li>
</ul>
</li>
	<li>Finally you need to decide on what data you want to replace if there are duplicates.
<ul>
	<li>A matching record is found using the field you chose for matching criteria to prevent duplication</li>
	<li>If you included patron attributes in your file you can decide whether to add your values to existing values or erase existing values and enter only your new values.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>

<p><strong>See the full documentation for Patron Import in the <a href="http://koha-community.org/manual/[% helpVersion %]/html/03_tools.html#patron-import">manual</a> (online).</strong></p>

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