How can I limit when a user can submit a renewal request?
Answer
Prior to the February 2021 release, Alma allowed users to submit renewal requests any time after an item was checked out. The February 2021 release contains a new Loan Terms of Use (TOU) policy called "Time frame when loan renewal is allowed" that allows you to set limits on when a user can submit a renewal request. For instance, you can configure your Loan TOUs to allow renewal requests only if a item is due within the next 7 days. Once you add a "Time frame when loan renewal is allowed" to a TOU, users will not see the Renew button in Primo until the loan's due date is within the time frame you configured.
In order to add the "Time frame when loan renewal is allowed" to your Loan TOUs, you will need the Fulfillment Administrator role. If you would like to change the message a user sees in Primo for items that are not within the time frame you've configured, you will need the Discovery Administrator role.
Configuring a Renewal Time Frame
1. Go to Configuration | Fulfillment | Physical Fulfillment | Advanced Policy Configuration and configure the desired "Time frame when loan renewal is allowed" fulfillment policy. For details on how to configure a fulfillment policy, please see How do I configure a Fulfillment Policy?
2. Go to Configuration | Fulfillment | Physical Fulfillment | Terms of Use and Policies and add the "Time frame when loan renewal is allowed" fulfillment policy you created to your Loan TOUs. For details on how to edit a TOU, please see How do I configure a Terms of Use (TOU)?
3. Once you add a "Time frame when loan renewal is allowed" fulfillment policy to your Loan TOUs, users will not see the Renew button until the due date is within the time frame you configured. Until then, the item will be listed as "NOT RENEWABLE" and users will see a message stating "Cannot Renew This Item. Time frame when loan renewal is allowed is X days before due date." The language of these messages can be edited by going to Configuration | Discovery | Display Configuration | Labels and editing the Library Card Labels table.
