Server Version#: 1.41.5.9626
Player Version#: 4.145.1
The “contains” mode in Advanced Filters is not working correctly.
For example, I have a video series named [DramaID][Year]Title S1 EP1. While I can successfully find this video by searching for “Title” using the standard search, the “Title contains” rule in Advanced Filters matches absolutely nothing if I only input “Title”. It only works if I enter the full string [DramaID][Year]Title. However, since the DramaID is a random number, I cannot know it in advance.
The only other way to get it to match is to manually add a space before “Title” for each individual item. This defeats the purpose, as I wanted to use this to create Smart Collections for automatic categorization. This bug renders the feature completely unusable.
I don’t think I can reproduce this.
I’ve tested the behavior with both a regular tv show library and an “other-video” library.
I can successfully for an episode title containing a specific string – let’s say “christmas”. Fun fact… it appears like Plex will not only filter by the “regular” episode title (as it’s displayed in my library language) but also based on the episode’s original title.
Based on your file naming, I’m somewhat skeptical we’re actually talking about a tv-show library, do we? Would you mind explaining your use case a bit more?
Another thought… have you considered upgrading your server to the current public release (version 1.42.2.10156; your version seems to date back to March of last year).
I was previously using the latest Plex in official DSM7 community software sources. Following your advice, I attempted to upgrade to 1.42.2.10156, but found that the issue persists. I also tried updating to the Beta version, 1.43.0.10389, and the problem exists there as well.
I am using an “Other Videos” library. I do this because these are very rare series, making it nearly impossible for Plex to match the correct metadata. Therefore, I use the Plex Video Files Scanner + Personal Media Agent to create this “Other Videos” library.
In this configuration, the video title is the actual filename. However, as I mentioned, if there is no space preceding the specific title text, the match fails.
You can reproduce this by naming a media file [00000][2025]The Dummy Video Title S1 EP1 and creating a library that includes it. You will be able to find this video via Plex global search using “The Dummy Video Title.” However, entering “The Dummy Video Title” in Advanced Filters - Title - contains will not match any videos.
Interestingly, it can be matched using [00000][2025]The Dummy Video Title, [00000][2025]The, or Dummy Video Title. It seems that the “contains” condition requires a space to break up the string in order to work correctly.
@Amamiya thanks for the video. It seems that any word that is prefixed with ] will be excluded. [00000][2025] [hide]The [hide]Dummy Video Title = The and Dummy will not return the title under the same advanced filter. I’ll create an issue for this. However this is also something that you can fix by adding a space between any word and the ].
[DramaID][Year]Title S1 EP1 > [DramaID][Year] Title S1 EP1
Many of our naming instructions mention having Optional_Info at the end of the file name. As the label suggests, it’s optional, but many people like to use it for information about the files in question. Such optional info is ignored by Plex when matching content with legacy agents, but it is used in the Plex TV Series agent to give a hint for matching. If you want info to be ignored put the optional info in brackets. e.g. /Band of Brothers (2001) - s01e01 - Currahee [1080p Bluray].mkv
[Optional_Info] is ignored when wrapped in []. Though it is not explicitly called out, you can see in many of the examples throughout our support articles that there is space before and after [] or any other special operator. Given the example from our articles, Title (Year) - S1 EP1 [DramaID] would be the proper naming.
Thank you for the response. However, since these files are automatically downloaded via RSS feeds from Private Tracker Site, they must retain their original filenames and directory structure to continue seeding. Therefore, I cannot rename the files to add spaces.
This is precisely why I rely on Smart Collections to organize these videos. Previously, when I used DSM’s Video Station, I utilized Smart Collections for this exact purpose, and it worked perfectly. However, since Video Station is no longer supported, I switched to Plex as a replacement—specifically because I heard Plex’s Smart Collections feature worked “out of the box.”
Encountering this issue has left me at a loss, and I am honestly unsure of what steps to take next.
After switching from Video Station to Plex, I really fell in love with the interface and the user experience, so I immediately purchased a lifetime Plex Pass to show my support. I sincerely hope Plex can resolve this issue; fixing it would truly make this the best media center available.
