Bug: Plex Cannot Find TV Posters/Backgrounds/Etc Unless They Are Only 1 Level Up From Media Files

[smann]

It seems that Plex latches onto the actual media files and will only search 1 folder level up for poster.jpg/background.jpg/etc files.

So take the following example:
TV Show/Season ##/S##E## - Episode Name/Filename.mkv

If you place the poster or background images in the TV Show folder above, then it won’t register since it’s 2 levels up from the media file that’s under another folder. You either need to put them in a season’s folder or move any of the .mkv files up a folder level (doesn’t matter what season or episode).

I understand this isn’t Plex’s preferred naming scheme, but this is super useful for containing many files related to each episode in their own subfolders.

In fact, with some testing, it looks like it doesn’t matter the naming scheme of the main folder, the season folder, nor the episode’s filename itself. It’s simply because the episodes are in a subfolder within their respective season folder.

The test was…

• Created a test structure:
  TV Show/Season ##/S##E## - Episode Name/Filename.mkv
• Refreshed metadata returned the first poster from TMDB for the main poster instead of the poster in the TV Shows folder
• Moved the .mkv episode up 1 folder level without changing anything else:
  TV Show/Season ##/Filename.mkv
• Refreshed metadata returned all correct locally stored images, even images in a different season’s folder

Then I moved everything back the way it was and moved the folder.jpg into the Season ## folder and that returned all correct images as well. So, it seems Plex seeks out the actual episode’s media location as a base point and then uses 1 folder up from there to look for the main poster/background/etc. So it found the season##.jpg files where it was looking for the main folder.jpg, and it couldn’t find the season##.jpg within the current folder, so it skipped all of them. Which is weird as to how it was able to find all the other images for the other seasons and background with only 1 episode in the correct subfolder, as they were still in the old folder structure.

In other words, this setup works…
TV Show/Season ##/Filename.mkv
TV Show/poster.jpg

But this setup does not work (despite the image being in the same exact location)…
TV Show/Season ##/S##E## - Episode Name/Filename.mkv
TV Show/poster.jpg

I understand what I have in the example isn’t exactly Plex’s naming standard, but it does appear to be a bug to me. The first folder within the library folder should house the main content for each movie/show, so I figured it would seek out the information from there on down, but it appears to work it’s way back from identifying an episode’s location. It would be great if Plex could implement a user-defined structure, or look for the images in all folders up until the library defined folder. Being able to store everything pertaining to a single episode in its own subfolder is super useful.

[drzoidberg33]

Adding additional folders to a TV show path structure is not supported and probably not something that will be supported any time in the near future.

Path traversal is something we’d like to keep to a minimum so we specifically only look at the paths described in the official documentation: https://support.plex.tv/articles/200220717-local-media-assets-tv-shows/

[smann]

Except that’s exactly how I have the pics named now. From your link…

To add a custom poster image for the series itself, name the image file as follows:

• /TV Shows/ShowName/Custom_ShowPoster_Name.ext

My current setup is…

• /TV Shows/ShowName/folder.jpg (for series poster, exactly as in the link)
• /TV Shows/ShowName/Season 01/season01.jpg (for season poster, exactly as in the link)
• /TV Shows/ShowName/Season 01/S01E01 - EpisodeName/Filename.mkv (for the episode, which breaks Plex’s ability to find those pics due to the extra S01E01 - EpisodeName folder)

The problem is that Plex doesn’t actually use what’s in that link to find those files, it will only find the poster/background/etc.jpg file if they are 1 level up from the media files. For example…

• TV Shows/ShowName/RandomExtraFolder1/RandomExtraFolder2/folder.jpg (for series poster, 1 folder level up from the following media file)
• TV Shows/ShowName/RandomExtraFolder1/RandomExtraFolder2/Season 01/Filename.mkv (when the media file is here)

That example returns the proper poster within Plex since the pic is only 1 level up from the media file despite the extra folders, but putting the pic in the ShowName folder like in the link with the folder structure shown in that second example means that Plex cannot find the pic.

In other words, Plex is not looking at the paths shown in that link. It is only looking at folders 1 level up from where it finds the media, regardless of path structure. Again, I say this is a design flaw or bug, or at the very least you need to change the incorrect info in that link.

[HTPC_Lover]

@smann

/TV Shows/ShowName/Season 01/S01E01 - EpisodeName/Filename.mkv

Where did you find that extra episode folder and its proper naming in the doc?

IMHO with that extra folder the scanner will not work any longer as expected because it has to follow the rules for folder/file locations mentioned in the doc. And AFAIK you break the rules.

So move episode files into the season folder or episode and season files into the show folder. Both will work.

If you need it your way feel free to add a feature request. But I doubt this will ever fulfilled. There are TV shows with over 1,700 episodes. Scanning 1,700 extra folders for just one TV show would be overkill.

[smann]

Where did you find that extra episode folder and its proper naming in the doc?

Did you not read what was written at all? It was implied that the naming in the third bullet wasn’t specifically in the link when I mentioned “exactly as in the link” for the first 2 lines, but not for that line. Doesn’t change the fact that the link incorrectly states that Plex will find those files if you put them in those folders. It actually doesn’t rely on that structure at all from my tests.

The work-around is currently moving the first episode in the TV Show up and out of its folder. Obviously not the desired outcome.

If you need it your way feel free to add a feature request.

Lol not to diss on them hard, but since when has Plex actually cared about feature requests? There’s a feature request from 2013 for comic, book, etc integration with almost 3k votes that has been continually ignored. Plex finally introduced Editions after years of people asking and did it in the most idiotic way (simply add a little tag). And it is only available for movies despite music having many more editions available. Their “Play Version” of media still only shows Mbps and resolution, making it useless despite many years of complaints for increased info. Honestly, it seems feature requests are only fulfilled when an employee wants that specific feature. Otherwise, it’s ignored.

Scanning those extra folders wouldn’t add much time with modern components, and it would only result in an initial delay when adding files. Also the vast majority of people don’t have 1,700 episode shows. That would be extremely rare. Heck, add a simple disclaimer saying “Straying from the recommended structure can result in increased computational time and slower response when using our program”. Ok, I’ll gladly tick that checkbox in agreement to this program being more user-friendly and less Plex-specific.

I’m sorry, but the excuses on this forum for Plex not being anywhere near its actual capability after all these years are just getting downright ridiculous at this point.