Collection tags not remembered when an episode is re-added

[Powerdude]

Server Version#: 4.30.2
Player Version#:

Hi,

I have my server to delete shows after a week. I also tag my shows to be part of different collections. When a new episode of a show has been added when there are no others present, the series seems to lose the collection tags even though it “remembers” that it should be deleted after a week once viewed. Can something be done so that these collection tags are also remembered?

thanks

[Popupkiller]

Yes. I came looking for this post, so that I could post my own if its not here.
I am tired of having to re-add collections everytime a new season of a show starts.
For a while now I’ve had to keep 1 episode of each show unwatched, to that it wouldn’t get deleted, but this is not ideal, as it makes playlists based on watched status a bad thing.

As an example. I watch all the Arrowverse shows in order of airdate, as they have crossovers.
To do this I have set up a custom filter showing episodes, listed by Air Date, then filter to only show shows in the Arrowverse collection, then create a smart playlist.

Now you would maybe ask, why don’t I just make it using a filer based on show title, instead of collection?
That’s because you can’t edit the smart playlist, and if a new Arrowverse show starts, I have to remake the playlist. If I make it by collection, I can just add the show to that collection.

But as OP points out, when the last episode is gone, Plex doesn’t remember the collection info, and you have to manually add it again.

I propose that a show doesn’t disappear from the Plex Library, when the last episode is deleted, just as collections stick around even though they are empty.
Maybe an optional setting to auto delete them after a certain time, say 1 year or more, to clear out shows that are ended.