I’m sure I am not advanced as many on here but have previously been using collections for both movies and TV shows.
If I go to TV Shows and over to the collection tab I can see the collections I created as expected. While in that section I can look at the tags and remove and add as desired.
However, ifI go to a newly added piece of content and try and add it to a collection. No collection shows as an option. I can create a new collection of the same name but not add it to an existing collection. If I do so both will show in the tabbed collection section separately
Is the content you are attempting to add to this collection in the same Library as where you FIRST created the collection?
EDIT: Here is my original post where I made a kind of tutorial on how to add cross-library items to the same collection. I did a bunch of work typing it before I reviewed your post to see if I was answering the correct question. I feel like you might already know all this, so I asked a clarifying question to see if I am on the right track. I am going to post this if the question above is NO. Ignore this if your answer is Yes
When you attempt to add a Collection tag to an item, if there is not an existing collection of that name in that library, you must create one on the spot. Then, it can serve as a kind of “auto-complete” if you attempt to add that tag to another item in that library. If you wish to add a cross-library tag (a movie and a TV Show), you must Create the tag in both libraries.
When you add the second item to that collection, it looks like that tag doesn’t exist, and that it would be empty. But if you then go over to the collections tab and inspect the collection, you will see the other out-of-library items that also belong to that tag. It’s a bit wonky, but this may be the best we can get until Plex works on allowing cross-library integration (I can dream).
For example, I have a “Jackass” collection which includes the show. In the collections tab for my show, it appears that there is only a single item in it, the show itself:
If I open the collection, you can see that it displays items from a different library as well. It doesn’t integrate it with the show’s listing, but at least they are together:
The Files (both the original or old files and the new content) are in the same folder in the same drive and both in the TV Shows Library. One is not in movies and the other in TV Shows. Additionally NO collections show on the new content and I have collection for TV, Movies, Music and most of my libraries.
So in this case I would think it would show something if not the original collection tags.
Do you see the “Collection” tag field itself on these new items? Could you show what happens when you type in the first letter of a known collection into this field?
What happens if you type in the name of a known existing collection (exactly the same name, down to the same capital letters)?
The first is when I go to “add to collection” from the content. The latter is to show the collection tab in the same library and that there are existing collections including those starting with the same letters.
I haven’t had any experience with the Add to… > Add to collection… menu. I have never used that. I always edited the item using the pencil icon and went to the tag field itself.
If you are using the Add to… option, that appears for many items types (season, episode, or entire show). If you are selecting items on the Home menu or in a library’s Recently Added in it’s recommended tab, I think the Add to… function shows up, but it’s behavior is unknown to me. I’ve only ever used the collection tag, which is only available on the show level.
Anyone had any experience with the behavior of collections using Add to…?
When you use that drop down that says “add to” it doesn’t work from a recently added row
If you pick those items to add from your library view it has to be a full show that you’re adding
If you pick a season or individual episode the collections don’t show in that pop up menu. Even if you want to add it to a known collection in that library.
ah… you’re right it is only not showing on the “Recently added” group.
It is odd though that it does allow you to add to a collection but does not pull the list of existing and creates a new collection.
However I am able to add to a collection but have to do it from the library or search. So your explanation seems to be correct even though I find it odd. Thanks for the insight.