Movies (=main library. This is connected to the folder in which are the subfolders like Action, SiFi etc and then the movie. So 13 Sins would be like movies/Action/13 Sins/13 Sins.mkv
In this situation I only will see the movie thumbnails when I enter the SkyFall folder.
I would say that I understand this as my view is by folder. When I chance the view to Movies I see all the movies in alphabetic order and that is not what I want.
But…I have another library
Movies new (=main library). This is connected to the folder in which are the subfolders of the movies.
So Cars 3 would be like Movies New/Cars 3/Cars 3.mkv
In this situation I see the thumbnails the way I want to see them.
So it seems that when you go to deep (?) with subfolders they wont show up?
While typing this thread I suddenly thought, perhaps I have to make a action lib, a sifi lb etc to get waht I want? Right?
not sure what you really want
you know that even in movies view you can filter your movies by genres / collections / …? This is one of the key qol features so I don’t have to deal with folders.
to your point/question… Plex tends to be pretty adamant as to how to structure your movies. If you want to keep things as they are, you might want to consider assigning the different genre folders to your library (instead of the top-level Movies folder). However I suppose that way you’ll no longer be able to go the full way with your folder view.
btw… @Plex: anyway to deactivate folder view? (not a fan ;))
Just for your info I simplified my structure some time ago where there is an “AllMovies” folder with some alphabetical directories under that and in each alphabetical directory the are directories like “Alien Movies” under the “ABCDEFG” directory and “Harry Potter Movies” under “HIJKLMNO” and “Twilight Movies” under “PQRSTUVWXYZ.”
My Movie library points at “AllMovies” and every movie I have has its thumbnails generated just fine.
It should also be noted that I do not use individual movie sub-directories. I do not need or want any of the features that require each movie to have its own directory. I do not know if that matters at all but I know that a number of people do use individual movie sub-directories.
So a nested folder structure does not prevent generation of thumbnails (indexes). I also have two servers one on a PC running Windows 10 and another on my Shield Pro and both of them are working properly and have all their thumbnails.
You can put Movies into some kind of folder structure that makes sense to you, but Plex won’t care. Viewing by Folder with Plex is a PITA. It’s much better to just create Movie Libraries for Genres… to a point. I have 26 Libraries that make sense to me. You can explore another PITA - Collections - Hard to set up, hard to use, hard to get rid of when you find out you hate them.
No matter what you end up doing, Movies in Folders need to be named correctly - both the Movie and it’s Folder.
Example:
H:\TV Shows\ <— a tv show library folder - perhaps one of many tv show libraries
… The Expanse
…Season 01
…The Expanse - S01E01.mkv
…The Expanse - S01E02 - Episode Name Optional.mkv
…and so on
…Season 02
…The Expanse - S02E01.mkv
…The Expanse - S02E02 - Episode Name Optional.mkv
…and so on
If you want TV Shows to work - do it like that.
If you don’t want TV Shows to work - do anything else.
FileBot (link in my signature) can handle the naming and structuring for you automatically or manually in seconds.
What FileBot can’t do is remove possible embedded metadata in the Title Field of MP4/M4V files. Plex will read this info and prefer it over a perfect file name/structure, but you can combat that situation by moving Local Media Assets to the bottom of every agent list you can find. All tabs in TV Show and Movies here: https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/articles/200241558-Agents
Just drag LMA to the bottom of the list and drop it. If you do have embedded metadata this will cure the issue, if you don’t it won’t matter. LMA will do what it has to from the bottom. If you don’t use any MP4 Files - or never plan to use any - you can disregard this paragraph. If you do have some MP4/M4V files - or may have at some point - do the above.
Renaming/restructuring is best performed OUTSIDE the library and you may need to write a new bundle for the show or movie so The Plex Dance® was invented:
bring names and structures into compliance/Move LMA/etc
replace corrected show/movie into library
rescan library files
All Steps. In Order. No Shortcuts.
Here are my various libraries that may give you some ideas, but this will probably be considered overkill by many. It makes sense to me - until it doesn’t - then I can do something else.
One thing is certain… I would never think of viewing by folder as that’s just ignernt:
Thanks for all the information. In the meantime I foillowed my own path (sorry) and made just as I said at the end of my OT that Im goiing to make various libraries and so I did. Now it looks the way I like.
