I’m setting up plex from scratch. I know when I first set it up someone told me how to organize movies by collection but I can’t remember how to display them. If there is an easy way to do add them to collections instead of individually I’d appreciate that too.
Currently I have a g:\movies folder and in it several subfolders e.g. scifi, action, comedy etc.
In each of those folders are movies I’ve organized according to what category I would search for it. Each folder has a couple of hundred. So if I could tag all of them as being in a particular collection that would be great.
The other issue when I go to the movies folder I can sort by title and other things but I don’t see collections. To be clear - if I select the movies category I’d see a little poster representing the different categories and then when I selected scifi for example it would show all my scifi movies.
I think at the top - there was recommended, library and collections the way I had it set up. Perhaps a filter - sorry it has been so long.
How to see collections: Along the top of your browser, you will see a few words. Recommended (a selection of rows of items from your Library), Library (a full list of all your items in your Library), Collections (a list of, well, your collections of movies), and possibly also a 4th menu Categories (a way to view movies by genre). Click the “Collections” menu. I think you may have to have a collection first to see this menu item.
I suggest you enable automatic creation of collections (in Manage Library > Edit), set to at least 2 or more items. This will allow Plex to pull the “Collection” menu for your movies automatically when it pulls all the other metadata, allowing all the (for example) Indiana Jones movies to be added to a collection without you needing to make one. I suggest 2 or more, otherwise Plex will make collections for a movie if you only have 1 of them such as the one and only Matrix movie (which Plex bizarrely seems to think there are sequels. Pfft, as if!)
Apply collection tag to multiple movies at once: An easy way to apply a collection tag to multiple movies at once would be to use the multi-selector ability. First, go to the Library menu for your Movie library, and click the middle “Movies” drop-down in the upper-left and change it to “Folders”, to view your Library based on your folder structure. Navigate to your movie folder, and you can select multiple files by clicking on the circle that appears to the left of the item when you point at it. This will select the movie. Scroll to the bottom of the page, and hold CTRL and click the last item’s circle. This should select everything within the folder. Within the yellow-edged box along the top of this menu, click on the Pencil icon to edit everything at once. Go to the “Tags” menu and enter a Collection you wish to add them to. If no collection currently exists by that name, click the “Add xxxxx…” line to instantly create a collection, then click the name again to select it. Click “Save Changes” to apply. Repeat this for each folder that you want to create a collection for.
Collections don’t appear in the movies category: This is likely a Library configuration issue. Edit the library (click Manage Library > Edit…) and go to “Advanced”. There should be the word “Collections” word with a drop down to the right of it (For me, it was immediately after the big red “Delete Preview Thumbnails” button). This is where you set if Collections will be shown in the main Library view. You can select one of 3 behaviors:
Hide collections but show their items. This will simply hide all collections from the main library view, forcing people that want to browse by collection to change over to the Collections tab to find them.
Show Collections and their items. This lets you see all the Indiana Jones movies in your library, but also a new item for the collection itself. I prefer this option, but it can be confusing for some people that think there is one more movie in a series than there really is, especially if they don’t read the Collection poster text that states it is one.
Hide items which are in collections. This will hide all movies that are in collections, and force anyone who wants to watch them to find the collection menu item to watch a movie. This may be my least favorite, since some movies have a title that does not fit in with the rest of the series. This can result in someone looking for the Da Vinci Code sequel “Angels and Demons”, and cannot find it. Instead, they would have to find the “Robert Langdon” collection to be able to watch it. This can lead people to believe you do not have a particular movie.
