Library Setup

General Discussions
1

Hi Guys starting out with Plex Media Server but want to get my Multi Media sorted before adding it to the Library. I have read the forum on preferred and suggested naming and have decided on the following format, please advise if my format / sorting will cause problems for Plex. Basic layout if it a Single movie it goes under the root of Movies but as soon as there is more than one movie move it a subfolder

Is this viable or should I just drop it in the root?

/Media
/Movies
/Transformers
Transformers (2007)
Transformers Revenge of the Fallen (2009)
Ghost in the Shell (2017) {Movies Root Folder}

    /Movies.Kids
	/Kung Fu Panda
		Kung Fu Panda (2008)
		Kung Fu Panda 2 (2011)
    Dumbo.1941{Movies.Kids Root Folder}
/TV Shows
	/ The Grand Tour
		/ Season 01
			The.Grand.Tour.S01E01.720p.WEBRiP.x265.ShAaNiG
			The.Grand.Tour.S01E02.720p.WEBRiP.x265.ShAaNiG	
/TV Shows.Kids 
	/ Gravity Falls
		/ Season 01
			Gravity Falls S01E01 Tourist Trapped
			Gravity Falls S01E02 The Legend of the Gobblewonker
2

Plex is pretty forgiving for movies as long as the end file is titled correctly. It’s a little more particular when it comes to TV shows. Your structure looks good. I think there is a preference not to group movies in the same folder if they’re not the same movie… I violate this a bit.

I can’t recommend FileBot (a program) enough to help you make sure your files are named correctly. It’s especially useful for shows, in that it will do entire seasons in one fell swoop.

Best piece of advice I can give, especially as you gain a large library, is to perform this structure and naming outside of the library directory you set in Plex. Drop it in ready to go and it should be a happy experience. Avoid renaming files directly in the library if possible.

3

I agree with @AmazingRando24… movies should be fine however I recommend to skip the collections folder (grouping all Transformers movies). You’ll be able to do this in the actual library using inline collections (currently in beta, requiring the very latest beta PMS and online Plex Web).
https://www.plex.tv/blog/beginning-look-lot-like-collections/

As for the TV shows…
You should try to really match the show’s name in the episode prefix, e.g.
TV Shows > The Grand Tour > Season 01 > The Grand Tour S01E01 ... instead of TV Shows > The Grand Tour > Season 01 > The.Grand.Tour.S01E01 ....

As per AmazingRando24’s statement… filebot will do a great job renaming those for you.
If you’re on a Mac and this is only about light renaming, Finder will do the job just fine as well.

4

You might want to review the documentation on Media Preparation:

https://support.plex.tv/articles/categories/media-preparation/

I’ve found over time that the more strict I got to Plex’s naming conventions the better life was. I don’t have any problems with matching anymore. And Plex seems to be getting a little more strict with this, at least the DVR portion has.

5

Thanks Guys

Yes the TV Shows I still need to refine and was going to use FileBot to rename and order.
[Series]
[Season xx]
 [Series] – S01xE01 – [Episode Name]
I think the reason why I was placing movies in subfolders was more for ease of use for me to locate movie files. Think was more afraid that I go down this route of ordering Movies to make my life easy but end up Plex battles to find the media.

I think for now I will just continue and match movies to IMDB names and order TV Series according to recommendations and do some try and error tests

6

@“carl.vniekerk@gmail.com” said:
 [Series] – S01xE01 – [Episode Name]

This would be wrong. There must be no x after the season number

7

Sorry butter fingers.
S01E01
S01E02 …ect