Movie Collection Subfolder Support // mod: create collections based on folder structure

[Zero_Cool_GOS]

I would like to see some new features around how movies are organized both on disk and within the system.

In my movies folder I have:

Movie A (2018)
Movie B (2015)
Movie C (2010)...

But if I have a collection of movies, for example all the Harry Potter films I would like to have them in a folder:

Harry Potter
     Harry Potter and The Sorcerers Stone (2001)
     Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets (2002)
     Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)...

I can do this currently but that means I have to add each “Collection” individually to my Movies Library.

So what I would like to see is a way that I can store collections of movies in sub-folders, without having to add each collection one at a time, and then the Movie Library is searching and indexing many folders. Its also just a pain. If we could add a tag to a folder name like “Collect(namehere)” to identify a collection vs a single film then the system would know to go into that sub-folder to look for films. Also have it not just go one level but multiple levels.

Such as:

_Collect_Disney
    _Collect_Marvel
         _Collect_IronMan
               IronMan (2009)
               IronMan 2 (2012)
    _Collect_StarWars
         Star Wars (1977)
         Star Wars Empire Strikes Back (1980)
         Star Wars Return of the Jedi (1983)
    _Collect_Pixar...

What would also be nice is to create playlists based on collections and sub-collections. This could also be helpful in setting the collections tag in the media file.

[supafli420]

I too feel this would be useful, especially as I have home videos of my kids (emphasis on MY kids), which aren’t going to be fed by a scraper. So something like a folder for “Kids” then a subfolder “Kid 1”, “Kid2”. For the home video users, which is really the reason I have plex, this would be a great solution.

[kamhouse]

I would like this too (five votes tied up elsewhere).

Maybe parent folder could be tagged as Folder Name -group or something similar to tell the Plex scanner to drop down one level before scanning that folder.

[yozza0]

I like this idea (and just voted for it).

Before seeing this topic I created a similar, but different suggestion: Allow option to add tags and/or collections to Library folders

As far as I understand it, this suggestion is based on using a naming convention on the folder structure on disk to allow the Plex scanner to automatically apply a collection to items in that folder.

My suggestion takes a different approach: apply tags and/or collections to folders added within Plex Libraries (without changing the actual folder structure on disk).

So the difference in approach boils down to whether changes are made a) on the disk, or b) within Plex.

I think there is value in both approaches. However, I think this one is probably more flexible/granular though.

You could make it more flexible by also allowing tags to be applied in a similar way. Using the style of the OP, something like Tag-. e.g.

_Tag-MCU_IronMan (2009)

Alternatively, a “plex metadata” text file containing a list of tags and/or collections to be applied to items within the folder could be placed within a folder. This would have the following benefits

1. The folder names on disk wouldn’t look so complicated/messy
2. You could apply multiple tags and/or collections
3. It would be easier manage. e.g you could simply copy and paste this file to another folder and instantly update the tags/collections.
4. You could specify whether each tag/collection applies to items in subfolders as well, or just items within the current folder

[yozza0]

@yozza0

Alternatively, a “plex metadata” text file containing a list of tags and/or collections to be applied to items within the folder could be placed within a folder. This would have the following benefits

1. The folder names on disk wouldn’t look so complicated/messy
2. You could apply multiple tags and/or collections
3. It would be easier manage. e.g you could simply copy and paste this file to another folder and instantly update the tags/collections.
4. You could specify whether each tag/collection applies to items in subfolders as well, or just items within the current folder

Upon further reflection, I think this is actually the most flexible, granular, easy, and clean approach.

To elaborate slightly, you could (optionally) place a e.g. plex.txt file within a folder you wished to apply tags/collections to.

This plex.txt could be structured something like:

# Plex metadata file

# Add each tag you wish to apply on a seperate line.
# To apply the tag to items in subfolders as well, append with "-subfolders"
Tags:
IronMan
Antman
Phase2-subfolders

# Add each tag you wish to apply on a seperate line. 
# To apply the collection to items in subfolders as well, append with "-subfolders"
Collections: 
MCU-subfolders
Avengers

[patboersma]

A metadata file in a folder would be a great solution to save a TV show’s collection settings between seasons, if you’re automatically deleting episodes.

Example: My wife loves Real Housewives, so I record the latest episodes for her. There’s so many spinoff series, I place them in a collection to keep my library organized. She doesn’t need to rewatch them, so I delete them a week after viewing. When there’s no episodes left, the metadata and collection information for that show is lost, but the empty show folder is still there on my server. When a new season comes out, the show is added back but I need to manually add the collection again. Pulling collection information from a file in that folder, the same way a poster would be saved, would solve this problem.

[LostOnTheLine]

@patboersma

When there’s no episodes left, the metadata and collection information for that show is lost

So, there’s a kinda workaround that you can do to make them not disappear. I use it for a different purpose, but I think it might work for yours. Get a short Placeholder Video & name it S01E00 or S00E100 or S99E00. If you have Plex delete files after they are watched I’d suggest making the file Read-Only but I don’t use the auto-delete so I’m not exactly sure how that will work. I do this specifically to hold the artwork for things I don’t have yet, so it will preserve the Metadata. Particularly things like making a poster to match the ones I have for a new season. The show hasn’t aired yet, but I have the artwork & I want to see how it looks. Usually I’ll keep it there until an episode is recorded, but oftentimes I never delete it.

@yozza0

a “plex metadata” text file containing a list of tags and/or collections to be applied to items within the folder could be placed within a folder

@patboersma

A metadata file in a folder would be a great solution

Earlier this year we got a new helper file that this fits with perfectly. The .plexmatch file allows you to give “Match Hints” as Plex calls them to the Scanner/Agent. Plex says “Warning: This is an advanced feature and is not intended for general users.” but so far it is not very advanced & doesn’t do very much at all.
Right now this is mostly for things like when a show has a tricky name. I had an issue in the past with the show 3x3 Eyes because Plex recognizes 3x3 as “Season 3 Episode 3” so the files 3x3 Eyes S01E01 & 3x3 Eyes S01E02 & 3x3 Eyes S02E04 would be recognized as different version of S03E03.

But I think this .plexmatch has a lot of potential. I have a feature suggestion for Custom Episode Ordering using the .plexmatch which would be for things like if you want the Seasons split differently, or if you have a show that has a movie after it & you want the movie as a season. An example would be Firefly, I have the movie Serenity as S02E02 so I can have the Movie Poster as the season Poster so it looks nice. But I had to put in the Information manually & it’s not recognized as a matched episode.

But the file you are talking about exists now. It just doesn’t do what you want it to… Yet.

It would be easy to have it

• .plexmatch

# Movie Collections 
# TheMovieDB ID Matching & to show folder structure
TMDBid: 671: /Wizard/Hogwarts/Harry Potter & the Philosopher's Stone (2001)/
TMDBid: 672: /Wizard/Hogwarts/Harry Potter & the Chamber of Secrets (2002)/
TMDBid: 673: /Wizard/Hogwarts/Harry Potter & the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)/
TMDBid: 674: /Wizard/Hogwarts/Harry Potter & the Goblet of Fire (2005)/
TMDBid: 675: /Wizard/Hogwarts/Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix (2007)/
TMDBid: 767: /Wizards/Hogwarts/Harry Potter & the Half-Blood Prince (2009)/
TMDBid: 12444: /Wizard/Hogwarts/Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows Part 1 (2010)/
TMDBid: 12445: /Wizard/Hogwarts/Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows Part 2 (2011)/
TMDBid: 259316: /Wizard/Ilvermorny/Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them (2016)/
TMDBid: 338952: /Wizard/Ilvermorny/Fantastic Beasts The Crimes of Grindelwald (2018)/
# Proposed Collection Tag
collect: Wizarding World: /Wizard/.
collect: Hogwarts: /Wizard/Hogwarts/.
collect: Fantastic Beasts: /Wizard/Ilvermorny/.

• In This example you’d have all of your Harry Potter movies in the folder D:\Movies\Wizard\ with all the Hogwarts movies in the folder D:\Movies\Wizard\Hogwarts\ & all the Fantastic Beasts movies in the folder D:\Movies\Wizard\Ilvermorny\
• The .plexmatch file would be in the D:\Movies\Wizard\ folder
• All the movies in the folder D:\Movies\Wizard\ would go into a Collection called Wizarding World
• All the movies in the folder D:\Movies\Wizard\Hogwarts\ would go into a Collection called Hogwarts
• All the movies in the folder D:\Movies\Wizard\Ilvermorny\ would go into a Collection called Fantastic Beasts

[larskjandersen]

As we have seen with Editions lately, which can sort editions if you put it in {edition-Director’s Cut} for example, you should be able to name a folder like “Carry On {collection}” where the subfolders are automatically added to the collection Carry On, maybe you could even put an image in the collection-folder, make it automatically the collection-poster.

As for metadata files, I am all for that, though currently I am advocating NFO support, but PlexMatch is a pretty sure sign that Plex is going to try to reinvent the wheel on this. In which case I hope there will be an easy way to build and manage all the PlexMatch files, rather than writing them all manually.

[kai253]

I would like to say if you could add content to a smart collection by folder I’d be able to isolate all my music to be in smart playlists for their respective genre based off the folders I have placed them in. I WISH

[tom80H]

@kai253

if you could add content to a smart collection by folder

There’s a separate suggestion for that…

Feature Request: File Path filter // Automatic dynamic Full Pathname tags & associated Filter

We have other requests that are similar to this but not the same. What I would like is to have a class of user tags for all media files that would be dynamically and automatically created based on the full pathname of the media object and to add a filter option for selecting these dynamic tags in all the players. So every path name Text for a media object and it is the full path including folder and all nested sub folder names and file names, plex media server would break up into discrete wor…

@kai253

smart playlists for their respective genre based off the folders

You can create smart playlists/collections based on genres, as they’re stored in your server‘s database (derived from online or embedded metadata, depending on your library‘s configuration).

[Zoozler]

Would like to store collections at the folder level and import that collection title automatically by some formatting parameter of how you name the folder

expanding on
https://support.plex.tv/articles/naming-and-organizing-your-movie-media-files/
https://support.plex.tv/articles/naming-and-organizing-your-tv-show-files/

/Movies
   /Movie #1 Title (YYYY)
   /Movie #2 Title (YYYY)
   /Movie #3 Title (YYYY)
   ...

Import groups of movies into custom collections based on the existing folder structure using some formatting character as in [ ] below example or \# Collection Title to distinguish it different then movie folders

/Movies
   /Movie #1 Title (YYYY)
   /Movie #2 Title (YYYY)
   /Movie #3 Title (YYYY)
   ...

   /[Collection Title #A]
      /Movie #A1 Title (YYYY)
      /Movie #A2 Title (YYYY)
      /Movie #A3 Title (YYYY)
      Collection_A_poster.jpg
      Collection_A_fanart.jpg

   /[Collection Title #B]
      /Movie #B1 Title (YYYY)
      /Movie #B2 Title (YYYY)
      /Movie #B3 Title (YYYY)
      Collection_B_poster.jpg
      Collection_B_fanart.jpg

I know you can make a custom collection and base the filter to contain “Folder Location” if you also imported that folder into library explicitly but this can get tedious to do through multiple libraries and collections

The existing option for Automatic Collections which is great, but
the Movie Database only has collection data for sequels not “universes”.

There will not be a “MCU Collection” but there will be an Iron Man collection for example.

https://support.plex.tv/articles/201273953-collections/

/Movies
   /[MCU Collection]
         / Iron Man (2008)
         / The Avengers (2012)
         / Ant-Man (2015)

or potentially expanding on the {} logic for tagging movie folders with collections they are associated with which also lets you open it up to tagging movie folders to import and associate to multiple custom collections

/Movies/MovieName (Release Date) [Collection A Title] [Collection B Title]

example ::

/Movies
   /Batman Begins (2005) {imdb-tt0372784} [Batman Movies] [DC Universe Movies]
      Batman Begins (2005) {imdb-tt0372784}.mp4