I have 30+ libraries that I have created to divide up all my media. They were automatically listed in alphabetical order on the server, and this week after update, that order was lost. Suddenly the order makes no sense at all. I cannot find setting or a way to fix this.
It has now changed at the client end as well and looks a mess when people sign in.
NB: “Edit list order” does not apply to this as it only allows me to edit Plex’s own library list (does not include my libraries in the edit list).
NB: I am aware that pinning and sorting libraries is an option but it is not a solution and it should not be a NECESSITY. To expect my users to reorganise my libraries when they sign in is completely defeating the point of providing them with something useful and cool. And at the server end I should not need to rely on pinning at all.
I have tried removing cookies, hard reload, relogin. Does not help.
Here is an example of part of the library list and the strange order that it is listed in.
Server Version#: 1.21.1.3795
Just updated again to 1.21.1.3830 but it did not fix the problem
Unfortunately, this change has also carried through to the ordering of libraries on DLNA devices (such as my Sony TV). I had a library naming convention which forced TV shows to the start of the list - since these are the most common libraries I watch - but now all the movie libraries are listed first.
It would be great if Plex provided an option to allow users to decide their own library order, to avoid these arbitrary changes that Plex make from time to time.
Not sure why the order changed. However, you can re-order your libraries.
These screenshots are from Plex Web / Plex for Windows. Other clients such as Android TV, Smart TV apps, etc will be similar.
Move the mouse over a library name, select three vertical dots, select Reorder.
Click & hold on three horizontal lines next to library name. Drag to desired order.
When finished, click on X to leave reordering.
Another option is to delete all customization. You’ll be asked to choose which libraries to pin to your home page. They default to alphabetical order. You can then re-order as desired.
Thanks for your reply, your effort to assist is appreciated.
I do not have the reorder option in my list. This is what I have if I click on the three dots:
Based on your screen shot also having the word “unpin”, I suspect “reorder” is only available in the Pinned list. At the server end I do not have anything pinned because I shouldn’t need to.
As I have not used customisation/pinning, at this point in time there is nothing to reset.
Thank you, this further info post that you found looks promising, especially this comment (below). I hope they rectify it soon, as I don’t think we should have to re-create our library lists or reset all devices every time an update does something randomly odd to our library lists.
Reset Customization only seems to assist my pinned folders… not the order of libraries… I had mine numbered so my favorites were automatically on top for easy library (not pinned) scanning … and now I have no way to have order in my libraries … Way to end 2020 in a mess
Thanks again, but I have no need to pin anything at the server end - this also means there is nothing to reset, as resetting customisation applies only to pinned libraries.
I should say that in my view, this only half solves the problem. I don’t understand why Plex feels the need to change it from alphabetical at all. I also don’t see why they need to control the order in which we list our libraries. Perhaps providing a few default listing orders and then allowing us to modify from there would make the most sense.
Another bonehead “Fix” by PLEX… why would you mess with this at all??? And on top of this … the order they are showing up in makes no sense!! It’s not alphabetical or reverse or even last updated… Please fix the ordering ASAP!!!
I am pretty sure It is currently ordering by library type and then by the id of the library.
The way it is at the moment is playing havoc with my ocd… so much so that I might have to go and poke around in the database to see if I can re-number my libraries…
hmm, so interesting, I found an old post to change the ID for a library:
But It did not seem to work… every time I restarted my PMS it would reset the Library ID back to the old number, but find no media as I had changed the ID’s for all the items
So it appears that your libraries are held by plex online, so editing your local database will not propagate the changes to plex online… rather the other way. It will get the libraries from plex online and if your database is different it will change that…
So it seems you need to create a new (empty) Library once you have done this you can then swap the id.
Damm. It seems like it stores the library path online as well. As that just got overwritten as well…
Edit:
So you could change the ID’s, but is a load of hassle, so I gave up and downgraded back to 1.21.0.3711 and my ocd is restored
(although sadly the empty playlist tab is back, waited months for them to fix that, and when they did it give me this mess, so the empty tab is the lesser of 2 evils)
I too have many libraries since this change. My users are constantly telling me that they can’t find specific libraries because they are lost among the nonsensical order.
I would renumber my libraries if that still worked, but it would be a pain, to say the least.
I too hope the Plex developers come up with a sorting solution very soon.
This fact is well established in the discussions above, but is not a solution to the problem.
At the server end there should be no need to pin and organise the libraries. Allowing the default ordering to be alphabetical (as it was previously), is much more sensible, and at least allowed us to manage the list order we are delivering by playing around with library names.
As server managers we should be able to sort the library list in a user friendly way. As it is currently it makes my server look really disorganised. My users should be presented with a list that makes sense because I’ve set it up that way before delivering it to them. They should not be required to learn how to pin libraries in order to make sense of it all - that should be an optional extra, not a necessity.
