# Naming Files for Plex **URL:** \ **Category:** General Discussions\ **Created:** [July 11, 2017, 11:46pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/naming-files-for-plex/198762 "2017-07-11T23:46:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![belo83](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc79bd/32.png) [@belo83](https://forums.plex.tv/u/belo83)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2017, 11:46pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/naming-files-for-plex/198762/1 "2017-07-11T23:46:48Z")
I have 17 seasons of the simpsons in my library. Plex doesn’t seem to understand that it’s all one tv show and separates it out by season in my library. I ran them all through therenamer and they are all in this format now: The Simpsons.S03E09.Saturdays of Thunder Loading the whole folder into itunes and itunes pics up everything but the episode number just fine. Plex still doesn’t seem to care and I can’t find anyplace in plex to edit the metadata for season. Can anyone else help please? Most of my tv shows appear just fine, but i have some others that don’t play well either. thanks in advance. ---
**Author:** ![BigWheel](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/bigwheel/32/78783_2.png) [@BigWheel](https://forums.plex.tv/u/BigWheel)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2017, 11:58pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/naming-files-for-plex/198762/2 "2017-07-11T23:58:38Z")
You should have a folder “TV” or whatever that is the one you add to the library when creating/editing it in that you should have a folder for each show TV/Simpsons, with all the episode files in it ( or season folders then episode files ) . do not put all the episodes loose in the TV folder that naming is fine. The only thing i can think of that might cause an issue if if they are mp4 files and the embedded metadata is different on each causing the local media agent to see them as different shows. You can also merge them by selecting them all then merge ![](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/uploads/default/original/3X/d/0/d00341148f8ab49da73c65f6bb0f182f9a54a0b4.png) ---
**Author:** ![OttoKerner](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/ottokerner/32/10079_2.png) [@OttoKerner](https://forums.plex.tv/u/OttoKerner)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2017, 11:55am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/naming-files-for-plex/198762/3 "2017-07-12T11:55:09Z")
> @belo83 said: > I ran them all through therenamer and they are all in this format now: The Simpsons.S03E09.Saturdays of Thunder Please teach TheRenamer the correct naming schema for Plex. What you are using is not correct. [https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/articles/200220687-Naming-Series-Season-Based-TV-Shows](https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/articles/200220687-Naming-Series-Season-Based-TV-Shows) 1. Look up your show on [TheTVDB](http://thetvdb.com/ "TheTVDB") 2. Take the title as it is used on TheTVDB. If there is something in parentheses, take that too. If the title contains invalid characters (depends on your file system), like `§ : % *`, simply leave them out. 3. Check the [naming and the folder structure](https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/articles/200220687-Naming-Series-Season-Based-TV-Shows "naming and the folder structure") of your show. Name the top folder of the show exactly after the title on TheTVDB. No abbreviations. No additional subfolders. No aliases. 4. Name the episode files according to the above linked naming guide. Use the same title as for the top folder. `Show's Title - s01e01 - additional info.ext` (‘- additional info’ can be left out) 5. After you corrected the naming and folder structure, perform the [Plex Dance](https://forums.plex.tv/discussion/comment/908454/#Comment_908454 "Plex Dance") with all files for this show. ---
**Author:** ![Coxeroni](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/coxeroni/32/21481_2.png) [@Coxeroni](https://forums.plex.tv/u/Coxeroni)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2017, 12:11pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/naming-files-for-plex/198762/4 "2017-07-12T12:11:57Z")
I don’t want to be a killjoy, but for me `Show's.Title.S01E01.mkv` works just fine on all of my shows. No blanks is easier to handle on linux systems in general. Maybe it is the omitted Episode name or the maybe @belo83 uses mp4 with embedded tags. Who knows… ---
**Author:** ![drinehart](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/drinehart/32/4332_2.png) [@drinehart](https://forums.plex.tv/u/drinehart)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2017, 6:35pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/naming-files-for-plex/198762/5 "2017-07-12T18:35:44Z")
@Coxeroni - the difference between your way and Otto’s way is that your way MAY work fine, Otto’s way WILL work fine, all other things being equal. ---
**Author:** ![Coxeroni](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/coxeroni/32/21481_2.png) [@Coxeroni](https://forums.plex.tv/u/Coxeroni)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2017, 7:03pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/naming-files-for-plex/198762/6 "2017-07-12T19:03:52Z")
> @drinehart said: > @Coxeroni - the difference between your way and Otto’s way is that your way MAY work fine, Otto’s way WILL work fine, all other things being equal. Probably. My naming scheme does not seem to be that off if it works all the time. But you are right, his way is the official way and I don’t want to question that. ---
**Author:** ![belo83](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc79bd/32.png) [@belo83](https://forums.plex.tv/u/belo83)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2017, 10:52pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/naming-files-for-plex/198762/7 "2017-07-17T22:52:41Z")
they are mp4’s (to work with ipad). They are in a folder called “the simpsons” not in my TV folder and then separated in folders based on season. It would be easy enough to move them into the tv folder with the others, i’m not even sure why it’s out. It is correctly added to plex though. I’m not sure how to edit the metadata easily if that’s screwing it up. It does appear perfectly in itunes which led me to believe the metadata was good. I will try the fixes noted, they seem easy enough. Tonight’s the wife and my anniversary though. So on to more important things 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![OttoKerner](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/ottokerner/32/10079_2.png) [@OttoKerner](https://forums.plex.tv/u/OttoKerner)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2017, 11:00pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/naming-files-for-plex/198762/8 "2017-07-17T23:00:16Z")
> @belo83 said: > I’m not sure how to edit the metadata easily if that’s \*\*\*\* it up. No need for editing. Do this to avoid further interference by embedded metadata: Go to Settings - Server - Agents - Shows - TheTVDB In there, grab the line ‘Local Media Assets’ with your mouse and drag it downwards, so it ends up being at the bottom of the stack of active agents. Repeat the same under Settings - Server - Agents - Shows - TheMovieDatabase + Settings - Server - Agents - Movies - Plex Movie + Settings - Server - Agents - Movies - TheMovieDatabase Afterwards, perform the [Plex Dance](https://forums.plex.tv/discussion/comment/908454/#Comment_908454 "Plex Dance") with the whole show. ---
**Author:** ![belo83](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc79bd/32.png) [@belo83](https://forums.plex.tv/u/belo83)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2017, 12:21am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/naming-files-for-plex/198762/9 "2017-07-18T00:21:57Z")
ok did a few things. renamed using the referenced method above. moved the whole folder into my tv folder and followed the plex dance and it worked. So not sure what… but it worked. I was able to merge the spiderman cartoon that was giving the same issue. final queaion i think. Plex recognizes batman 1994 the animated series as 1 season, eventhough it’s 4. Renamer wont find it, and plex metadata doesn’t fix it. Any thoughts here? ---
**Author:** ![belo83](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc79bd/32.png) [@belo83](https://forums.plex.tv/u/belo83)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2017, 12:24am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/naming-files-for-plex/198762/10 "2017-07-18T00:24:48Z")
> @OttoKerner said: > > > @belo83 said: > > I’m not sure how to edit the metadata easily if that’s \*\*\*\* it up. > > No need for editing. > Do this to avoid further interference by embedded metadata: > > Go to Settings - Server - Agents - Shows - TheTVDB > In there, grab the line ‘Local Media Assets’ with your mouse and drag it downwards, so it ends up being at the bottom of the stack of active agents. > Repeat the same under > Settings - Server - Agents - Shows - TheMovieDatabase > + > Settings - Server - Agents - Movies - Plex Movie > + > Settings - Server - Agents - Movies - TheMovieDatabase > > Afterwards, perform the [Plex Dance](https://forums.plex.tv/discussion/comment/908454/#Comment_908454 "Plex Dance") with the whole show. some are checked and others are not. what should be what? ---
**Author:** ![belo83](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc79bd/32.png) [@belo83](https://forums.plex.tv/u/belo83)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2017, 12:46am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/naming-files-for-plex/198762/11 "2017-07-18T00:46:17Z")
double post ---
**Author:** ![flamebird](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/flamebird/32/11858_2.png) [@flamebird](https://forums.plex.tv/u/flamebird)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2017, 1:11am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/naming-files-for-plex/198762/12 "2017-07-18T01:11:11Z")
> @belo83 said: > ok did a few things. renamed using the referenced method above. moved the whole folder into my tv folder and followed the [plex dance](https://forums.plex.tv/t/the-plex-dance/197064) and it worked. So not sure what… but it worked. I was able to merge the spiderman cartoon that was giving the same issue. > > final queaion i think. Plex recognizes batman 1994 the animated series as 1 season, eventhough it’s 4. Renamer wont find it, and plex metadata doesn’t fix it. Any thoughts here? Try changing it to 1992. ![](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/uploads/default/original/3X/f/7/f739231f445fbae9904c93521e70f5d449bfeb2b.jpg) ![](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/uploads/default/original/3X/9/b/9b74839b0c0c70b6cf335a876305f3a08d2d3af4.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![OttoKerner](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/ottokerner/32/10079_2.png) [@OttoKerner](https://forums.plex.tv/u/OttoKerner)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2017, 9:05am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/naming-files-for-plex/198762/13 "2017-07-18T09:05:11Z")
> @belo83 said: > some are checked and others are not. what should be what? Please illustrate what you currently have with a few screen shots. these are the recommended defaults ![](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/uploads/default/original/3X/3/6/369c5f4b8b2354ca03ff97465bc4820256019a2e.png) ---
**Author:** ![OttoKerner](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/ottokerner/32/10079_2.png) [@OttoKerner](https://forums.plex.tv/u/OttoKerner)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2017, 9:07am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/naming-files-for-plex/198762/14 "2017-07-18T09:07:40Z")
> @belo83 said: > ok did a few things. renamed using the referenced method above. moved the whole folder into my tv folder and followed the [plex dance](https://forums.plex.tv/t/the-plex-dance/197064) and it worked. So not sure what… but it worked. I was able to merge the spiderman cartoon that was giving the same issue. Whenever Plex mismatches content due to bad namings or embedded metadata, it holds on to that bad match. Even if you rename the media files or remove the embedded metadata. In this case a full [Plex Dance](https://forums.plex.tv/discussion/comment/908454/#Comment_908454 "Plex Dance") is required. ---
**Author:** ![belo83](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc79bd/32.png) [@belo83](https://forums.plex.tv/u/belo83)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2017, 11:48pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/naming-files-for-plex/198762/15 "2017-07-19T23:48:34Z")
> @flamebird said: > > > @belo83 said: > > ok did a few things. renamed using the referenced method above. moved the whole folder into my tv folder and followed the [plex dance](https://forums.plex.tv/t/the-plex-dance/197064) and it worked. So not sure what… but it worked. I was able to merge the spiderman cartoon that was giving the same issue. > > > > final queaion i think. Plex recognizes batman 1994 the animated series as 1 season, eventhough it’s 4. Renamer wont find it, and plex metadata doesn’t fix it. Any thoughts here? > > Try changing it to 1992. > > ![](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/uploads/default/original/3X/f/7/f739231f445fbae9904c93521e70f5d449bfeb2b.jpg) > > ![](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/uploads/default/original/3X/9/b/9b74839b0c0c70b6cf335a876305f3a08d2d3af4.jpg) I appreciate you posting this, what I found after looking at the tvdb database was that i have the dvd rips which do not use the same order. It mucks everything up but not enough for me to go through and rename it all. I’ll deal with it haha. ---
**Author:** ![flamebird](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/flamebird/32/11858_2.png) [@flamebird](https://forums.plex.tv/u/flamebird)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2017, 4:19am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/naming-files-for-plex/198762/16 "2017-07-20T04:19:04Z")
> @belo83 said: > > > @flamebird said: > > > > > @belo83 said: > > > ok did a few things. renamed using the referenced method above. moved the whole folder into my tv folder and followed the [plex dance](https://forums.plex.tv/t/the-plex-dance/197064) and it worked. So not sure what… but it worked. I was able to merge the spiderman cartoon that was giving the same issue. > > > > > > final queaion i think. Plex recognizes batman 1994 the animated series as 1 season, eventhough it’s 4. Renamer wont find it, and plex metadata doesn’t fix it. Any thoughts here? > > > > Try changing it to 1992. > > > > ![](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/uploads/default/original/3X/f/7/f739231f445fbae9904c93521e70f5d449bfeb2b.jpg) > > > > ![](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/uploads/default/original/3X/9/b/9b74839b0c0c70b6cf335a876305f3a08d2d3af4.jpg) > > I appreciate you posting this, what I found after looking at the tvdb database was that i have the dvd rips which do not use the same order. It mucks everything up but not enough for me to go through and rename it all. I’ll deal with it haha. That’s a long-standing complaint with a few series, most notably this one and Firefly. There’s supposed to be a DVD sort agent in Plex, but I could never get it to work right, so I just re-numbered my files to match the TVDB, and let it go. ---
**Author:** ![JuiceWSA](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/juicewsa/32/12253_2.png) [@JuiceWSA](https://forums.plex.tv/u/JuiceWSA)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2017, 5:11am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/naming-files-for-plex/198762/17 "2017-07-20T05:11:14Z")
> @flamebird said: > That’s a long-standing complaint with a few series, most notably this one and Firefly. There’s supposed to be a DVD sort agent in Plex, but I could never get it to work right, so I just re-numbered my files to match the TVDB, and let it go. It does work right. Previously I used ‘thetvdbdvdorder’ agent. It worked fine. Plex included it, so I removed the add-on. Simply name your files like TVDB’s DVD order, then…: ![](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/uploads/default/original/3X/e/e/ee5bee466d95ec570b4b77d0a26fea63b6e9f1c7.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![flamebird](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/flamebird/32/11858_2.png) [@flamebird](https://forums.plex.tv/u/flamebird)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2017, 5:19am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/naming-files-for-plex/198762/18 "2017-07-20T05:19:01Z")
> @JuiceWSA said: > > > @flamebird said: > > That’s a long-standing complaint with a few series, most notably this one and Firefly. There’s supposed to be a DVD sort agent in Plex, but I could never get it to work right, so I just re-numbered my files to match the TVDB, and let it go. > > It does work right. Previously I used ‘thetvdbdvdorder’ agent. It worked fine. Plex included it, so I removed the add-on. > > Simply name your files like TVDB’s DVD order, then…: > > ![](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/uploads/default/original/3X/e/e/ee5bee466d95ec570b4b77d0a26fea63b6e9f1c7.jpg) So I’m going senile. . .ok, more senile. I was looking for it in the server settings, not in the series edit section. No wonder I could never find it. :o Well that’s just embarrassing. lol ---
**Author:** ![BigWheel](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/bigwheel/32/78783_2.png) [@BigWheel](https://forums.plex.tv/u/BigWheel)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2017, 5:26am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/naming-files-for-plex/198762/19 "2017-07-20T05:26:05Z")
to be clear, Plex never made the tvdbdvdorder agent and it was never part of a default Plex Media Server install. A [user created it long ago](https://forums.plex.tv/discussion/21141/dvd-order-agent "user created it long ago") and stopped updating it. A few folks have at times poked at it and got it working for a while but it has not been updated in ages and does not work at all anymore. ---
**Author:** ![JuiceWSA](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/juicewsa/32/12253_2.png) [@JuiceWSA](https://forums.plex.tv/u/JuiceWSA)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2017, 6:21am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/naming-files-for-plex/198762/20 "2017-07-20T06:21:53Z")
> @BigWheel said: > to be clear, Plex never made the tvdbdvdorder agent and it was never part of a default Plex Media Server install. A [user created it long ago](https://forums.plex.tv/discussion/21141/dvd-order-agent "user created it long ago") and stopped updating it. A few folks have at times poked at it and got it working for a while but it has not been updated in ages and does not work at all anymore. Yes, that’s why I removed it and am now using the ‘Built-in’ model - instructions for it’s use painfully detailed above. Incidentally, when it was working, it was working so well it listed FireFly properly, matched it properly, and that’s pretty much all I needed it for, so I never knew it broke, but have it on good authority that the ‘Built-In’ Plex Function works just as well as the Private Version used to - and that’s all we really need to know at this point. [Next page](https://forums.plex.tv/t/naming-files-for-plex/198762.md?page=2)