Plex Library

jreink01 · June 5, 2017, 7:10pm

Hello, i just installed plex and i am loving it but have kind of a newbee question. When setting up my libraries, will plex find my videos in a subfolder? Example I have my videos in B folder/Big Bang Theory/Season 1.
If i set up plex to look in B folder, will it find the videos in the Season 1 folder too?
Thanks for the feedback.

beckfield · June 5, 2017, 7:16pm

Yes, it will. You might want to read through some of the articles in this Help section.

jreink01 · June 6, 2017, 5:02am

Thanks for the response. I did read the help section and couldn’t find anything about sub folders. My media is in the season 1 folder, when i set up plex to look in B/Big Bang Theory/ Season 1, it does not find the media, even when doing update library. Please help

Kraevin · June 6, 2017, 7:06am

You should follow the Plex Naming Guidelines for best results.
https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/articles/200220687-Naming-Series-Season-Based-TV-Shows

/TV Shows
   /The Big Bang Theory
      /Season 01
         The Big Bang Theory - S01E01 - Pilot,mkv
         The Big Bang Theory - S01E02 - The Big Bran Hypothesis.mkv
         The Big Bang Theory - S01E03 - The Fuzzy Boots Corollary.mkv
      /Season 02
         The Big Bang Theory - S02E01 - The Bad Fish Paradigm.mkv
         The Big Bang Theory - S02E02 - The Codpiece Topology.mkv
         The Big Bang Theory - S02E03 - The Barbarian Sublimation.mkv

Try and see if this works for you.

OttoKerner · June 6, 2017, 10:36am

You onl> @jreink01 said:

My media is in the season 1 folder, when i set up plex to look in B/Big Bang Theory/ Season 1, it does not find the media, even when doing update library.

You don’t point Plex to your Season 01 folder.
You only point it to your TV Shows folder (in @Kraevin s example above)

If you have created ‘index letter’ folders underneath of TV Shows, then you have to point Plex to each of these index letter folders individually.

Mr.Wolfclaw · June 6, 2017, 11:24am

Use Filebot to rename your library to the correct format for movies and TV shows.

rsava · June 6, 2017, 2:04pm

@OttoKerner said:
You onl> @jreink01 said:

My media is in the season 1 folder, when i set up plex to look in B/Big Bang Theory/ Season 1, it does not find the media, even when doing update library.

You don’t point Plex to your Season 01 folder.
You only point it to your TV Shows folder (in @Kraevin s example above)

If you have created ‘index letter’ folders underneath of TV Shows, then you have to point Plex to each of these index letter folders individually.

Is this the same for movies? I subdivide my movies like this:
\Movies
\A-I
\Moviename
\Moviename (2017).mkv

And I have no issues with those.

I think the biggest issue the OP has is that the series name is actually “The Big Bang Theory”, not “Big Bang Theory”. Of course not knowing the name of his files who knows.

OttoKerner · June 6, 2017, 2:06pm

@rsava said:
Is this the same for movies? I subdivide my movies like this:

No. Movies are much more forgiving.
But with TV shows you better aim for 100% compliance or you’ll find yourself in a world of hurt - sooner or later.

rsava · June 6, 2017, 2:09pm

Thanks @OttoKerner .

jreink01 · June 7, 2017, 2:31am

@Kraevin said:
You should follow the Plex Naming Guidelines for best results.
https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/articles/200220687-Naming-Series-Season-Based-TV-Shows

/TV Shows
   /The Big Bang Theory
      /Season 01
         The Big Bang Theory - S01E01 - Pilot,mkv
         The Big Bang Theory - S01E02 - The Big Bran Hypothesis.mkv
         The Big Bang Theory - S01E03 - The Fuzzy Boots Corollary.mkv
      /Season 02
         The Big Bang Theory - S02E01 - The Bad Fish Paradigm.mkv
         The Big Bang Theory - S02E02 - The Codpiece Topology.mkv
         The Big Bang Theory - S02E03 - The Barbarian Sublimation.mkv

Try and see if this works for you.

Just to clarify, if I go by your example, if I point plex to the : The Big Bang Theory folder, in theory, it should see all the season subfolders then where the media actually is? As long as I name the main folder TV Shows/

kegobeer-plex · June 7, 2017, 2:37am

@jreink01 said:
Just to clarify, if I go by your example, if I point plex to the : The Big Bang Theory folder, in theory, it should see all the season subfolders then where the media actually is? As long as I name the main folder TV Shows/

You add the TV Shows directory to your TV library. You don’t add individual show directories.

Kraevin · June 7, 2017, 3:48am

@jreink01 said:
@Kraevin said:
You should follow the Plex Naming Guidelines for best results.
https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/articles/200220687-Naming-Series-Season-Based-TV-Shows
/TV Shows
   /The Big Bang Theory
      /Season 01
         The Big Bang Theory - S01E01 - Pilot,mkv
         The Big Bang Theory - S01E02 - The Big Bran Hypothesis.mkv
         The Big Bang Theory - S01E03 - The Fuzzy Boots Corollary.mkv
      /Season 02
         The Big Bang Theory - S02E01 - The Bad Fish Paradigm.mkv
         The Big Bang Theory - S02E02 - The Codpiece Topology.mkv
         The Big Bang Theory - S02E03 - The Barbarian Sublimation.mkv
Try and see if this works for you.
Just to clarify, if I go by your example, if I point plex to the : The Big Bang Theory folder, in theory, it should see all the season subfolders then where the media actually is? As long as I name the main folder TV Shows/

If you use the setup as listed above, point Plex to the TV Shows Folder, not The Big Bang Theory Folder. Plex will scan the TV Shows folder of all the shows in it which in turn will add all the TV Shows to the library.

jreink01 · June 7, 2017, 1:38pm

@Kraevin said:
@jreink01 said:
@Kraevin said:
You should follow the Plex Naming Guidelines for best results.
https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/articles/200220687-Naming-Series-Season-Based-TV-Shows
/TV Shows
   /The Big Bang Theory
      /Season 01
         The Big Bang Theory - S01E01 - Pilot,mkv
         The Big Bang Theory - S01E02 - The Big Bran Hypothesis.mkv
         The Big Bang Theory - S01E03 - The Fuzzy Boots Corollary.mkv
      /Season 02
         The Big Bang Theory - S02E01 - The Bad Fish Paradigm.mkv
         The Big Bang Theory - S02E02 - The Codpiece Topology.mkv
         The Big Bang Theory - S02E03 - The Barbarian Sublimation.mkv
Try and see if this works for you.
Just to clarify, if I go by your example, if I point plex to the : The Big Bang Theory folder, in theory, it should see all the season subfolders then where the media actually is? As long as I name the main folder TV Shows/
If you use the setup as listed above, point Plex to the TV Shows Folder, not The Big Bang Theory Folder. Plex will scan the TV Shows folder of all the shows in it which in turn will add all the TV Shows to the library.

i tried exactly that and plex would not find the videos. By chance , I created another library under movies (instead of tv shows) and directed plex the same way, it indeed did pick up all the videos in the subfolders. For some reason tv shows does not pick up videos in subfolders for me.

OttoKerner · June 7, 2017, 1:49pm

@jreink01 said:
i tried exactly that and plex would not find the videos. By chance , I created another library under movies (instead of tv shows) and directed plex the same way, it indeed did pick up all the videos in the subfolders. For some reason tv shows does not pick up videos in subfolders for me.

If your files were picked up in a movie library, then they are not named like they should for a tv show.
https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/articles/201543057-Why-is-some-of-my-content-not-found-

jreink01 · June 7, 2017, 1:55pm

@jreink01 said:
@Kraevin said:
You should follow the Plex Naming Guidelines for best results.
https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/articles/200220687-Naming-Series-Season-Based-TV-Shows
/TV Shows
   /The Big Bang Theory
      /Season 01
         The Big Bang Theory - S01E01 - Pilot,mkv
         The Big Bang Theory - S01E02 - The Big Bran Hypothesis.mkv
         The Big Bang Theory - S01E03 - The Fuzzy Boots Corollary.mkv
      /Season 02
         The Big Bang Theory - S02E01 - The Bad Fish Paradigm.mkv
         The Big Bang Theory - S02E02 - The Codpiece Topology.mkv
         The Big Bang Theory - S02E03 - The Barbarian Sublimation.mkv
Try and see if this works for you.
Just to clarify, if I go by your example, if I point plex to the : The Big Bang Theory folder, in theory, it should see all the season subfolders then where the media actually is? As long as I name the main folder TV Shows/

I named them exactly like the post I quoted and it still didnt pick it up

kegobeer-plex · June 7, 2017, 1:56pm

@jreink01 said:
I named them exactly like the post I quoted and it still didnt pick it up

You might need to do the Plex Dance to get things straightened out.

JuiceWSA · June 8, 2017, 9:41am

Might be time for a set of log files:
https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/articles/200250417-Plex-Media-Server-Log-Files
Drag zip file to message window and drop it.

I have a hunch there’s some non-compliant folder nesting happening
or
The TV Show Library is aimed at more than just the TV Show Library Folder
or both
or something completely different
like Plex’s inability to drop a bogus bundle and write a new non-bogus bundle. In this case:

The Plex Dance®:

remove show from library
update library
empty trash
clean bundles
https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/articles/200392106-Library-Actions <— update library, empty trash, clean bundles
bring names and structures into compliance
replace corrected show into library
update library

All Steps. In Order. No Shortcuts.

The MP4 file disaster may be in play.

I also have a hunch the lines of communication have broken down.
Log files will probably help bridge this rift and reveal other possible trouble spots.

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