Plex smart collection error dropping library items

[a_harold]

Server Version#: 4.74.1

I’ve created ‘Smart Collections’ for specific directors, but the past month or so and on the past couple versions of PMS these smart collections have been mysteriously losing items.

Essentially the same tag is split into identical separate instances. ie. There are three ‘Steven Spielberg’ tags in my library with identical spelling. If smart search or click on an instance of the directors name, only a few matches from the library are returned.

The temporary fix has been to ‘Edit Filter’ on the collection add the other instances of the identical tags, and then update the collection. But this issue keeps reoccurring making the collections useless.

I’m curious if this is an issue for anyone else or if there’s a fix?
Thanks

[tom80H]

Plex has changed how cast/directors are stored in your server. Each of them should now have a unique identifier to avoid accidental mixing of same-named persons.

Refreshing the library metadata will bring all those information up-to-date (unless the scheduled server maintenance tasks have already taken care of it). IIRC there can be side effects for smart collections filtered by an actor/director. You might need to refresh those by editing the filter after refreshing the library metadata.