I am having a heck of a time getting Plex to find all my TV shows. I have tried all the renaming techniques I’ve read about in the forums, bought and used FileBot, etc. I’ve tried using s01e01 and also 1x01 as episode identifiers. I’ve tried keeping all the shows in one folder, and also tried sorting the shows into sub folders named Season 01, Season 02, etc. I’ve tried using, and not using, hyphens. Presently, my structure for the show Matlock, for which I have 145 episodes, is like shown in the attached screen grabs. Even after having deleted the TV Shows library and recreated it from scratch, Plex is only finding 86 episodes. What am I missing?
in the series on Plex try hitting the 3 dots top right, then fix match, then hit the search options and try 71992 (matlock on tvdb) and use TVDB as the data base, make sure the episode titles match up 
https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/categories/200028098-Media-Preparation
https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/articles/200381023-Naming-Movie-files
and most importantly:
https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/articles/200220687-Naming-Series-Season-Based-TV-Shows
If you want unpredictable/unreliable behavior - neglect to follow the naming/structuring guide for TV Shows and you’ll have it.
@“tunetrackersystems@gmail.com” said:
I am having a heck of a time getting Plex to find all my TV shows. I have tried all the renaming techniques I’ve read about in the forums, bought and used FileBot, etc.
You need to ‘Edit Format’ once in FileBot - and change to Plex Standard TV Show Format - described below…:
Examples:
A Movie Library/
…A Movie (YEAR).xxx
or
…A Movie (YEAR)/
…A Movie (YEAR).xxx
A TV Show Library/
…A TV Show (YEAR)/
…Season 01/
…A TV Show (YEAR) - S01E01 - Episode Name Optional.xxx
…A TV Show (YEAR) - S01E02.xxx
…etc…
FileBot (link in my signature) can handle that naming and structuring for you automatically or manually in seconds.
What FileBot can’t do is remove possible embedded metadata in the Title Field of MP4/M4V files. Plex will read this info and prefer it over a perfect file name/structure (like the real A-Hole that it is), but you can combat that situation by moving Local Media Assets to the bottom of every agent list you can find (which should be the default location for LMA, but sadly, isn’t). All tabs in TV Show and Movies here:
https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/articles/200241558-Agents
Just drag LMA to the bottom of the list and drop it. If you do have embedded metadata this will cure the issue, if you don’t it won’t matter. LMA will do what it has to from the bottom. If you don’t use MP4/M4V files, or never will (you’re just like Plex Developers - apparently), you can disregard this paragraph.
Renaming/restructuring is best performed OUTSIDE the library and you’ll need to write a new bundle for the show so The Plex Dance® was invented:
The Plex Dance®:
- remove show/movie from library
- rescan library files
- empty trash
- clean bundles
https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/articles/200392106-Library-Actions <— scan library files, empty trash, clean bundles - bring names and structures into compliance/Move LMA/etc
- replace corrected show/movie into library
- rescan library files
All Steps. In Order. No Shortcuts.
Regarding FileBot - you can even get super-cool, change the naming string thusly and remove all Plex Induced Nightmares that are created when TV Shows with ‘Versions’ don’t work because Plex doesn’t use the name TVDB does any more… requiring the addition of the (YEAR) field - as shown above:
Problem permanently solved.
Wow, there’s a LOT of good info there! I’ve gone through it and tried to follow the instructions to the letter. The one thing I was unclear about was whether I should include the “y” switch if I was also using the {plex} option mentioned in one of the links you shared. Anyway, I did the following:
- Moved my Matlock folder completely out of Plex’s target media path
- Deleted the Matlock entry from Plex
- Followed the “Plex dance” instructions to clear everything
- In a folder outside of my media path, I gathered up my entire batch of Matlock episodes into a single folder
- Ran all of them through FileBot using the {plex} approach. It did indeed create all the sub folders as expected, and named things as indicated in the attached screen grab.
- Moved the Matlock folder with its newly-created sub folders back into TV Shows folder, so Plex would see it again.
- Did a library rescan in Plex.
Initially, as Plex was getting rolling on the rescan, it correctly showed over 140 shows. After it finished re-scanning, it was listing a total of 104. So it’s still missing quite a few of them.
Think it would help if I added in the {ny} item, along with {plex}?
Thanks,
Dane
Unknown… @rednoah42 may have more info. I am not using {plex}. I do my own structuring.
How, EXACTLY are your Matlock files named and structured? If you can’t provide a screen shot showing names - with file extension and structure…
Provide 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.
Are you using MP4/M4V files?
Did you move Local Media Assets?
@dsuden said:
Initially, as Plex was getting rolling on the rescan, it correctly showed over 140 shows. After it finished re-scanning, it was listing a total of 104. So it’s still missing quite a few of them.
Please refer to @JuiceWSA post above.
Your issue sounds as if it has to do with
a) incorrect library folder reference
and/or
b) embedded metadata
##a)
When you create the necessary folder structure, make sure that the Plex library is pointing to the folder level directly above it. There must not be additional arbitrary folder levels inbetween!
A TV Show Library/ <-- library points here!
.....A TV Show (YEAR)/
........Season 01/
..........A TV Show (YEAR) - S01E01 - Episode Name Optional.xxx
..........A TV Show (YEAR) - S01E02.xxx
..........etc......
What is also not possible is to point Plex at the tv show folder for each series individually
Don’t do this:
A TV Show Library/
.....A TV Show (YEAR)/ <-- library points here
........Season 01/
..........A TV Show (YEAR) - S01E01 - Episode Name Optional.xxx
..........A TV Show (YEAR) - S01E02.xxx
..........etc......
##b)
Embedded metadata are ruled out as an interference by reordering the metadata agents, as already mentioned above:
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
Thanks guys. Really appreciate the help and follow-up.
Here is exactly how my folders are structured, how it looks in Plex, and how the assets are prioritized. One of the grabs shows the folder tree, another shows a list of files by name within a season folder.
BTW, I am also using the “configurator” manually now, no longer using the {plex} function since I can add add more data manually. Here’s the formula I’m using presently, creates the results shown in the images above:
That’s fine, you just need {ny} in the beginning as well - so your TV Show name has a (YEAR) field along with the episode name. If you want to stick with 100% compliance this: {'Season '+s.pad(2)} should put a two digit Season folder together for you:
{ny}/{'Season ' +s.pad(2)/{ny} - {s00e00} - {t} <— I’m guessing here - I don’t use it this way - @rednoah42 ?
Men Into Space (1959)/Season 01/Men Into Space (1959) - S01E06 - Moonquake.xxx
(you’ll have to test that theory - unless @rednoah42 shows up first)
Once that’s done - Move Local Media Assets under ALL Tabs in TV Shows and Movies - Plex Dance again.
What @JuiceWSA said ^^^
plus
Make sure your tv show library is looking exactly at
/Volumes/FullBack/Media/TV Shows
and not just /Volumes/FullBack/Media
You can verify by 'edit’ing the library, then go to the ‘Add Folders’ tab
I’m having the same issue. I’ve attempted everything described here (except I’m not using Filebot, I’m manually renaming the files).
My file structure is:
{root}\Databunker\Television\Band of Brothers (2001)\Season 01\Band of Brothers (2001) - S##E## - Episode Name.mp4
I’ve done the Plex Dance. I’ve moved LMAs to the bottom. I’ve rebooted with the files not in the library and moved them back inside and rescanned. I’ve checked to make certain my episode names are accurate to The TVDb. No matter what I do, only 3 of the episodes appear. The other 7 episodes simply don’t appear in the library. It just can’t detect them, and it’s driving me up a friggin’ wall.
Verify file access permissions.
Verify that the files are actually valid video files.
Verify that your tv show library looks exactly at {root}\Databunker\Television\ and not one level above or below that.
Remove one or two files and leave the rest in place. Then update library again.
It might just be that one of the files crashes the scanner.
Inspect log files.
