Server Version#: PlexMediaServer-1.42.2.10156-f737b826c-x86_64_DSM72.spk
I’m using Plex Media Server on my Synology NAS.
The option to sort episodes by TheTVDB (DVD) is not available to choose. All files and folder structures are named correctly.
Example of naming convention for folders: Multimedia\Videos\TV Shows\1992-1997. X-Men - The Animated Series\Season 4
Example naming convention for file: 1995. X-Men - The Animated Series - S4E01 - The Juggernaut Returns.mkv
This episode on Plex comes up as the (aired) episode version TheTVDB (Aired) which is S4E01 - One Man’s Worth (1).
I prefer to use the DVD name sorting instead of the aired name sorting. How do I fix this? This appears to be an issue within the Plex software. Thank you.
Your naming convention is incorrect. Do NOT use the Years in your naming at all, unless it is specified on the TVDB. The years etc. are displayed by Plex in the year of release field if you need to review that.
Your series should be named like so:
TV Shows/
X-Men - The Animated Series/
Season 04/
X-Men - The Animated Series - S04E01 - The Juggernaut Returns.mp4
...
After you correct your naming, the DVD Order should be selectable, since the TVDB do provide the DVD Order for that series.
I also highly recommend that you use FileBot to automaticly name and organise your files with.
While the way the OP is using years is certainly incorrect, including the release year of the series in parentheses can be used as a matching hint to disambiguate series of the same name, but different release years. The naming and organization documentation also suggests it as a best practice.
Here’s an example of it being correctly used:
Media/
└── TV
└── Farscape (1999)
├── Season 01
│ ├── Farscape (1999) - S01E01 - Premiere.ts
│ ├── Farscape (1999) - S01E02 - Exodus From Genesis.ts
(Though it’s not at all necessary in the filenames; these were recorded by the Plex DVR and that’s just what it decided to do.)
If the year is specified, to distinguish between two or more series with the same name, but different years of release, then yes, you should use the year in the series name, but otherwise you should not use the year at all.
Agree to disagree. It’s best practice to include the year, as documented in the linked article.
The year (in parentheses) isn’t treated as part of the name; rather it is parsed out and used as a matching hint. It has nothing to do with whether or not it’s part of the name on TVDB.
I was simply trying to point out best practices, as documented by Plex for the modern agents.
From the linked article:
“For the “Plex TV Series” agent, it is recommended to always include the year alongside the series title in folder and file names, e.g. /Band of Brothers (2001)/Season 01/Band of Brothers (2001) - s01e01 - Currahee.mkv”
I do tend to disagree, especially if the year of release is unknown by the user.
For example, if the user were to use an incorrect year such as Kung Fu (2000) then no match could be made.
But, I do see your point and if Plex recommends it then by all means follow that recommendation.
Of course, it is always easy to search the TVDB or TMDB or IMDB and check to see if the year is specified in the name or not, it doesn’t take too much of ones time to do that.
Addition of the release year of s01e01 is recommended in all cases.
Several years ago this was different for a while, but that was related to the legacy agents. But with the modern agent, you are on the safe side with always adding the year.
The structure shown below matches immediately on my server.
After renaming, you may need to Plex Dance the series to clear incorrect information from the Plex database.
/tv <-- folder added to tv show library
/X-Men The Animated Series (1992)
/Season 01
/X-Men The Animated Series s01e01.mkv
/X-Men The Animated Series s01e02.mkv
/X-Men The Animated Series s01e03.mkv
Personally, I would only add the year if I was unable to get a correct match and then I would need to make sure I was using the correct year, otherwise I may still not get a correct match or any match at all.
It’s horses for courses I guess, if it works for you that’s great, but otherwise, you still have some work to do.
Keep in mind that the majority of TV Shows don’t have a year requirement at all, because there is only one series with that title.
Only series with more than one version or year of release actually need the year in the title.
Adding the year is rarely needed IMHO, hence my recommendation to NOT add the year, unless it is needed.
This strategy has a flaw: you start without a year, because there was no other same-titled show when you added it to your server.
However, later a remake is produced.
Suddenly, your existing file and folder names are prone to mismatches. (for instance if you have to move them to a new library or a new server).
I can’t imagine why sticking to the naming guide would lower the chance of a correct match.
That’s true Otto, but sooner or later you would see the issue and move to correct it, as so many have done over the years.
If you start with the correct year, you still had to research that to be sure, but if you start with an incorrect year because of bad search results, Plex may or may not match it and you may still find yourself in the same situation because of the incorrect year used and Plex may have simply updated it’s matching strategy in the meantime.
I feel it’s six of one, half a dozen of the other at this point … lol
If you use a wrong release year, you’ll have to correct either way, sooner or later.
Sorry, but I consider this a non-sequitur. Omitting the release year does not improve the chance of a correct match.
Besides, the metadata sources that Plex uses are documented. If you use Wikipedia or other web sites instead of TMDB or TVDB to research the release date, you are asking for trouble.
Chiming in here, I would also agree that wrong year hints may happen and that I would assume that if searching with the given year does not provide an excellent match, that there’s a fallback procedure in seach that either searches without a year or alternatively with surrounding years - which would most oftenly help.
I agree with @OttoKerner that using the referred “Plex sources” would as a source of information are to be preferred. But in other aspects of the matching routine, Plex tries (and most often achieves) to be better than the standard “if…then…else”. Don’t get me wrong, but in times of AI, it should be possible to make very educated guesses on what the user intended. Plex is usually doing good with this… with the “year” attribute in matching, it could be better than how it’s doing now. So, it is all about whether such a small “win” is wanted - not if it is possible.
I honestly don’t understand why this is controversial. The naming guidelines clearly state:
“For the “Plex TV Series” agent, it is recommended to always include the year alongside the series title in folder and file names, e.g. /Band of Brothers (2001)/Season 01/Band of Brothers (2001) - s01e01 - Currahee.mkv”
There’s no ambiguity there. There’s no argument to be made against it. People do stupid things with their naming all the time; not getting the release year correct is the least of their worries.
It’s simple. Follow the guidelines. Then, if something breaks, you have a valid complaint. Otherwise, try again, following the guidelines.
Folks really need to get out of this “I’ve always done this and it’s worked for me” mindset. Just do the right thing and, when asked, suggest the right thing.
Thank you for stating them. The word “year” is only showing once in that document, but there is no single mentioning in this document of official sources to be followed to get the right year. No official sources that are to be followed are mentioned in this naming convention document at all. You guys are overseeing that different sources CAN show different years for movies easily depending on which country you live in.
The simple truth is: the naming convention say… use the (year)…. but they are not mentioning a single source of official TRUTH for this.
So, it IS possible to follow all of the naming convention rules and still have the wrong year.
And it’s not about having valid complains. What some of us are suggesting is to provide a way to be more foregiving than that. I give you an example of what I mean. The naming conventions say: Name the folder on a season level like “Season xy”. I don’t do that, because I am living in a non-english speaking country. Plex’ matching routines also accept “Staffel xy” (which is the German translation of Season). I am very thankful for that. I would not be in the position to complain if they drop that support (though I would wonder why they would take the step back). But having some flexibility in the matching routines is providing a better service. That’s what I am talking about. If the naming conventions would state to forget about movie names and only work with internal GUIDs from now on, it would still be okay to question that, wouldn’t it?
I am not questioning the rules. I suggest to have an extra yard. Of course, Plex can always decide not to go it because “The rules are the rules are the rules are the rules”. They don’t need you to defend their ways. But since we are in a forum, different opinions about what would be good to have must still be allowed without somebody showing their ignorance and lack of care about a problem somebody else is having.
This is about documented best practices. I’m not sure where your insinuations of ignorance are coming from. It’s simple. Find the release year, include it in parens. Or don’t and potentially face matching issues either in the short- or long-term.
It sometimes feels like pulling teeth even over the simplest of issues. Use watch.plex.tv for finding the relevant release year if you have to. They’re there.
