I was told by a TVDB support person that the addition of the V4 API should’ve solved this issue, which it didn’t
Same
Pls fix this
Adding in my vote to support “Alternate” episode ordering… Specifically looking for Ranma 1/2
Omg I just found out about the alternate order on tvdb, this would be such a lifesaver… it cannot be that difficult to implement, it just can’t… please add this! Just now that was added the .plexmatch feature which is a great one as well!
For the TVdb you can select Aired order, Absolute order, & DVD order options from the show’s advanced settings.
They really need a way to manually match episodes but still have them sorted into the seasons you have. Especially with the new watchlist it makes it more important.
Alternate order is much needed on Plex.
A lot of shows have different order on streaming platform.
For now, we’re stuck with only old orders…
So I have created a separate Feature suggestion for the ability to Manually sort using the .plexmatch file. It would be a workaround for this problem, but I feel it would give more flexibility & would be able to accomplish most of what is wanted here, just with some more leg work. It would also give us the ability to sort however we want, provided we do the work ourselves to make it so.
For anyone who doesn’t know the new .plexmatch Hinting system came out recently to help match properly odd naming systems. An example I can give that makes this useful is the series 3x3 Eyes. With that series episodes being named: 3x3 eyes S01E01.mp4, 3x3 eyes S01E02.mp4, 3x3 eyes S01E03.mp4, etc a couple years ago stopped matching the episodes & instead sees the 3x3 & ignores everything after & makes each episode a different version of Season 3 Episode 3. I had to rename each episode to ThreeXThree Eyes to make it work. But then after an update that again mixed then together, then a later update fixed it again. So the .plexmatch file gives you the ability to give Plex “Hints” as to what file goes where.
My suggestion is to give the option to either have an EpisodeID from TVdb to manually match to an episode but have it exist elsewhere. or Have a SortTo option to change where it sits within the Show.
I give 2 suggestions as to possible structure format & I’d really like to hear what others who might have a use for it would think so that hopefully we can have the best suggestion so if it happens we have it as useful as possible.
The 2 possibilities I have are: (Using the sample of having the Serenity movie of Firefly show as a second Season)
# The 2nd season is the movie Serenity (2005) which is also episode S00E01 of the show
# Using the EpisodeID Hint
TVDBepisodeID: 415679: /Season 2 - Serenity/Serenity (2005) S02E01.mkv
# Using the SortTo Hint
ep: S00E01: SortTo: S02E01: /Season 2 - Serenity/Serenity (2005) S00E01.mkv
Is there one of those, or an alternative that people here would find more appealing?
Another method is to remove 3x3 eyes from the episode filenames entirely, using just S01E01.mp4 as the filename.
I consider that a Horrible option personally, but I did do that for a time. But I absolutely hate having a file that, if it was in the wrong place would have nothing telling where it belongs. It’s especially bad if you are using the same files in multiple programs
That’s fair enough!
I don’t have much trouble with files escaping, but I understand the concern.
What do you mean? Something like FileBot/Sonarr, or another use case?
I don’t often either, It’s more about “I shouldn’t have to make the compromise, I’m following the naming rules” & I’m pretty serious about my organization of my drives on my server.
Now I have used them in another DLNA server, granted I haven’t used that in awhile but still. I also had them in iTunes, which I also haven’t used in awhile, but both of those didn’t get along well with files that have the Same name. So if in another folder you has a S01E01.mp4 file it would assume they were the same file & skip it, or mix them, or other problematic behavior.
But a more realistic example that could come into play today would be if I’m putting files on a USB to put on my Android Head Unit. The media players don’t do well with Metadata in general
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Anyways, distracted by a tangent. I really want to know what people looking for an Alternate Order & Flexible Seasons think of the possibility to use the .plexmatch to individually match Metadata.
also if they think the TVDBepisodeID: method is better or the SortTo: method?
I’ll mock up an example for the Chilling Adventures of Sabrina that is mentioned in this thread for comparative purposes
-
TVDBepisodeID Hint
- FIles
/TV Shows
/Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (2018)
.plexmatch
/Season 1 - Part 1
Sabrina S01E01.mkv
Sabrina S01E02.mkv
Sabrina S01E03.mkv
Sabrina S01E04.mkv
Sabrina S01E05.mkv
Sabrina S01E06.mkv
Sabrina S01E07.mkv
Sabrina S01E08.mkv
Sabrina S01E09.mkv
Sabrina S01E10.mkv
Sabrina S01E11.mkv
/Season 2 - Part 2
Sabrina S02E01.mkv
Sabrina S02E02.mkv
Sabrina S02E03.mkv
Sabrina S02E04.mkv
Sabrina S02E05.mkv
Sabrina S02E06.mkv
Sabrina S02E07.mkv
Sabrina S02E08.mkv
Sabrina S02E09.mkv
/Season 3 - Part 3
Sabrina S03E01.mkv
Sabrina S03E02.mkv
Sabrina S03E03.mkv
Sabrina S03E04.mkv
Sabrina S03E05.mkv
Sabrina S03E06.mkv
Sabrina S03E07.mkv
Sabrina S03E08.mkv
/Season 4 - Part 4
Sabrina S04E01.mkv
Sabrina S04E02.mkv
Sabrina S04E03.mkv
Sabrina S04E04.mkv
Sabrina S04E05.mkv
Sabrina S04E06.mkv
Sabrina S04E07.mkv
Sabrina S04E08.mkv
- .plexmatch
# The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina split into 4 parts via Netflix ordering
# Using the TVDBepisodeID Hint
ep: S02E01: TVDBepisodeID: 6923958: /Season 2 - Part 2/Sabrina S02E01.mkv
ep: S02E02: TVDBepisodeID: 7120466: /Season 2 - Part 2/Sabrina S02E02.mkv
ep: S02E03: TVDBepisodeID: 7120468: /Season 2 - Part 2/Sabrina S02E03.mkv
ep: S02E04: TVDBepisodeID: 7120469: /Season 2 - Part 2/Sabrina S02E04.mkv
ep: S02E05: TVDBepisodeID: 7120472: /Season 2 - Part 2/Sabrina S02E05.mkv
ep: S02E06: TVDBepisodeID: 7120473: /Season 2 - Part 2/Sabrina S02E06.mkv
ep: S02E07: TVDBepisodeID: 7120474: /Season 2 - Part 2/Sabrina S02E07.mkv
ep: S02E08: TVDBepisodeID: 7120478: /Season 2 - Part 2/Sabrina S02E08.mkv
ep: S02E09: TVDBepisodeID: 7120480: /Season 2 - Part 2/Sabrina S02E09.mkv
ep: S03E01: TVDBepisodeID: 7489306: /Season 3 - Part 3/Sabrina S03E01.mkv
ep: S03E02: TVDBepisodeID: 7489569: /Season 3 - Part 3/Sabrina S03E02.mkv
ep: S03E03: TVDBepisodeID: 7489570: /Season 3 - Part 3/Sabrina S03E03.mkv
ep: S03E04: TVDBepisodeID: 7489571: /Season 3 - Part 3/Sabrina S03E04.mkv
ep: S03E05: TVDBepisodeID: 7489574: /Season 3 - Part 3/Sabrina S03E05.mkv
ep: S03E06: TVDBepisodeID: 7489575: /Season 3 - Part 3/Sabrina S03E06.mkv
ep: S03E07: TVDBepisodeID: 7489578: /Season 3 - Part 3/Sabrina S03E07.mkv
ep: S03E08: TVDBepisodeID: 7489580: /Season 3 - Part 3/Sabrina S03E08.mkv
ep: S04E01: TVDBepisodeID: 7832387: /Season 4 - Part 4/Sabrina S04E01.mkv
ep: S04E02: TVDBepisodeID: 7832388: /Season 4 - Part 4/Sabrina S04E02.mkv
ep: S04E03: TVDBepisodeID: 7832389: /Season 4 - Part 4/Sabrina S04E03.mkv
ep: S04E04: TVDBepisodeID: 7832390: /Season 4 - Part 4/Sabrina S04E04.mkv
ep: S04E05: TVDBepisodeID: 7832391: /Season 4 - Part 4/Sabrina S04E05.mkv
ep: S04E06: TVDBepisodeID: 7832392: /Season 4 - Part 4/Sabrina S04E06.mkv
ep: S04E07: TVDBepisodeID: 7832393: /Season 4 - Part 4/Sabrina S04E07.mkv
ep: S04E08: TVDBepisodeID: 7832395: /Season 4 - Part 4/Sabrina S04E08.mkv
-
SortTo Hint
- FIles
/TV Shows
/Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (2018)
.plexmatch
/Season 1 - Parts 1 & 2
Sabrina S01E01.mkv
Sabrina S01E02.mkv
Sabrina S01E03.mkv
Sabrina S01E04.mkv
Sabrina S01E05.mkv
Sabrina S01E06.mkv
Sabrina S01E07.mkv
Sabrina S01E08.mkv
Sabrina S01E09.mkv
Sabrina S01E10.mkv
Sabrina S01E11.mkv
Sabrina S01E12.mkv
Sabrina S01E13.mkv
Sabrina S01E14.mkv
Sabrina S01E15.mkv
Sabrina S01E16.mkv
Sabrina S01E17.mkv
Sabrina S01E18.mkv
Sabrina S01E19.mkv
Sabrina S01E20.mkv
/Season 2 - Parts 3 & 4
Sabrina S02E01.mkv
Sabrina S02E02.mkv
Sabrina S02E03.mkv
Sabrina S02E04.mkv
Sabrina S02E05.mkv
Sabrina S02E06.mkv
Sabrina S02E07.mkv
Sabrina S02E08.mkv
Sabrina S02E09.mkv
Sabrina S02E10.mkv
Sabrina S02E11.mkv
Sabrina S02E12.mkv
Sabrina S02E13.mkv
Sabrina S02E14.mkv
Sabrina S02E15.mkv
Sabrina S02E16.mkv
- .plexmatch
# The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina split into 4 parts via Netflix ordering
# Using the SortTo Hint
ep: S01E12: SortTo: S02E01: /Season 1 - Parts 1 & 2/Sabrina S01E12.mkv
ep: S01E13: SortTo: S02E02: /Season 1 - Parts 1 & 2/Sabrina S01E13.mkv
ep: S01E14: SortTo: S02E03: /Season 1 - Parts 1 & 2/Sabrina S01E14.mkv
ep: S01E15: SortTo: S02E04: /Season 1 - Parts 1 & 2/Sabrina S01E15.mkv
ep: S01E16: SortTo: S02E05: /Season 1 - Parts 1 & 2/Sabrina S01E16.mkv
ep: S01E17: SortTo: S02E06: /Season 1 - Parts 1 & 2/Sabrina S01E17.mkv
ep: S01E18: SortTo: S02E07: /Season 1 - Parts 1 & 2/Sabrina S01E18.mkv
ep: S01E19: SortTo: S02E08: /Season 1 - Parts 1 & 2/Sabrina S01E19.mkv
ep: S01E20: SortTo: S02E09: /Season 1 - Parts 1 & 2/Sabrina S01E20.mkv
ep: S02E01: SortTo: S03E01: /Season 2 - Parts 3 & 4/Sabrina S02E01.mkv
ep: S02E02: SortTo: S03E02: /Season 2 - Parts 3 & 4/Sabrina S02E02.mkv
ep: S02E03: SortTo: S03E03: /Season 2 - Parts 3 & 4/Sabrina S02E03.mkv
ep: S02E04: SortTo: S03E04: /Season 2 - Parts 3 & 4/Sabrina S02E04.mkv
ep: S02E05: SortTo: S03E05: /Season 2 - Parts 3 & 4/Sabrina S02E05.mkv
ep: S02E06: SortTo: S03E06: /Season 2 - Parts 3 & 4/Sabrina S02E06.mkv
ep: S02E07: SortTo: S03E07: /Season 2 - Parts 3 & 4/Sabrina S02E07.mkv
ep: S02E08: SortTo: S03E08: /Season 2 - Parts 3 & 4/Sabrina S02E08.mkv
ep: S02E09: SortTo: S04E01: /Season 2 - Parts 3 & 4/Sabrina S02E09.mkv
ep: S02E10: SortTo: S04E02: /Season 2 - Parts 3 & 4/Sabrina S02E10.mkv
ep: S02E11: SortTo: S04E03: /Season 2 - Parts 3 & 4/Sabrina S02E11.mkv
ep: S02E12: SortTo: S04E04: /Season 2 - Parts 3 & 4/Sabrina S02E12.mkv
ep: S02E13: SortTo: S04E05: /Season 2 - Parts 3 & 4/Sabrina S02E13.mkv
ep: S02E14: SortTo: S04E06: /Season 2 - Parts 3 & 4/Sabrina S02E14.mkv
ep: S02E15: SortTo: S04E07: /Season 2 - Parts 3 & 4/Sabrina S02E15.mkv
ep: S02E16: SortTo: S04E08: /Season 2 - Parts 3 & 4/Sabrina S02E16.mkv
Personal thoughts on the matter is that the TVDBepisodeID version I think is a better one, but requires more work to setup because you have to pull the IDs yourself. That being said there should be a simple way to script it. The things I like are that the files are physically sorted to the way you want them, instead of the SortTo which needs the files to be named to match, which could break if TVdb decides to change their episode orders (I’ve had that problem before). Using the EpisodeID from TVDB it’s linked to that entry no matter where that entry exists, & can even be linked to unsorted episodes which would solve a problem that exists with Re:Zero Director’s Cut because the director’s cut only has the 1st season, it only exists in a special sorting category that is incomplete so can’t be used even if we had the option to select it unless you didn’t have season 2.
The benefits of the SortTo method would be that it is easier to edit if things do change, but at the same time it’s that vulnerability that is it’s biggest problem as well.
Since the .plexmatch is still new I feel getting changes to it may be easier, plus I see a lot of other use cases that could benefit from it. Like, for example, The Re: Zero issue, I personally have both the 1st Season as well as the Director’s Cut on my server. The Director’s Cut version is season 101. With this I could potentially have both not only existing on my server, but matched as well.
EDIT: Note that the ep: S02E01: & the /Season 2 - Part 2/Sabrina S02E01.mkv in the .plexmatch file shouldn’t both be necessary according to the documentation you should be able to use either alone to get the result but the documentation is not very specific & certain
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Does seem like a good idea, but because there is already a “sort order” option in the advanced tab, it might be confusing for those who either don’t know how to use .plexmatch to use it in this usecase when it could just as easily be added to the pre-existing method.
You’re totally right, I wasn’t thinking about that, so it’d need a better name… Maybe ... I got nothing… lol, don’t rely on me for names, you will be disappointed…
But that pre-existing method is a completely different thing. I think the reason the alternative order hasn’t been implemented is because [Aired Order], [DVD Order], [Absolute Order] those are the standard names & probably have a standard way the API interacts with them. While “Arc Order” or “Saga Order” or “Cour Order” may be pretty common for certain types of shows, other orders are not. TVdb originally was using one it called “Alternate Order” but from my understanding they are trying to individually label the orders when they can. I also don’t know how the API works so it could be related to that. So Alternative Orders would require it getting the list of available orders. Also while [Aired Order], [DVD Order], [Absolute Order] exist on every entry, even if they are empty, maybe it causes errors if you choose [Alternative] for a show that doesn’t have one.
The biggest reason I think this method is more likely to be used is because, whether the other is easier or not, for whatever reason they haven’t, maybe because the other has been established & they don’t want to, I dunno. But the .plexmatch is new, so maybe they will be more willing to make changes to it
I was just wondering… didn’t you create a separate suggestion for exactly that use case (and even promote it further up in this thread)? Maybe keep the discussion about handling things with .plexmatch files in that thread just to avoid confusion or mixups 
2 Likes
Sorry about that, I was replying to a comment where someone pointed out a hole in my proposal, which I greatly appreciate. Then they asked why try to go a different route when the other should be easier so I was sharing possible reasons that may have stalled something that, in all reality should have been easy to implement from 1st glance. & I guess I ended with adding another push for it. I just think it has soo much potential but nobody seems to know about it
I need this because the only correct ordering for Steven Universe Complete Collection available is an episode group on TMDB that I can’t find anyway to select for episode ordering:
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No news?
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Hope Plex can support both TMDB’s episode_groups and TVDB’s alternative orders (i.e. things outside of aired, DVD, and absolute ordering).
3 Likes
My main issue is that there are TONS of variety shows out there were thetvdb refuses to treat them as a single episode. Their “solution” is to throw a temper tantrum and have “joined order” instead. (never mind that when aired it was a single consolidated episode, but I digress.) This NEEDS to be introduced as doing S01E01-E3 is a poor solution as if you run episode 3 it will simply start the single file that was part of episode 1. Multiple that by, as a example, Animaniacs where you can have 50+ “episodes” when there is 13.
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