Yes, you can also put the series and volume in the sort order (Lincoln Rhyme 01) or you could go crazy because you could use Brandon Sanderson’s Elantris which is Elantris 01 and Cosmere xx and forget about Forgotten Realms with 1 to 3 series and many different contributing authors.
I think if you are doing it manually, putting them in sort order by series and also adding them to specific collections plus tagging the Genre helps sort best but still, you have to go out and collect all the metadata and Goodreads is pretty reliable for collecting a lot of that including genre, author pics and profiles, series and number.
To honestly reply to your post reiterating what you’re doing - I think that’s great but I think this thread is asking for Plex as a service to do the same thing with libraries for audiobooks that they do with TV and Movies - create an agent that will help us manage a library.
Maybe it’s possible to simply add goodreads as an agent into the existing music library system? I would hate to think that might be a simple solution without having to reinvent the wheel and then we simply choose that and the specified folders and we’re done. If it were that easy, I’m sure someone would have thought of that already.
This thread is asking Plex to implement native audiobook support. At present, Plex does not even remember where in the album you are if you have track-split books, nor does it support embedded chapter marks for single-file books.
Having a proper metadata agent is only one aspect, and it’s not even the most important one. That being said, I’m not sure Goodreads is the best choice because of how disorganized it is at differentiating between releases. Also, similarly to Musicbrainz, Goodreads lists narrators as an author credit—it just puts “(Narrator)” next to the name. Case in point: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6478373.R_C_Bray
Narrator should populate in the Composer tag (which Plex also does not currently support.)
Further, “Asking Plex to do the same thing with libraries for audiobooks that they do with TV and Movies” is exactly what I’m asking for, with regard to collections.
Remembering the position is a fantastic start. But we also need the ability to go backwards and forwards by seconds. Ie., go back 15 seconds, go forward 5, etc. Currently, I can hack together an audiobook in a Music collection in Plex, but good luck if I want to re-listen to something that was just said.
@McWanke One thing I will encourage you to make clear to the powers that be, is that we DO NOT WANT some subscription-based audiobook Online Media Source. So many of these cloud-based subscription bundles Plex has chased after have fizzled out in even less than a year, that it needs to be said: a self-hosted audiobook library is what we want. I don’t want nor need Plex to tie into my Audible account.
Self-hosted by whom? Plex? Are we asking Plex to develope an audiobook metadata library on their own? Do you object to Plex getting the API plugins in the same way they do IMDB or THETVDB? Or do you object to them making us pay for said access to the API?
Self-hosted by self. IOW me! I have movies on my Plex server. I host them. Why should audiobooks be any different? Treated differently or played back differently because they may be arranged by chapter etc. But that’s very similar to movies vs TV series. And yes, whatever plugins are required to whatever services to get the proper metadata etc. As for paying for said access to the API, pretty much like the Plex Pass itself. I fail to see why this is excessively difficult or different than current media.
(And I’d say ditto for podcasts but that’s a whole nother thread!)
I don’t know much about Tidal, 'cept it’s for music and it costs money. As for music, again, I self-host my own music. I have 0 music subscriptions (scratch that - I think I get YouTube Music as a byproduct of succumbing to YouTube Premium). I’m just saying that audiobooks should be like other forms a media, like movies and tv shows, and work properly on my Plex server. Not sure why that seems too much to ask for.
They don’t hate us. It’s all about the money. That unfortunately is where the money lies so that is where they’re headed. It’s only capitalism. Nothing personal.
Because audiobooks aren’t music? Also is docker an issue lol. Who doesn’t t run plex from docker? I’d assume most people are using dockers it’s 2024 most NAS support it.
We all know what assuming does @bakes82 , don’t we? I do not run Docker or my server off of a NAS. I have 142GB of Audiobooks (some of those are digitized off of cassettes) and would love to not have to open (nor install) another f***'n app just to do what Plex has been touting they were all about…
"Your Media Control your media destiny! Organize, beautify, stream, and share your personal collection…"
Since Audiobooks are part of “My Media” and have been “Collecting” for some time now, some of us would love to have it all in one place with “one” app. But why would we want that, when now we can rent movies from Plex instead?
I also have an Audiobook collection and have been using the Audnexus agent to organize in Plex, using the 'Prologue" app on iOS to listen. You just have to make a music library and make sure “resume track progress” is enabled and it will function pretty well.
Wish Plex would officially support it though but Audnexus pulls in the relevant data (author names, book details etc) so it’s a good workaround. The prologue app is what makes the experience worth it though.
Also worth checking is the “Libation” app which allows you to download your Audible library to add to Plex.
@MrFancyPants1999 I use AudibleMeta Agent plugin, haven’t heard about Audnexus, but will look into it.
Can’t use Prologue since I’m on Android, hoping he’s going to actually come out with a Android version, cause I hear great things about it. I use Chronical on a nightstand player, but it has it’s con’s. Can’t get it to work on my daily driver though, just locks up.
I just use the download feature with AudibleManager and AAX Audio Converter.
Audiobooks are audio. Audio is media. Plex is a media server. It’s not a big leap in the logic.
People who don’t know how to use Docker, which is most people. Docker doesn’t exactly tout itself as consumer-friendly.
I would hazard a bet that, 1) given Windows is installed on the vast majority of consumer PCs; 2) Docker is, by its own admission, targeted primarily at enterprise-level environments; and 3) Plex is heavily marketing itself for mass appeal—that the majority of people who run Plex Server do so on a baremetal Windows install.
I do use Docker, but being in IT I’m also aware of how much a barrier to entry using Docker would be for most people. Especially considering how hesitant I myself was to adopt it.
