Would it be possible to change the server scanners to use the files creation date instead of date modified to tag the file as “just added”.
Maybe give the option to use either?
Reason is that when adding new movies to my library they are flagged as just added which is great and on a “just added” sort they come to the top. But if i re-encode an older movie to change it in some way (maybe HDR or 4K) these start to push down the actual “NEW” movies in the list.
Release Date sorting doesnt really help as some “NEW” movies are new to my library but maybe an older movie.
What OttoKerner is pointing out here is that Plex keeps track of when a title has been added to the Plex library not really what the dates on the files are and multiple versions of a title (1080p or 4k or HDR or SDR etc) aren’t treated separately. So if you are converting or updating an existing title in Plex, just be sure not to remove that version until after you’ve added the new version and the added\watched\metadata stuff will all stay as it is.
If you have Ghostbusters 1080p in your library from two years ago and then add a file that is Ghostbusters 4k to your library Plex will see “oh I have that title already” and combine that 4K version with the 1080p version to now just have multiple versions under the same title (or you can merge them manually if necessary - just pay attention to the order you select them). Plex isn’t paying any attention to the actual file dates so the “added” date won’t change.
If you don’t want multiple versions of a title then after you’ve added the new version you can delete the old\unwanted version and the Plex Library listing for that title will stay the same.
This is one reason having a split 4k\SD library isn’t really useful anymore (used to be recommended for some situations). For any of my 4K movies I also have a 720\1080p version and Plex does a pretty good job automatically picking the right version for the situation; non-4k TV it’ll automatically pick the 1080p version instead of trying to transcode the 4k.
This is different from Multiple Editions (in Plex terms). But you can have multiple versions of multiple editions.
I get what he’s saying. I run a library of over 4000 titles (72TB of files) and at times server drives have to be replaced and files moved, affecting the modified date. There are and have been times when the order of titles has changed because of this. So it would be useful to have the option to select a date for management rather than having to work around it as currently. I’m not loosing any sleep over this, just asking if it could be considered.
