I have 2 seasons of “Channel Zero” (2 and 3) in 2 folders under same parent folder:
Channel Zero T2
├── Channel Zero 2x01.mkv
├── Channel Zero 2x02.mkv
├── Channel Zero 2x03.mkv
├── Channel Zero 2x04.mkv
├── Channel Zero 2x05.mkv
└── Channel Zero 2x06.mkv
Channel Zero T3
├── Channel Zero 3x01.mkv
├── Channel Zero 3x02.mkv
├── Channel Zero 3x03.mkv
├── Channel Zero 3x04.mkv
├── Channel Zero 3x05.mkv
└── Channel Zero 3x06.mkv
But Plex Media Server shows them separately:
And the advanced settings of this Plex section are:
Why are seasons in the same series not shown under the same cover?
Well your naming and structure are wrong. While it may have worked in the past it is poor enough that failing at any time is possible.
…
TV Shows <— The library points here
---------TV Show Name (Year first aired if needed) <— This folder holds the season folders
------------------Season 01 <— This folder holds all the episodes for season 01
-------------------------ShowName - s01e01 - Episode Name.ext
-------------------------ShowName - s01e02 - Episode Name.ext
-------------------------And so on for the rest of season 01
------------------Season 02 <— This folder holds all the episodes for season 02
-------------------------ShowName - s02e01 - Episode Name.ext
-------------------------ShowName - s02e02 - Episode Name.ext
-------------------------And so on for the rest of season 02
------------------Season 03 <— This folder holds all the episodes for season 03
-------------------------ShowName - s03e01 - Episode Name.ext
-------------------------ShowName - s03e02 - Episode Name.ext
-------------------------And so on for the rest of season 03
---------2nd TV Show Name (Year first aired if needed) <— This folder holds the season folders
------------------Season 01 <— This folder holds all the episodes for season 01
-------------------------2nd ShowName - s01e01 - Episode Name.ext
-------------------------2nd ShowName - s01e02 - Episode Name.ext
-------------------------And so on for the rest of season 01
------------------Season 02 <— This folder holds all the episodes for season 02
-------------------------2nd ShowName - s02e01 - Episode Name.ext
-------------------------2nd ShowName - s02e02 - Episode Name.ext
-------------------------And so on for the rest of season 02
------------------Season 03 <— This folder holds all the episodes for season 03
-------------------------2nd ShowName - s03e01 - Episode Name.ext
-------------------------2nd ShowName - s03e02 - Episode Name.ext
-------------------------And so on for the rest of season 03
Note: The year after the show name is only normally needed or desired if there is more that one show with exactly the same name. Check http://thetvdb.com/ if you are not sure and match exactly the name used there. There are some exceptions to this where the year is needed even if there is no other show of that name or if the show does not have the year in TheTVDB.
There are naming methods other than the above that work but this does work 99.9% of the time.
If you are going to use Plex it is best to use the proper naming conventions so Plex makes the best match possible. Trying to force Plex to use other naming methods is just asking for frustration.
https://plexapp.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/200220687-Naming-Series-Based-TV-Shows
…
ok, I’ve renamed the folders/files as follows:
/multimedia/Transmission/series/Channel Zero s02
├── Channel Zero s02e01.mkv
├── Channel Zero s02e02.mkv
├── Channel Zero s02e03.mkv
├── Channel Zero s02e04.mkv
├── Channel Zero s02e05.mkv
└── Channel Zero s02e06.mkv
/multimedia/Transmission/series/Channel Zero s03
├── Channel Zero s03e01.mkv
├── Channel Zero s03e02.mkv
├── Channel Zero s03e03.mkv
├── Channel Zero s03e04.mkv
├── Channel Zero s03e05.mkv
└── Channel Zero s03e06.mkv
Now it works.
Anyway, I think Plex is too strict and should consider other ways to name the series. The structure that Plex proposes is the English way. There are another ways.
Thanks.
Your naming method is still not right. You need to have all the files for 1 show under the same Show folder.
/multimedia/Transmission/series/Channel Zero
/s02
├── Channel Zero s02e01.mkv
├── Channel Zero s02e02.mkv
├── Channel Zero s02e03.mkv
├── Channel Zero s02e04.mkv
├── Channel Zero s02e05.mkv
└── Channel Zero s02e06.mkv
/s03
├── Channel Zero s03e01.mkv
├── Channel Zero s03e02.mkv
├── Channel Zero s03e03.mkv
├── Channel Zero s03e04.mkv
├── Channel Zero s03e05.mkv
└── Channel Zero s03e06.mkv
You are getting lucky right now and Plex is ignoring the S02 and S03 at the end of the folder names so your files are being matched only to Channel Zero. This may not work in the future.
A program like Plex has to be more flexible when it comes to recognizing movies and series.
In this case, I could change the name of files and folders but I couldn’t change the folder structure.
Ways such as these should be valid and recognised:
- TV Shows/ShowName Season
XX/ShowName - sXXeYY - Optional_Info.ext
- TV Shows/ShowName/ShowName - s
XXeYY - Optional_Info.ext
- TV Shows/ShowName/s
XXeYY - Optional_Info.ext
- TV Shows/ShowName Season
XX/ShowName - XXxYY - Optional_Info.ext
- TV Shows/ShowName/ShowName -
XXxYY - Optional_Info.ext
- TV Shows/ShowName/
XXxYY - Optional_Info.ext
There are no spaces between XX, YY and the other letters in filenames.
XX is the season number.
YY is the episode number.
@simonbcn said:
A program like Plex has to be more flexible when it comes to recognizing movies and series.
In this case, I could change the name of files and folders but I couldn’t change the folder structure.
Ways such as these should be valid and recognised:
- TV Shows/ShowName Season
XX/ShowName - sXXeYY - Optional_Info.ext
- TV Shows/ShowName/ShowName - s
XXeYY - Optional_Info.ext
- TV Shows/ShowName/s
XXeYY - Optional_Info.ext
- TV Shows/ShowName Season
XX/ShowName - XXxYY - Optional_Info.ext
- TV Shows/ShowName/ShowName -
XXxYY - Optional_Info.ext
- TV Shows/ShowName/
XXxYY - Optional_Info.ext
There are no spaces between XX, YY and the other letters in filenames.
XX is the season number.
YY is the episode number.
Mostly I believe that Plex does not provide enough choice BUT for the naming of TV shows I think Plex is absolutely correct to pretty much constrain users to use pretty much one naming and structure standard. (BTW: There is some rather erratic support for some different naming.)
It is easy to conform to the Plex standards using many different tools and I do not buy that the folder structure cannot be changed. There are tools readily available, like FileBot or TheRenamer, that make conforming quite easy.
In this case I even believe that Plex is right to say “It is the Plex way or the highway.”
Covering all the various possibilities of naming and structuring TV shows is complex and unnecessary because, as I said, it is just too easy to conform to what Plex expects.
There is a LOT about the way Plex does things that I disagree with or even believe is dead wrong but this is not one of them at all.
Plex is a program that is used in many different parts of the world. And that’s why it has to be flexible on things like the name of the series.
It isn’t so much a matter of opinion as of fact. Besides, it’s not difficult to implement that and I know it because I was a computer programmer. Regular expressions. It is a perfect solution for these cases and practically all programming languages can use them.
I can understand the intransigence of certain requests when they involve a large cost in terms of profit or need. But this is not the case. It is simply a matter of laziness on the part of programmers or lack of more extensive documentation (because although the documentation doesn’t mention it, it seems to recognize other ways).
In my case (and I won’t be the only one) in order to change the folder structure I would have to duplicate the same content on the hard disk. Because they are shared folders through P2P programs.
Unless, and this has occurred to me now, Plex recognizes soft or hard links in Linux. 
I’ll test this.
I have friends and acquaintances that use Plex all over, Germany, France, Japan, Australia, Canada, Russia, Cambodia, Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico, and one that is currently in Antarctica. (She is originally from Jamaica) All of them, except the Canadian, have found that they want to use Plex and it is hideously easy to get their files in a Plex friendly format.
BTW: If you are downloading into the same directory that is pointed to by Plex for the Library Plex has set up then you are making a big mistake. Plex does not handle partial files well at all and that leads to both matching and even analysis errors.
If you cannot or will not get your data in a Plex friendly format then you are better off using a different media manager. One more thing: There are not a lot of media managers that come even close to Plex. In fact there are two that I find close, Emby and Kodi. I do not know about Kodi but Emby is no more forgiving about file names and structure than Plex.
Or if you decide to stay with Plex you have three choices:
- Get you media in the correct Plex friendly format.
- Provide all your own metadata embed it or use the correct file format and use local media assets as your agent for that library.
- Continue to fight the great Plexasaurus and watch as your media visually gets stomped into the ground.
Okay, but no Spanish… So it’s no good to me! 
The partial file thing is no problem with Transmission. In fact, today, I would say it’s not a problem with any P2P client.
The problem and, to be honest, I have considered it before using Plex, is that with my Smart TV (LG) there are no alternatives to Plex.
@simonbcn said:
Okay, but no Spanish… So it’s no good to me! 
The partial file thing is no problem with Transmission. In fact, today, I would say it’s not a problem with any P2P client.
The problem and, to be honest, I have considered it before using Plex, is that with my Smart TV (LG) there are no alternatives to Plex.
I “think” the primary language in Mexico and Columbia is Spanish. In fact my friends in those countries are native Spanish speakers in fact for the Colombian English is something like her fourth language. Her languages in order are: Spanish, (including the Cuban and Castilian dialects) Portuguese, Cantonese then English. Her Plex server runs in Spanish.
From my experience Plex is pretty much language neutral.
Also using any of the native apps on a “smart” TV is problematic at best. “Smart” TVs are just bad ideas in general. You are better off, by far, using an inexpensive box like a Roku or a Fire TV or a Shield TV. (This one is not cheep but handles everything without transcoding)
