Plex: How to organize content using collections , filters, and fixing thumbnails!

[@arcooke]

I've been subscribed here for a long time now, and sometimes I forget why. Thanks so much for your integrity and transparency. It says a lot not only about the channel but your personal character. So many sold-out "tech" channels out there, it's nice that places like this exist.

[@rfrancoi]

04:12 - Thats EASY, change the "Sort title" information. And change sort order to "Alphabetical" under "Advanced". Great video Sir.

[@YanksOnTop]

You can go into edit and then use the sort title to put them in the order you want. ie. Star Wars 1 and just use Star Wars 2 for the next one and so on. you wont see those names but it will use those names to sort out the collection. So for Phantom Menace you can use Star Wars 1 in the sort title and that would be the first movie in the list. The name would still come up as Phantom in plex but it would use the sort title to place it in your own order on the list.

[@Blackfeet]

God bless you madam.

[@fpwest1526]

I've been a long time Plex user, and when I needed to sort my movies, I just created folders for the types of movies, and each Type of movie is it's own library of films.

[@HughD]

Thanks for this, Lon. My menus didn't seem to quite match yours on my various devices, but I was able to put my James Bond collection into a collection and can see the usefulness of the feature. Paid or not, keep doing Plex tips/tricks/updates. Thanks.

[@chrismosquad1056]

Best video explanation for my question of how to organize my PLEX media library. Very much appreciated. Thanks!

[@jkennan]

This is exactly the video I was looking for. Thanks!

[@LonSeidman]

If you’re wondering how I archive media from discs see here : kzbin.info/www/bejne/b6a6Z4ueip6UhKM -- Also a lot of you wrote in that you could change the "sort name" in the database to get things in a different order which I am aware of. But my point in raising the issue with collections is that it should have better sorting options available given it's putting content into a different 'bucket.'

[@LonSeidman]

Yes I've been able to rip a few - Make MKV forums are helpful for more info.

[@funkydodo149]

I made two different directories on my hard drive, "movies" & "kids movies"; in Plex server I just made two libraries with the same names. The kids just scroll to the "kids movies" in Plex and all their movies (more or less 250 movies) are in one place. The collections is a cool option to fine tune the movies with different parts, will definitely look into that.

[@dutchkel]

Funky Dodo same

[@mosteanuv]

I feel air quotes are needed everytime I hear blueray in this videos!

[@braedan51]

Don't be makin' accusations ye'scurvy DOG. *points hook hand at collection* These be legitimate backups I tells ya. *taps peg leg on deck angrily*

[@BigPoppa23]

Great video 👍. Thank you

[@chrispetty0303]

Lon,when you rip your blurays do you include the extras as well or just the main movie? Great video as always.

[@FoxRivers778]

If I didn't learn more about using Plex I got some new ideas for titles to view from seeing your library.

[@geekhype]

Great video Lon! I have reached the point that I also need to start organizing my media in Plex. I was actually considering creating new folders on my hard drive and moving my kids media to it then creating libraries within Plex and pointing them at the new folders. I think I will try experimenting with collections and see if they meet my needs or add another level of organization that my continually growing collection needs. Thanks for the video!

[@BillVanderploeg]

I use playlists pretty much in the same way you demonstrated collections.

[@snoozeandrelax]

I have a question, maybe you could do a video on TV Show collections. I made a "Marvel Disney +" collection in TV shows, but now I'd like to "hide" each marvel series from the main TV Show page, is there any way to do this?

[@mowcowbell]

Thanks for posting this. I was wondering how I could get just a grouping of my Star Wars, Star Trek, Indiana Jones, Harry Potter films. This will work perfectly!

[@DANNYDRAIMAN]

sort as Star Wars 1 Star Wars 2 for all the movies...so when u click alphabetical it has episode 1 first...thats what I did

[@larysius]

that's exactly what I did to. You can still have the original title, but sorting title will allow you to sort things chronologically if you wish.

[@TheStoff1975]

It's easier than that, just set a "Sort order" in the "General" info for the movies, best way to get Rogue Squad before A New Hope :)

[@CraigDavison101]

just about to say the same thing

[@RAMtrails]

right? What a noob...he also doesn't use the ARC on his AVR

[@BigBrosFilms]

Just make a star wars collection and go there when you want to watch it. That way everything is in one place even the tv shows and specials and documentaries.

[@willugoupordown]

To reorder movies the way he wants to at 3:54 you just update the Sort Title field on the General tab of the Edit menu. That field is strictly for sorting so you can literally make it "1" "2" "3" or "Episode 1" "Episode 2" or whatever and it will be the order you want. Hope this helps!

[@nyanates]

Does these tips work for a music collection also?

[@wesiniraq]

One thing I miss on movies compared to mp3 files is the free form key-value metadata which can make finding media files much easier. Think of an artist where the band, same folks, made a slight name change or had a guest artist on one or more tracks but not all. It really messes up find by artist. Then again, I can use an mp3 tag tool to fix that at not only a file level but a folder or even folders of folders (start a level higher and merely search for all mp3). After ripping it's very easy to fix or even do playlists. So what is available to do that in some way for movies? I have a NAS with Plex and need to organize movies, from all Dickens books made into miniseries to maybe all Clint Eastwood Westerns or Dirty Harry, while keeping those 2 groups separate. I like your videos and think you are one of the few who might come up with a useful solution. I haven't seen everything you've done of course so maybe I just missed it. Keep up the good work. The movie ripping scene, from the more complex than needed disk layout to a lack of editable metadata is far from where we consumers need it to be, and now that 20+ TB disks are available for $300 this takes on a priority we didn't need 5 years ago.

[@rebrox6545]

Im new to Plex, and i'm really enjoying organising my large movie collection, i originally got the plex so i could watch movies on my oculus go, but im rapidly learning Plex is so much more. so tips here thank you, but could you tell me if there's a way of printing a list of my collections.Thank you

[@ctk4949]

If you click on the pencil icon and under General. There is a Sort Title label. I just put in Star Wars 1, Star Wars 2, and so on. That way its in the correct order. I like using it for other Trilogy's that have different names. Like the Chris Nolan Batman Trilogy. I just use the Sort Title labels Dark Knight 1, Dark Knight 2, Dark Knight 3.

[@ronaldprovencher7570]

MCEBuddy releases 2.6 Commercial remover dose it really work ? Dose it still work on Window 11 ?

[@ekkiwurm7874]

Brilliant video. Thanks for sharing

[@GenXautrucity]

Finally! I know how to add collections! Now, all I need to know is what size of backgrounds can I drag in from an outside source without it being grainy???

[@jaysharkey9896]

Hi, do you know why my collections do not save? I organize them all and it will last for a day or two but then it reverts back like I never did it. I've gone through this progress twice and its happened both times.

[@florincogean8525]

Hey man, good content, it helped me allot over the years. Please tell me something, I have kind of an issue with the TV player, it's not playing files from the Synology NAS. I've got an incident with a drive and had to repair it. I think the Plex media data is in bad shape, but as I say, on the NAS I can play the files, this is just a TV Player issue. What should I do?

[@zhaquiri]

Lon, you seem to only have a single "Movies" library to house all of your movies. I personally have one "Movies" library for live-action Hollywood stuff, a separate "Animations" library for animated movies (Disney, Dreamworks, anime, etc), and another library for "Foreign" films. This can be done by separating the files into different folders on your computer; one folder for "Movies," another folder for "Animations," and another one for "Foreign," then creating said libraries on Plex and pointing each of them to their respective folders. s14.postimg.org/qlf284773/plex-collection-sort.png Also, that trouble you were having with wanting to arrange your Star Wars collection in episode-order can easily be remedied by simply editing each movie's metadata within Plex and, under the General tab, you give the movie its appropriate *Sort Title* name. This sort title name applies in both the main Movies library, as well as inside a Collection.

[@adrianclinch8869]

Hi, great video but i do not get the option to just view collections in the movie tag one i have created it. just says movies or folders in the drop down menu. How do i get the collection option to show?

[@Pandabearmadness]

Lon a video about the Plex settings and all the different meanings of ever option would be great. Unless you already have them.

[@Mattx38]

Hello. Nice and useful video. Thanks. I am looking for a way to change the DNLA folder structure shown by Plex to my Internet Box. When I browse the Plex content on the tv, I see a lot of annoying folders. I juste want to see my librairies folders. Thank you for your help.

[@thewolfydragon1989]

i need to oraganise mine.. but is there "auto collections" for genres? like horror, animation, comedy, action, sci-fi..... or do i just do it manually one by one? as i dont seem to be able to browse by genre on my tv

[@gregoryfricker9971]

Does this work for creating collections for other folks in your plex family?

[@GenoFelice]

Is there a way to create sub folders. For example I would like Home Movies to be listed as a category and when I click on that have years (ie 2010,2011, etc). Right now I can only have the years listed as categories and it takes a lot of room on the main screen

[@kidcid6]

what can i do to hide the movies i placed into collections? will the other my friends see the same thing or will it only display the collections for me?

[@andydavies27]

I ripped a load of my BR movies using make mkv but quickly ran out of space (circa 30gb per film) - do you keep your movies as mkv raw rips and if so how much space do you have for all your movies?! If not, what do you use for compression without losing to much quality? Handbrake?

[@LeonardCartersureshotfoto]

Is there a setting that needs to be checked for collections to span movies and TV shows? When I tried to add TV shows to a collection it made me remake the collection so now I have two "Anime" collections, one in movies and one in TV Shows...

[@damiencameron688]

If you go in and edit the sort title for the movies you can change them to be in the order that you want by naming them exactly the order you want them to show up.

[@MyIronman8]

It's just sear to just have one hard huge hard drive for all your 4k uhd Blu Ray's and other drive for TV shows and other drive for cartoons . Keep it all an part

[@filk2300]

Good video thanks. I added my movies folder to my Plex. This folder has sub folders such as comedy, action & adventure , romance, drama etc. withn. I have another movie folder on my Plex as well that has those same sub folders as the first one, How can I add that second movies folder and take those sub folders and combine those with the first movie folder and those sub folders? I want to be able to just have the one set of sub folders with all the movies in one place. The second movie folder files are on connected external drive to my Synology nas device.I don’t have enough space on my nas to just move the files there permanently so I just have added that second movie folder to Plex in library.

[@SamuelEddy103144]

Lon, I want to change the folder for my music, but I'm afraid I will lose all my playlists. Is there a way to transfer or save playlists?

[@FlintG]

I love using plex for all my devices. :D

[@gselby8107]

Hey Lon. Just revisiting some Plex features to tweak my set up since the last Plex deployment and was wondering if you could tell me what the deal is with the Plugins options. I see the one for iTunes, but all the others I had before are not there... ABC, NBC, CW, Fox, NFL, etc. Any insight would be most helpful. Thanks.

[@mantlecollector]

for movie box sets like the simpsons or beavis and butthead how do u name the folder or file for each volume and disc and episode

[@bobbycooper_ca]

03:47 On Plex Media Player, the tv items in the collection do not show when viewing the collection from the movies library, and movies don't show from collections tab in tv library. Both only appear to be viewable in the browser version. Any tips?

[@keaco73]

Is there anyway to stop the bleeding of other libraries into the one you’re currently viewing? I think that’s annoying. Thanks for the video!

[@rb8058]

Nice video! Coming into Plex for my server as a newb, but liking the features. Is the option to update poster art and bg art a paid-only feature?

[@jmwatson64]

I learned to sort by year the movie came out. Like for all the James Bond movies I use Bond 1964, Bond 1967. I find that is easier to keep track of for large collections.

[@Stevieg2k]

Is there a sub genre option? For example Star Wars can be found under sci-fi and under action. Can you find a sub-genre under "action" called "action sci-fi"?

[@BFArch0n]

I would like to know how to be able to rename or change a media folder path, without losing the metadata! The root folder is currently called RIPS, I want to rename it to Movies....I also want it as a Movie source, instead of a random additional videos source.

[@trekgod3]

Does the collections feature not work any more? Just tried this and it doesn't work. Only gives me the option to create a playlist. Edit: Figured it out. Only works from the web interface, not the app

[@SuperBigDog2U]

FYI...I renamed my Star Wars to better sort in this manner (Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace) and so on so when sorted by Title they all show in order of the roman numeral. May work in your case as well Lon.

[@anthonycruz5582]

Hello there, can you help me? I own a Vidabox that is currently holding over 800 movies. How can I connect the Vidabox to Plex?

[@ajamudaniel]

why can't I get my music to start back where it stopped? for example, I have some audiobooks on my plex and if I start listening to a book and pause to check out something else when I go back to continue listening to the book it starts over from the beginning please help.

[@satbe]

Hi Sir I have plex pass. All movies show subtitles has SRT external. But the subtitles are not showing up while i play the movies

[@bkroberts89]

The background probably smells like the 80's.

[@JohnGriner]

is there a way once the movie is added to a collection that just the collection shows up in the all list.... that way i dont view the collection and right beside it the movies that are in the collection.

[@84Actionjack]

Thanks! This led me to find how to turn off Plex's penchant for creating unwanted collections and cluttering up my libraries.

[@tiagoj8020]

I'm having issues with anime and Plex. It shows up in both movie and tv folders even though it's pointed at tv shows. Is there a certain way to do anime?

[@observer6179]

Great video, picked up very useful tips. However my problem is the "A''s" and the "The's". Example: Plex Media Server drops the "A's" and "The's" and lists the movie elsewhere in the Library. E.g. A Common Man is listed under "C" as Common Man instead of it's proper listing/title. Some media players have this as an option to turn off or on, but I don't see it in Plex. Annoying.

[@videohengelo7461]

Great video! Thanx

[@normsunderlin6117]

I would love for you to address a fix for Live TV and Recorded TV on Shield based Plex Client. Both stop frequently and buffer before and during playback. Both Shield & Plex user groups are asking the same question. My PMS is on a WD PR4100 and all of my switches are Gigabit. I have a HDHomerun Quad tuner and a Norton Core router. I can play Live TV on my HDHomerun Client on Shield with instant play and no buffering. Since both Plex and HDHomerun are getting there signal from the same tuner so, you would expect them to both have the same lag time. I set a static IP address in Shield for my PMS and that helped some. As for now, Plex is useless except for movies and music. Thanks for your help and all you do for the Plex Community!

[@rasterboy995]

I have a folder called "unwatched_movies" Everything new I add to that folder on my drive. It shows up on Plex under the "Recently Added" section. So I know everything there I've not yet seen. After I watch a film it still shows in the "Recently Added" section. Is there a way to make it dissapear or be hidden from there once it's been watched.

[@herczeus9341]

What about Magazines PDF Files and Audiobooks?

[@BrannonGlover]

Where do you typically purchase your media? Right now I’m purchasing mine through Apple TV, but I can’t view that in Plex.

[@daylemcneela6295]

Either illegal torrents (downloads) which is illegal due to copyright etc, or buy the movies on DVD/Blu Ray and rip the disc on your PC which is legal as long as only you view it. Sharing that content is a grey area so be careful, and using a VPN is recommended.

[@Anubis19772303]

so....if i get this right?!when i create a collection of.....Star wars....i have a star war collection AND all Star wars movies in the library??

[@jazmynbrown5021]

Everytime I use a new device I have to manually pin how do 8 make it so that it's automatically done when logged in somewhere new

[@chronicvader]

Hi Lon, to have plex sort the star wars in the correct order just rename them under the "sort title" as star wars 1, star wars 2, etc..., and change the collection order to alphabetical. that should fix it right up. this was a tip from a Byte my Bits video.

[@DavidM2002]

I have a large but well organized ( for me ) movie collection. All mp4 files are named the same as the movie title, and grouped alphabetically into a dozen or so folders. If I start to use Plex, will it mess with what I have already done - change file names, add tags, move to different folders, etc ?

[@drewc.2734]

no

[@gselby8107]

Hey Lon. Got a little Plex issue. Via a web browser, I am in Plex trying to use the guide to find programs. The page says Refreshing Guide Data (100%), but the message in the window says... We're now building your Guide - Hang tight while we download all the data for what's on. It's been like this for several days now. It was fine when I first set up the Plex Server on my Netgear X10, whcih won't open Plex now, but I can't seem to get a guide. Any ideas? Thanks.

[@seeyaarg3974]

Any one knows if exist some way to dont show on library the movie what i add to a collection? i mean the idea is gain space on the list, but i want to see the collecions and the rest of movies on the same place, i dont see the point to see the movie out the collection and inside.

[@TheDarkstorm77]

I wish you could create genre Collections before hand inside a movie folder so whenever you put a specific file lets say "horror" in your movie folder it would automatically move it to the Horror collection and so on.

[@hoosieralliance]

How do I list tv shows that are "best of" instead of Seasons? Im trying to rip and upload to Plex ,Looney Tunes Golden collection

[@snoww2009]

Is there a way to backup the collections and playlists so you can be imported them to a new server? Basically, you don’t want to redo everything from scratch when you move Plex server to a new machine:

[@LonSeidman]

Yes if you search through my playlist (Lon.tv/plexhdhr ) you’ll see one video on backups and another on migrating a database.

[@timelesstimesgoneby]

how would plex not refresh collections to not add new thing tv series

[@winecountrygames1859]

so how do I remove the individual movies from my library? and add the collection to my library? so its just a combination/collection movie in my library and not individual files?

[@chuck-it-outreviews5837]

I am looking for some help. I have done some research and I cannot seem to find the answer to this. How do I rip a DVD and maintain the chapter/scene markers? Furthermore, is it possible to make use of those chapter markers in Plex. Here is what I want to do: I have some home movies on DVD that I took time to make chapter dividers. It would be really nice to enjoy them as one movie that I can watch continuously but also be able to skip to certain chapters/scenes when I want. The program that I have for ripping is MacX DVD Video Converter Pro Pack. It will rip to Mp4 or MkV. I have already ripped a home DVD to an MKV but either I did not do the rip correctly or I am not understanding how to access chapters because I cannot seem to find a way to skip to the next chapter on Plex. The movie played just fine on Plex. The issue is simply not being able to skip to the next scene/chapter. Thank you for any help or advice.

[@doughgarcia6086]

How can i add a movie that did not add to plex jist like 5 movies did not add to my plex server... What can i do to add it...

[@redskydiver72]

i found a way to organize a movie series in the general setting go to sort title and change it like first blood i would lable it rambo 1 next in order rambo 2 and so forth so that they appear in proper order

[@marcosvillagran7656]

Do I need to have a separate folder from non-animated tv shows and animated tv shows? When it comes to my movies folder, I just make it scan my library and it updates what I added, but my tv shows folder is not adding my animated tv shows. Any suggestions?

[@mLernen]

You might need to specify the exact folder 'D:/library/TV shows' should work, but I've had to enter each one like 'D:/library/TV shows/Aang', 'D:/library/TV/Korra' etc :( Otherwise it's might be a permission issue? Good luck

[@Pandabearmadness]

Great video as always and I think when it comes to plex i find your content very informative without all the BS. I was not aware of the collection option I've been organizing my collection through the playlist option. What I've found useful in organizing my videos like star wars or aliens collection in the preference of how i want it. When I'm in my main movie server and have it set to title. under the edit option on a particular movie I'll go to sort title and lable the star wars movies like so star wars 01, star wars 02 etc. So like how i prefer having the star wars movies in chronological order instead of release date. I'll have episode 4 under sort title star wars 01. I find this method very useful for movie collections like the aliens franchise. Since Prometheus is not under A i can have that under A. Even though it's alphabetically out of order i keep the series together with out changing it to aliens 01 ( Prometheus) which seems silly but how i had it before. I think now that i understand grouping things together under the tags that having my movies labeled by sort l title that within that collection i can get it the order i want

[@reljoy]

Lon, I've got motorcycle videos from my helmet cam. Each ride has a dozen or so videos. I've tried using "Other" videos but I'm not really happy with how it is organising things. Each folder is named yy_mm_dd ride name. Inside the folder i have the same but adding "- pt01" etc to each individual file. Is there a better way?

[@LonSeidman]

One approach would be to browse the library by folder vs. by file - that'll maintain the folder structure you set up in the interface.

[@reljoy]

Yes I've been doing that.

[@mikedishman5909]

I just have a question..I can rip dvds no problem.I name the file content movies and than i have different categories for those movies like for example,horror,drama,action..I can transfer the files over to plex no problem.But if i add more movies to that same category like comedy,and i transfer them over to plex,it transfers everything over even the movies i transfered over previously?And if i set up a whole new file with different categories like drama horror action ect and i transfer them over that way i have 2 catagories with different movies ..Like ill have 2 comedy categories with 2 different batch of movies..No one explains how i can keep transfering movies from the same file like @t ill transfer 15 movies to my plex like comedy.well when i rip like 10 more comedy movies and add them to the same comedy file and i go to transfer them to my plex plex will ask me to name the movie catagory again so ill have 2 comedy catagories with 2 different batch of movies.Can you help me with this issue?Ty.

[@tech360gamer]

Is there a way to setup genres for the movies, thanks. Good video too.

[@jakehillman5994]

When you are editing, one of the fields says genre

[@BillVanderploeg]

Do you happen to have any videos explaining how you digitized your movie collection?

[@StogieSmokinFool]

Bill Vanderploeg I was thinking the same thing.

[@dalarcon50]

Google for MakeMKV, this is the best option I have found, after that, I use other options to compress it.

[@dbetts3087]

Best program out there is called Make MKV

[@dalarcon50]

Just remembered, use Handbrake to compress it

[@richardberube]

Yep, make mkv + handbrake after. It took me about a month to do all my collection, but now i had them as i buy them and give away the crappy itunes or ultraviolet digital version by putting the picture of the code on FB :)

[@MrTonyBones]

Wouldn’t metaX do the same thing for a lot less cheaper?

[@duckforceone]

you can easily sort the movies in order by changing the sort order title. i name mine star wars 1, star wars 2 etc etc, with rogue squadron sorted as 3.5.

[@Spawn-wt6ul]

Thanks for the help buddy. Good video.

[@Jim.D]

Great video, thanks. Do you know if Plex is capable of transcoding a video after it is recorded so that mcebuddy is not needed, I really want to go to Linux and that is the only reason that I cannot leave windows, thanks.

[@LonSeidman]

Yes see here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/i6ezZpiqi8uce80

[@Jim.D]

Lon.TV no, I have commercial skip working fine, what I do is after the recording is processed and commercials are removed, I reencode the video to 720p @ 4 Mbps so I do not need to transcode on the fly and I can do more simultaneous feeds without issue, especially with an i3 processor, can this be done within Plex? Thanks

[@IslandCatsCentral]

one thing that they should add is a landscape 16:9 ratio for thumbnails for personal media your own videos and such they already have this option as newly added but you can't actually pick it as normal you only have the poster size i don't get it how they have not fixed this simple yet frustrating thing.

[@moneymanfernando1594]

Can I connect an antenna for OTA signals to an Air TV box using Sling TV and use Plex so that I can watch and record both Sling TV and over the air content ?? I want to integrate all this so I can watch and record all content from all these sources ?? Is it somehow possible ??

[@LonSeidman]

It's not compatible with Sling as it's copy protected.

[@thathorrorshow4126]

Man this is bad ass. Very cool.

[@malianker2345]

Can you do video about movies advanced setting??

[@malianker2345]

I mean the one that in the 3 dots near movies -> edit -> advanced

[@arnelpruna6455]

does this app work offline?

[@CantankerousDave]

It’s weird that the collections only see the display name and not the sort name. I have my movie series arranged that way (HP1 thru HP8 for Harry Potter, etc.), but I like the idea of being able to mix movies and TV shows for Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek. Seems like a simple oversight.

[@zhaquiri]

But Collections in Plex _do_ see the Sort Title: s14.postimg.org/qlf284773/plex-collection-sort.png I think Lon just doesn't know about it yet, or hasn't had the time to fully explore Plex since he has so many things going on. I, for one, am a full-time bum, which means I've spent endless hours organizing my stuff. haha

[@CantankerousDave]

I wasn't able to get the collections to save at all when I tried making a few yesterday. Might have been a pre-coffee user error.

[@winecountrygames1859]

Instead of collections I prefer "Playlists" then you can organize them any way you want and they have their own tab

[@GabiVegas-dj]

Amazing

[@britcoun]

I have a Directors library but plex is creating TWO names for the same director. One film goes under one of them and the other film goes under the other. I'd like both films to be under the director in one place rather than split up.

[@vincentroyfrancisco3888]

Sir Lon I want to ask you something with regards to gamepad controllers, Steel series nimbus or gamesir T1s (then DL Happy chick emulator)? Please help me, I'm an ios phone user.

[@dutchkel]

Vincent Roy Francisco I use happy chick emulator and a gamesir 4 but I have android products. Works well on ny fire tv 3 as well