Can the option to add a series to "Continue Watching" be added?

[blei 5]

Right now there's the great option to remove a series from "Continue Watching".

 

What about the opposite - the option to add a series to "Continue Watching"?

 

I would primarily use this as a reminder that I want to start something soon, without needing to watch the first episode. This is especially true if I'm about to sign off for the day, or don't have the time at the moment to watch it.

Edited June 25, 2022 by blei

[Luke 37311]

Hi, it's done just like netflix. If you remove it from continue watching, all you have to do is start watching anything in the series to make it eligible again.

[blei 5]

9 minutes ago, Luke said:

Hi, it's done just like netflix. If you remove it from continue watching, all you have to do is start watching anything in the series to make it eligible again.

To add some context I use an external player, where I can't exactly resume from where I left off at.

So if I were to begin watching something + exit the player 2 minutes in, Emby would mark the complete episode as watched and say that next episode is ready to be watched. Which is currently unideal for me.

Additionally if I don't have the time / can't watch something at the moment but want to queue something up as a sort of reminder to watch a specific show when I do have time, it'd be great to be able to do exactly that.

Edited June 25, 2022 by blei

[GrimReaper 3335]

You can use both Favorites and/or Playlist for that, either on Series or Episode level. 

[blei 5]

Sure but why not just use the same "Continue Watching" section? It would make life much easier if I didn't need to manage 2+ types of lists.

Additionally, my favorites (which I already are using for its intended purpose)/playlists don't immediately show in my homepage. For playlists I have to go into the Playlist box to see my playlist, which if I have many would make it more difficult to see/manage.

Edited June 25, 2022 by blei

[GrimReaper 3335]

You can also lend your support here, as that seems functionally very close to your own request and has already gained certain traction:

 

[blei 5]

One other issue with playlist is that it (at least with external player) as soon as I exit the window, it immediately starts the next video. Not sure if there's a way around that. Edit: Looks like default click action is "Play all from here", and that I have to click the triple dots to explicitly click "Play". So I guess that's resolved but it's not particularly relevant to this suggestion.

---

Thank you for pointing that out to me. By the looks of the Watchlist feature it doesn't really match what I'm looking for. I don't want to compile a list of things to watch, but instead want to queue up 1 or maybe 2 shows I want to watch in the near term. I want to be able to see those few shows I queued up in my homepage without needing to go through other menu options. I may want to start on season 1 episode 1 of a show tomorrow. Or perhaps I already finished season 1 and had removed it from "Continue Watching" for a few weeks/months, but then decide to add season 2 episode 1 to my "Continue Watching". And I would particularly do this when I feel like continuing something soon, but can't/won't watch that episode at the moment. The way I kind of treat the "Continue Watching" section is to avoid procrastinating on watching specific shows, and so if a show is not in the "Continue Watching" section I generally take a lot longer before I get to it.

That being said I guess in terms of meaning if you haven't watched season 1 episode 1 of a series you can't really "Continue Watching" it - but I don't think that particularly matters very much.

Edited June 25, 2022 by blei

[rbjtech 4349]

The Recommedations/Watchlist/Spotlight (call it what you like) has so much potential I'm really eager to follow up on this.

It now works with TV Series as well - so I can simply add a Movie or TV Show into a 'Labelled Playlist' (ie a users 'recommendation' list) and it then adds as virtual items into this library.

It works .. I've had some initial discussions with @Cheesegeezer about this - but not sure he currently has the time to convert the script into a plugin .. I'll nudge him again as this sort of 'highlight/recommendations/watchlist/spotlight' feature has got to be one of the top requested items.  The playlists simply do not meet the needs of most people but we CAN use it as a mechanism to get input from the user - for any item, you can add to a list.

[Cheesegeezer 3089]

1 hour ago, rbjtech said:

The Recommedations/Watchlist/Spotlight (call it what you like) has so much potential I'm really eager to follow up on this.

It now works with TV Series as well - so I can simply add a Movie or TV Show into a 'Labelled Playlist' (ie a users 'recommendation' list) and it then adds as virtual items into this library.

It works .. I've had some initial discussions with @Cheesegeezer about this - but not sure he currently has the time to convert the script into a plugin .. I'll nudge him again as this sort of 'highlight/recommendations/watchlist/spotlight' feature has got to be one of the top requested items.  The playlists simply do not meet the needs of most people but we CAN use it as a mechanism to get input from the user - for any item, you can add to a list.

Yeah lets have a look at this for sure. I think i need some real clarification, which we are discussing anyways

[blei 5]

Thanks for pointing that out Recommendations/Watchlist/Spotlight. From the sounds of this feature it's basically just showing a playlist on the home page right? That's not exactly as convenient as the "Continue Watching" section - because if it's basically a playlist then it won't automatically remove itself when I start watching something, nor if I finish watching something (in fact, how would it know I technically finished a series and not just the seasons I have but not those that exist?).

[rbjtech 4349]

1 hour ago, blei said:

Thanks for pointing that out Recommendations/Watchlist/Spotlight. From the sounds of this feature it's basically just showing a playlist on the home page right? That's not exactly as convenient as the "Continue Watching" section - because if it's basically a playlist then it won't automatically remove itself when I start watching something, nor if I finish watching something (in fact, how would it know I technically finished a series and not just the seasons I have but not those that exist?).

Yes it will - it looks like and behaves exactly the same as any other library - as you watch stuff from it, it disappears because it is really just a 'link' to the original item.

So in the example below - If I watched '1917' from either the 'Recommendations Library' or watched it via my main 'Movies Library' - it would just disappear from both.

The same with '54 Days' as that is a TV Series - but for a TV Series you would need to watch all the Episodes (in this case 2 - as shown by the Green Circle) for it to disappear.  Or just click the 'Mark Played' and it will of course also disappear..

The idea behind 'Recommendations' is to recommend content to other users - but of course if you just Recommend it to yourself (lol), then it becomes your Watchlist

You can call the library what you like - Recommendations, Watchlist etc - it doesn't matter.. 

 

Edited June 25, 2022 by rbjtech

[blei 5]

By "disappear" is it still technically in the "Recommendations Library", just not in the homepage? It's a slight nuance but I wouldn't want a forever growing list (even if I can't see it on the homepage).

 

If it does indeed take itself out of both the homepage and the playlist itself, then yeah I think your feature seems to check most/all my checkboxes! Would be great to have it as part of Emby instead of a plugin, though... otherwise I'd be hesitant to even use it as I've had bad experiences with plugins (in a general sense) becoming outdated/the author goes MIA on maintaining it.

 

Edit: Alright looks like it's from your topic @ 

 

 

I do want to add that adding things to playlist takes a few extra (too many clicks) to get it done. In my mind at least with my feature suggestion, I'd just right click the episode then add to Continue Watching. Additionally in your post you seem to say that it's scheduled (not instant).

The other thing I'd want to mention is that it'd be good to try and get a bunch of non-technical people to try the system out, because by the description/images of your post it SEEMS potentially complex to setup + use.

 

Edited June 25, 2022 by blei

[rbjtech 4349]

15 minutes ago, blei said:

By "disappear" is it still technically in the "Recommendations Library", just not in the homepage? It's a slight nuance but I wouldn't want a forever growing list (even if I can't see it on the homepage).

 

If it does indeed take itself out of both the homepage and the playlist itself, then yeah I think your feature seems to check most/all my checkboxes! Would be great to have it as part of Emby instead of a plugin, though... otherwise I'd be hesitant to even use it as I've had bad experiences with plugins (in a general sense) becoming outdated/the author goes MIA on maintaining it.

Both fair points.

Once 'played' then yes, it doesn't currently remove it from the list, but could easily do this by checking on a schedule.

I hear you on the Plugins - all I can say, is the Plugins are currently filling a lot of gaps and they do, but, as you correctly say, have downsides.   However, considering XML Playlists are still in the shape they are in after 5+years of them being flagged as 'needing an overhaul' suggests these type of FR's are not going to be implemented any time soon... 

Edited June 25, 2022 by rbjtech

[blei 5]

I updated my above comment, in case you missed it.

 

From my point of view this post (feature request) I made would just add 1 option to the context menu of episodes - to add it to the Continue Watching section. It sounds to me like a very simple/easy ask, especially since I'd assume most the code is already there. While it could be nice to have something more fully featured I just need something easy and simple.

I don't even use the majority of plugins that exist - most, if not all, just came with the Emby server by defaults (which even those I don't utilize/fully utilize).

[rbjtech 4349]

The original proof of concept was based on a script - we are hoping to now get this into a Plugin - so it will be updated instantly.  Watch the thread above, we may have some updates soon - if it doesn't fit what you need - then don't install it ..

All I can say is I wish you well getting this added to the 'Continue Watching' row - simply because, imo, this is not what it's there for and the calculation for that row is based on items being started beyond the minimum run length. 

[blei 5]

Sure, thanks! I'd really just hope that it becomes an official feature - but if it becoming a plugin means that Luke/Emby devs will ensure it works for every new version of Emby then that'll be a great selling point to me.

 

I don't know how it's coded in but if it can show me next episodes without needing a min run length then I'd expect it should also be able to show me things without playing it. The general idea of the feature is still technically in line with what it's there for - you want to continue watching Season 2 of a series you removed from Continue Watching awhile back. But with the extra nice side effect that you can also add things starting at Season 1 too (even though you didn't watch it yet).