Empty collections when user does not have access to collection library items

[SamES 891]

When a User is added with only limited library access, the Collections view still shows all collections, even those which display with no items as the user does not have access to the library containing the items.

 

Is it possible to change the Collections view logic so that only Collections with 1 or more accessible library items are returned?

 

Thanks.

[DerBusIsVoll 1]

Let me second this request.

My kids should not be able to see my FSK16 and above collections.

 

Thanks

[Luke 37116]

that's the way it is. did you create the collection in the web interface?

[SamES 891]

that's the way it is. did you create the collection in the web interface?

 

The collections were made either manually in the web interface or by autobox set plugin.

 

The issue is when you have a user with access to only some of the MB libraries, they still see all collections in the client views even though they may not have access to the library where the items are contained.  Therefore, they see a collection in the collections view, but it contains no (accessible) items for that user.

 

In the case where the restricted user is a child for instance, they should not be able to see collections for which they do not have access to the items as the collection view itself may be inappropriate.

[Deathsquirrel 741]

I assume this happens due to not giving users rights to the contents of the collection.  If users have rights to the collections but you use parental controls to block by rating then the users will not see the collections that only contain movies above the approved rating.  For example, my kids use the same Movies library I do.  I have an Aliens Collection.  All the movies in this collection are rated R so they don't see the collection at all.  They can see the Matrix Collection however as that contains one PG-13 movie that they can see when clicking the collection.

[Luke 37116]

this should already work because the collection should be getting a parental rating based on the titles it contains. so check your collections in the metadata manager. if you locked any of them then it might not have a rating and you'll have to fill it in manually.

[SamES 891]

this should already work because the collection should be getting a parental rating based on the titles it contains. so check your collections in the metadata manager. if you locked any of them then it might not have a rating and you'll have to fill it in manually.

 

I do not currently use parental controls.  PG is one classification that can be very broad I found it causes more issues than it solves.

 

Anyway, this seems like a work-around.  I really can't see the benefit in displaying Collections in the collection view if they have no accessible library items.  Would it not be an easy (and logical from a UI point of view) to make a change so as not to present collections with < 1 accessible items?

[Deathsquirrel 741]

I do not currently use parental controls.  PG is one classification that can be very broad I found it causes more issues than it solves.

 

Anyway, this seems like a work-around.  I really can't see the benefit in displaying Collections in the collection view if they have no accessible library items.  Would it not be an easy (and logical from a UI point of view) to make a change so as not to present collections with < 1 accessible items?

 

Gets a bit tricky to create new collections if you do that.  You're talking about objections to kids seeing inappropriate content.  You prevent that with parental controls.  Use 'em.

 

If you disagree with the MPAA rating just use the metadata manager to set a custom rating where needed.

[SamES 891]

Yes, I can see how this would make adding new collections a challenge.  

 

What I've done now is set a custom tag in the "Block Items with Tag" option in Parental controls, then tagged the Collections I want hidden.   A bit manual but works.  I agree that parental controls is a good idea but I prefer this approach to resolving the collections issue without impacting everything else.   Not about to start re-rating items just to control this issue.

 

Thanks @@Deathsquirrel for clarifying why hiding empty collections is not a good solution.

Edited January 24, 2015 by SamES

[ebr 14930]

I can confirm this is an issue and it doesn't have anything to do with Parental Control.

 

The problem is that Collections, themselves, are created globally without any user access information.  That is, all users share the same set of collections.

 

So, when a Collection is created from items that don't exist in the current user's library, that collection is still visible to that user even though it has no contents.

 

For example, all these highlighted collections are created from items that only my daughter's profile can see, yet I still see the collections.  If you go inside one of them, it is empty.

 

 

Given how we handle collections now, I'm not sure exactly what to do here except maybe implement the "Hide Empty Folders" option on the server which would mask this situation.

[kkhan 16]

I tried to give someone temporary access to only one part of my movie collection (Self Help) which are in a folder (\\library\video\self help) in standard format with each movies in a sub-folder.  So I created a new user account and only selected this folder for library access with no access to anything else.

 

In the web client preferences I also set "Automatically group content from the following folders into views such as Movies, Music and TV" to include this folder so that I would get a movie view.

 

When I go to the movie view and click on the "Collections" link it presents me all the collections from the complete library!  When I open one of the collections the item list is blank so I cannot actually navigate to any of the movies.  Nevertheless, the whole object was to provide narrow access to only one part of the library with no visibility to anything else.

 

Also the trailer link also lists the latest trailers despite the fact that I had deselected the trailer channel for library access.

 

I can get the desired result by disabling "Automatically group content from the following folders into views such as Movies, Music and TV" in the web client preferences and navigating purely by folder but then I lose the ability to navigate by genre.

 

 

 

[ebr 14930]

http://mediabrowser.tv/community/index.php?/topic/17327-empty-collections-when-user-does-not-have-access-to-collection-library-items/&do=findComment&comment=170945

[kkhan 16]

A rather sheepish thanks ! Should have looked more carefully.

[SamES 891]

Sorry to raise an old thread, but this issue was resolved some time ago and appears to have come back again recently (past few weeks?)

 

Has anyone else noticed this?

 

I'm running current beta release