Watched vs. Unwatched Indicators

[TheGrimKeeper 30]

It occurred to me the other day that Emby's Movie and TV libraries treat watched/unwatched indicators in opposite ways.  In the TV library, posters display a badge with the number of unwatched episodes on each series poster.  No indicator means watched.  In the Movie library, posters display a badge with a green checkmark when the movie has been watched.  No indicator means unwatched.  To summarize:

TV: Indicator = UNWATCHED
Movie: Indicator = WATCHED

It would be great if these libraries could display watched/unwatched status indicators in a consistent manner.  Personally I prefer the TV approach, where the indicator corresponds to an unwatched state, as it acts as a flag to draw your attention to something "new".  So that would mean no green checkmark on watched movie posters, but instead something like a green star on unwatched movie posters.  No change would be needed to the TV library behavior.

Thoughts?  Am I the only one whose OCD is upset by this?

[ebr 14910]

Yes, somewhere out here (probably in multiple places) there are discussions of just this issue.  The thing stopping us from changing it is just that we've displayed things this way since the beginning and, in the past, when we've tried to change things that have been around that long it is met with a lot of resistance.

I do feel we should eventually introduce some options to tailor this a bit better.

[MBSki 1014]

Yea, took me awhile to get used to it coming from Plex. I think I'm used to it now, but when I switch back and forth between the 2 I have to remember again. It would be nice if all apps used the same indicators. Not sure how many others mark them the opposite of Emby, but if it's a large majority of apps, then agree it should be switched.

[roaku 795]

My preference would be that everything stays as it is now, except a fully watched TV show would get the check mark indicator like movies instead of nothing.

[TheGrimKeeper 30]

2 hours ago, ebr said:

The thing stopping us from changing it is just that we've displayed things this way since the beginning and, in the past, when we've tried to change things that have been around that long it is met with a lot of resistance.

I completely understand that - can't please everyone.  But you also can't stand still.  I used to rip all my DVDs as VIDEO_TS to preserve the original formats, but now it's all been converted to MKVs because no one supports VIDEO_TS anymore.  Including Emby.

User-adjustable options are one solution here.  It's been a while since I've used Kodi but I seem to recall that they have options for users to select how content is marked as New or Watched in the library view.  The default could be the current settings, so people who like the current setup wouldn't be impacted, but the rest of us could make some tweaks.  Just a thought.

[CharleyVarrick 277]

I've never been crazy myself about unwatched episode count, I remember at first I panicked as I thought it was all inclusive count (THAT CAN'T BE RIGHT!!!).

Maybe 3/8 (meaning 3 unwatched out of 8 total) would be better.

Or better yet, one circle for unwatched and another for all count

But I know at least half the users would not agree.

[ginjaninja 533]

]in plex, a [orange] mark on the poster (whether it be just a mark [movie] or a unwatched count [tv show]) means "something to watch here ie something unwatched''.

so for the sake of internal [to emby] consistency and consistency with plex, my vote would be for

emby to switch to showing 'no mark' when a movie is watched' and a mark when unwatched (to fit with no mark when a tv show is fully watched/has no unwatched content)

 

a slight issue is emby's current mark is a tick, which would would look a bit odd if all unwatched movies had a  tick (tick means 'done' [more akin to watched] where im from) . so maybe a green circle rather than a tick would be better....'green means 'go'/'start''.

 

[fillidill 153]

Yeah I couldn't agree more. I vote to change it or make it configurable. I've tried getting used to it or a while now but it just makes me and and other people visiting confused. 

[crusher11 851]

Plex's are definitely a lot less ugly, irrespective of anything else.

I do like having an easy visual indicator though.

[TheGrimKeeper 30]

I was scanning through my Emby library just the other night and I was thinking about this ticket, and the fact that it's not really going anywhere (not that I thought it would when I entered it, but still).  Nice to see that some other people are still annoyed by this!  I definitely like having a visual indicator, but something that behaves consistently between library types, and is maybe smaller or partially transparent or something, would be nice.

[godbodian 54]

Personally, I would love the ability/function to turn them off completely.

In my setup, there's no need for a watch indicator. I don't watch shows via Emby and our film library is for repeated use/viewing.

The green circle breaks up the aesthetic, IMHO.

[Sarakha63 17]

On 11/12/2021 at 10:17 PM, TheGrimKeeper said:

I was scanning through my Emby library just the other night and I was thinking about this ticket, and the fact that it's not really going anywhere (not that I thought it would when I entered it, but still).  Nice to see that some other people are still annoyed by this!  I definitely like having a visual indicator, but something that behaves consistently between library types, and is maybe smaller or partially transparent or something, would be nice.

without forgoting the fact that collections are not handled AT ALL...... no way to see how many items in it... no way to see when all items are viewed.... and so on

[TheGrimKeeper 30]

11 hours ago, Sarakha63 said:

without forgoting the fact that collections are not handled AT ALL

Great point!  It seems like the only consistent thing about these watched indicators is how inconsistent they are.

[C.S. 62]

In general I think it would be nice to have more control over the watched status indicators. Personally I have no need for them in my movie library, and I always uncheck them when I see them. (When I start forgetting what movies I've seen is how I'll know the end is near.)

As for TV, it's good to know how many episodes I've got left in a series, but only if it's a series I actually watch. I mean if I don't watch a certain show, the number of episodes I haven't seen is beyond irrelevant to me. (And I really don't need to know how many episodes exist of whatever awful "reality" dating shows my friends and family are into.)

Just saying options would be great.

[saj 10]

Sorry I didn't find this thread earlier. I posted a request to consider an option to show a visible watched indicator for TV shows that have been completely watched, as an option. Obviously, no single approach is going to satisfy everyone. The best, and undoubtedly most complicated, approach is to offer more options as to what is displayed. I would vote for an option to have a visible watched indicator, like the movie one now or something similar, on all media where it makes sense. Collections of movies is an example. I like the unwatched count on TV recordings, but that could be optional too. Emby users are too diverse a group for everyone to be satisfied with one approach. This is in no way a complaint. Eye candy is always nice, but I find emby functionality to pretty astounding, especially with the most recent server release.

[KodiTV72 2]

This one has been around for a while now and I would hope that is not be too much coding effort to address as this is a metadata display in the various apps.

Looking at the thread I would suggest that there are several things that could be utilised to get this working really well. I thought I would try to summarise some the thread and add a few more ideas.

The options should probably be user settings individual to each user. But it would also be good to have a system/library default that could be enforced if necessary.
For Movie libraries there could be several possible options.
New i.e. unplayed
Partially played (same metadata used to display the movie in the continue watching section)
Watched
NO mark

For Collections the options could be
New i.e. unplayed (with or without count of items)
Partially played - 4/7 type format. Options for watched or for new.
Watched - all items watched
NO mark

For TV show the options could be
New i.e. unplayed (count or just a mark) (include specials option)
Partially played 4/7 type format. Options for watched or for new. (include specials option)
Watched
NO mark

 

Another addition would be to allow changing the style for each of the marks/indicators.

• User configurable colour options
• Options for the indicators icon as well, Tick, X, circle, whatever.

I will attempt to mock up in text a possible what to present these possible options.

Server-Library-Advanced tab {for setting system wide defaults}

Watched/Unwatched Indicators (System Defaults)
Content Type
Movies
 Enforced across all Movie Libraries
 --
 New/unplayed Indicator [Style picker]
 Partially played Indicator [Style picker]
 Watched Indicator [Style picker]

Collections
 Enforced across all Collection Libraries
 --
 Item Indicator
     Display as Mark [Style picker]
     Display Number as NEW [Style picker]
     Display Number as FULLY Watched [Style picker]
 Collection Completely Watched Indicator [Style picker] {Takes precedent over Item indicator}
 Total Items Indicator [Style picker] {separate indicator or changes the above indicators to include this data}

TV Shows
 Enforced across all TV Show Libraries
--
 Item Indicator
     Display as Mark [Style picker]
     Display Number of NEW items [Style picker]
     Display Number of FULLY Watched items [Style picker]
 Show Completely Watched Indicator [Style picker] {Takes precedent over Item indicator}
 Total Items Indicator [Style picker] {separate indicator or changes the above indicators to include this data}
 Include "Specials" in numbers

 

In individual library {Using TV Shows as example}

 Enforced for all users
--
 Use Server defaults {i.e. Server-Library-Advanced tab}

     Item Indicator
         Display as Mark [Style picker]
         Display Number of NEW items [Style picker]
         Display Number of FULLY Watched items [Style picker]
     Show Completely Watched Indicator [Style picker] {Takes precedent over Item indicator}
     Total Items Indicator [Style picker] {separate indicator or changes the above indicators to include this data}
     Include "Specials" in numbers

--

App/User settings
Display
Watched/Unwatched Indicators
Content/Library Type
Movies
 Use library defaults

     New Indicator [Style picker]
     Partially played Indicator [Style picker]
     Watched Indicator [Style picker]

Collections
 Use library defaults

     Item Indicator
         Display as Mark [Style picker]
         Display Number as NEW [Style picker]
         Display Number as FULLY Watched [Style picker]
     Collection Completely Watched Indicator [Style picker] {Takes precedent over Item indicator}
     Total Items Indicator [Style picker] {separate indicator or changes the above indicators to include this data}

TV Shows
 Use library defaults

     Item Indicator
         Display as Mark [Style picker]
         Display Number of NEW items [Style picker]
         Display Number of FULLY Watched items [Style picker]
     Show Completely Watched Indicator [Style picker] {Takes precedent over Item indicator}
     Total Items Indicator [Style picker] {separate indicator or changes the above indicators to include this data}
     Include "Specials" in numbers

I got a bit carried away in the end, but hopefully that makes sense.

[ebr 14910]

Hi.  Great example of how complex these types of options can get.  Just imagine 10 or 20 more features with similar option sets.  The configuration of the system would become very daunting and, unfortunately, probably 90% of the people would never even touch any of these options.

[TheGrimKeeper 30]

36 minutes ago, ebr said:

Great example of how complex these types of options can get.

I think what the previous poster suggested is something of an "ideal" solution for those folks who really care about these indicators.  I tend to agree that most will not, but some will, and to be fair there's a lot of real estate between the ideal solution and where we are now, which is an inconsistent "one-size-fits-all" approach that really only makes sense if you understand how the product was developed over time.

I started this thread almost 2 years ago, and while there are undoubtedly more popular points of development being discussed on this forum, the staying power of this thread - the fact that people are still finding it, commenting on it, and making suggestions for improvement - indicates to me that there is at least a certain user base that would benefit from some attention to these indicators.  It doesn't have to be a revolutionary change right from the start, but an evolution of these features, to at least see if there is positive response and a call for more, seems worth consideration to me.  And apparently to at least a handful of other users who have kept this thread alive for the past 2 years.

[C.S. 62]

On 1/26/2023 at 6:04 AM, ebr said:

Hi.  Great example of how complex these types of options can get.  Just imagine 10 or 20 more features with similar option sets.  The configuration of the system would become very daunting and, unfortunately, probably 90% of the people would never even touch any of these options.

I can think of one very simple way to clean up the interface that doesn't require any thought on the user's part: Simply turn off the green episode count indicator for shows I don't watch. Make it so the indicator only turns on after I watch an episode. The indicator then serves as a marker showing which shows I'm actually into, and the rest of the posters can be seen completely unmarred.

[ebr 14910]

Just now, C.S. said:

I can think of one very simple way to clean up the interface that doesn't require any thought on the user's part: Simply turn off the green episode count indicator for shows I don't watch. Make it so the indicator only turns on after I watch an episode. The indicator then serves as a marker showing which shows I'm actually into, and the rest of the posters can be seen completely unmarred.

But then how would you (or more likely someone else on your server who didn't add the content) know which series actually had content to watch so that they could then discover which shows they are "in to"?

[C.S. 62]

Click on them?

[C.S. 62]

I mean why would I have posters for shows and no episodes?

[ebr 14910]

30 minutes ago, C.S. said:

I mean why would I have posters for shows and no episodes?

We're not talking episodes, we're talking unwatched episodes.

32 minutes ago, C.S. said:

Click on them?

Every single one of them?  With no way to tell the difference between ones with new episodes and ones that I've already watched?

I just don't think that suggestion would be best for most people that's all.

[C.S. 62]

Is the fear that someone will look at a poster with no green ball and not know whether they've watched all of it, or none of it?

I think that person has bigger problems.

[ebr 14910]

1 minute ago, C.S. said:

Is the fear that someone will look at a poster with no green ball and not know whether they've watched all of it, or none of it?

I think that person has bigger problems.

Someone could have watched something years ago but, mostly, I just don't think it would be obvious at all why the count was showing vs not and I'm not sure most people would really want that specific distinction you do.  Of course, if 100 people pop in here and say otherwise, then I'll be wrong.