Change default sort by order

[gruppa 3]

Hello everyone. I was wondering if there is a way to set the default sort by type in the server settings. I was wanting to change it to sort by title instead of file name but I don't know if that is an option. Thanks in advance.

[visproduction 315]

Grup,

As far as I see, sort order sticks after it is set for each user's hardware on local or on remote.  If the same user logs in with new hardware, all sorts default back to title.  If the user logs into remote, the settings for that user in local are not used and you have to start all over again.  The same happens with all library fields for each library and for each genre, tags, search results.  They all default back to title when a user logs in a different way or with a different hardware.  This is pretty annoying especially if you want to setup libraries with Sort by Latest and include mutliple fields.  None of this is sticky and it is all forgotten on each new user and each new hardware.

Being able for the admin to choose a default sort orders and fields would be very nice and then you wouldn't have to tell users to fix the sort order and fields.  As far as I know, this is not a feature being planned for update.  Hopefully, I am wrong.

[gruppa 3]

For me everything defaults to sort by file name, which is annoying. I would rather it default to title. I usually edit the metadata for Sort Title and add Movie 1, Movie 2, Movie 3, etc... when they are sorted in the wrong order based on the name of the movie.(for example the Bourne and Purge movies). I know it will stick once set on a particular device/user but you're right, it's annoying to have to tell users to fix the sort order or connecting from a new device.

[visproduction 315]

I think you are right, the default is file name.  You can also adjust the sort order inside the metadata editor.  Just do Sort by: Bourne 01, Bourne 02, Bourne 03...  That gets the right order when you sort by title.  It's also helpful if they are in collections. 

[Luke 42080]

Quote

For me everything defaults to sort by file name, which is annoying. I would rather it default to title.

Only folder view defaults to filename. Pretty much everything else defaults to title.

[gruppa 3]

11 minutes ago, Luke said:

Only folder view defaults to filename. Pretty much everything else defaults to title.

I like using folder view because you can put stuff in a collection/group in one folder, like all 26 James Bond movies lol. They don't all clutter up the movies view. It's just a minor annoyance but thanks for the tip that everything else defaults to sort by title. I didn't know that.

[Luke 42080]

folder view also does some sniffing with the first page of items that come back, and if they're all audio files, then it will default to album sorting so that songs get sorted as you would expect.

[GrimReaper 4740]

45 minutes ago, gruppa said:

I like using folder view because you can put stuff in a collection/group in one folder, like all 26 James Bond movies lol. They don't all clutter up the movies view.

You can achieve same in Movies tab as well, tbree-dot menu>Group items into collections. 

[Gilgamesh_48 1240]

2 hours ago, Luke said:

Only folder view defaults to filename. Pretty much everything else defaults to title.

This has been my experience as well. Also I have found that usually/often the default order is permanently changed once you manually change it. That is changes to sort order seem to stick even through restarts.

The fact that the default behavior sticks when changed has actually made part of my Emby watching better. I can keep my recordings (sports events mainly) in date added order which makes find and playing the one I want to watch much easier.

Thank you Emby for providing a fix for a problem I did not even know I had.  

Edited November 15, 2023 by Gilgamesh_48
typo

[Gilgamesh_48 1240]

1 hour ago, gruppa said:

I like using folder view because you can put stuff in a collection/group in one folder, like all 26 James Bond movies lol. They don't all clutter up the movies view. It's just a minor annoyance but thanks for the tip that everything else defaults to sort by title. I didn't know that.

I find "collections" does that both better and easier.

[gruppa 3]

24 minutes ago, Gilgamesh_48 said:

I find "collections" does that both better and easier.

Are collections per user or is it global? I'd like to make the list standardized for all users if I can. I haven't used collections before so I'm going to check it out.

[Gilgamesh_48 1240]

Just now, gruppa said:

Are collections per user or is it global? I'd like to make the list standardized for all users if I can. I haven't used collections before so I'm going to check it out.

I have no idea, I am the only user on my system. You could always test it.

[gruppa 3]

So it looks like collections adds another tab on top named "Collections" next to Shows and Movies. It also adds another library called Collections. I'm not sure this helps since I don't want a new collections library, rather just a folder in the movie list that contains sequels and whatnot. Also, now that the collections library is there I can't seem to delete it.

[Gilgamesh_48 1240]

2 hours ago, gruppa said:

So it looks like collections adds another tab on top named "Collections" next to Shows and Movies. It also adds another library called Collections. I'm not sure this helps since I don't want a new collections library, rather just a folder in the movie list that contains sequels and whatnot. Also, now that the collections library is there I can't seem to delete it.

Try going into your settings:
Then click on "Home Screen" which I think is the second or third clickable item on the left.
Then scroll all the way down to the bottom and you should see an option box next to "Collections." Uncheck that and "collections" will be removed from your home screen.

However I do not know if there is a collections tab in the folder view. I never use it except for troubleshooting when a movie is mismatched.

[gruppa 3]

23 minutes ago, Gilgamesh_48 said:

Try going into your settings:
Then click on "Home Screen" which I think is the second or third clickable item on the left.
Then scroll all the way down to the bottom and you should see an option box next to "Collections." Uncheck that and "collections" will be removed from your home screen.

However I do not know if there is a collections tab in the folder view. I never use it except for troubleshooting when a movie is mismatched.

Thanks, this works but it's per user and the collections library still exists even if it's empty. I found a post on how to remove collections altogether and it worked beautifully.

[ebr 16185]

12 hours ago, gruppa said:

rather just a folder in the movie list that contains sequels and whatnot

 

14 hours ago, GrimReaper said:

You can achieve same in Movies tab as well, tbree-dot menu>Group items into collections. 

 

[visproduction 315]

Collections good points:

1. Grouping content together.
2. You can mix different libraries and even artists into a single collection
3. Background images and custom posters are possible. 
4. I wrote a custom css code to reveal the background image in collections with a mouseover of the top area.  This is nice if you have a lot of backgrounds that are never really easy to see with a lot of collection posters in-front. 
5. When you choose sort by title, the A -Z links appear on the right, which also helps navigate if there are many collections. 
6. It seems that grouping content into collections also scores points with the AI in suggested content lists for similar content in media pages and "Because you watched' in library suggestions tab page.  So it looks like using more collections can result in better quality AI suggestions.
   
    

[jiggity 35]

16 hours ago, gruppa said:

Are collections per user or is it global? I'd like to make the list standardized for all users if I can. I haven't used collections before so I'm going to check it out.

Collections are global, the setting to view in libraries are per user

Edited November 15, 2023 by jiggity