No option to identify movies in 4.9.1.80??

[Ronstang 293]

There is no longer an option to identify movies when you right click on a movie that is not identified correctly.  No option at all.

These are all the options that are available.  It's just gone.

[GrimReaper 4739]

Just to get basics out of the way: which library meta-providers you have enabled? Are they ticked (maybe they got disabled on update)? If you untick/tick them again, does the same occur? 

Edited October 6, 2025 by GrimReaper

[Happy2Play 9780]

A wild guess is you cannot Identify a folder you can only identify actual media.  

So the question is in what view are in?

Folder view

Actual Media View after scrolling the context menu

 

[Ronstang 293]

Ok, what's this folder view BS and how do I turn it off?   That seems to be the problem and I don't understand the purpose of "folder view" to begin with.

[Happy2Play 9780]

You can't as it is a change to how folders view is presented.

[Ronstang 293]

2 minutes ago, Happy2Play said:

You can't as it is a change to how folders view is presented.

What? Why on earth would you add another layer I have to click through for no reason?  What is it's purpose other than to be annoying?

[Happy2Play 9780]

It is to try and better represent actual folder structure as it really was never supposed to be the same as the movies tab collapsed view.

[Happy2Play 9780]

But in the end a lot of users are not liking but not much was ever really said in the almost 7 months in beta.

 

Really it should be designed only affect nested items as all single item folder should be presented collapsed.  The user display option sort of does that but as you mentioned options are not present for the folder layer along with all the other "Show Fields" options as you are currently looking at a folder so Folder View sort of loses most metadata functionality to a point.

example since they are folders no metadata

 

It has a lot to do with the somewhat elimination of  CollapseVideoFolders/CollapseSingleItemFolders settings and why lots of user libraries are getting reset/rebuilt.

Edited October 6, 2025 by Happy2Play

[Ronstang 293]

This is stupid.  I couldn't use the beta because it had other problems with my setup so I had no clue this [redacted] was done.  Problem is the last stable is effed up with all kinds of little [redacted] you won't fix so it's the lesser of two evils.

This is a giant waste of productivity and ADDS NOTHING.  Whoever thought this [redacted] up really needs good spanking. 

Folder view has worked perfectly forever. There was no reason to touch it.  I have lots of folders and this just makes this release a [redacted].  All the other stuff looks nice but this kills it all in one fell swoop.  This will waste my time EVERY DAY.

Edited October 6, 2025 by GrimReaper
Be civil

[GrimReaper 4739]

Certain frustration is understandable, but you'll have to take it down a notch. 

[adminExitium 355]

34 minutes ago, Happy2Play said:

It has a lot to do with the somewhat elimination of  CollapseVideoFolders/CollapseSingleItemFolders settings and why lots of user libraries are getting reset/rebuilt.

Do we know exactly what was changed here? I have always had CollapseVideoFolders set to True since the initial server setup and I never faced any of the rescans etc. while in the betas or even in the stable.

Did any of the betas/stable change that setting to False or stop respecting it for some setups?

[Happy2Play 9780]

2 minutes ago, adminExitium said:

Do we know exactly what was changed here? I have always had CollapseVideoFolders set to True since the initial server setup and I never faced any of the rescans etc. while in the betas or even in the stable.

Did any of the betas/stable change that setting to False or stop respecting it for some setups?

@Lukewould have to comment here as the overall functionality of these switches are degraded or nonfunctional as you cannot get CollapseSingleItemFolders now as you the folder layer is always there.

I know toggling them has always been destructive since they were introduced a long time ago.  But think mine have always been set to false so did not see any update issues as they are all old installs except for some test systems.  So the issues become everyone's systems actually running with different switch values and these major updates come along.

Actually looks like one is false and another that is true

2025-10-02 21:14:20.750 Info App: Libraries
	Server Configuration: CollapseVideoFolders: False
	Library:  TV Shows - Kids, id: 214879, CollectionType: tvshows, CollapseSingleItemFolders: True
	Configured paths: Z:\ServerFolders\Videos\TV - Kids
	Library Folder: TV - Kids, id: 214878: path: Z:\ServerFolders\Videos\TV - Kids
	Library:  TV Shows, id: 240648, CollectionType: tvshows, CollapseSingleItemFolders: False
	Configured paths: Z:\ServerFolders\Videos\TV Shows
	Library Folder: TV Shows, id: 240649: path: Z:\ServerFolders\Videos\TV Shows
	Library:  Movies, id: 241704, CollectionType: movies, CollapseSingleItemFolders: False
	Configured paths: Z:\ServerFolders\Videos\Movies
	Library Folder: Movies, id: 241705: path: Z:\ServerFolders\Videos\Movies
	Library:  Movies - Kids, id: 253615, CollectionType: movies, CollapseSingleItemFolders: False
	Configured paths: Z:\ServerFolders\Videos\Movies - Kids
	Library Folder: Movies - Kids, id: 253616: path: Z:\ServerFolders\Videos\Movies - Kids
	Library:  Collections, id: 770464, CollectionType: boxsets, CollapseSingleItemFolders: True
	Configured paths: 

 

	Server Configuration: CollapseVideoFolders: True
	Library:  Yoga, id: 6, CollectionType: , CollapseSingleItemFolders: True
	Configured paths: Z:\ServerFolders\Videos\Yoga
	Library Folder: Yoga, id: 5: path: Z:\ServerFolders\Videos\Yoga
	Library:  TV shows -Kids, id: 58, CollectionType: tvshows, CollapseSingleItemFolders: True
	Configured paths: Z:\ServerFolders\Videos\Kids-Animation\TV Shows
	Library Folder: TV Shows, id: 57: path: Z:\ServerFolders\Videos\Kids-Animation\TV Shows
	Library:  Movies - Kids, id: 1371, CollectionType: movies, CollapseSingleItemFolders: True
	Configured paths: Z:\ServerFolders\Videos\Kids-Animation\Movies
	Library Folder: Movies, id: 1370: path: Z:\ServerFolders\Videos\Kids-Animation\Movies
	Library:  Movies, id: 33094, CollectionType: movies, CollapseSingleItemFolders: True
	Configured paths: Z:\ServerFolders\Videos\Movies
	Library Folder: Movies, id: 33093: path: Z:\ServerFolders\Videos\Movies
	Library:  Music, id: 122341, CollectionType: music, CollapseSingleItemFolders: True
	Configured paths: Z:\ServerFolders\Music
	Library Folder: Music, id: 122340: path: Z:\ServerFolders\Music
	Library:  Collections, id: 366624, CollectionType: boxsets, CollapseSingleItemFolders: True
	Configured paths: 
	Library:  TV shows, id: 390537, CollectionType: tvshows, CollapseSingleItemFolders: True
	Configured paths: Z:\ServerFolders\Videos\TV Series
	Library Folder: TV Series, id: 390536: path: Z:\ServerFolders\Videos\TV Series
	Library:  Anime, id: 439885, CollectionType: tvshows, CollapseSingleItemFolders: True
	Configured paths: Z:\ServerFolders\Videos\Anime
	Library Folder: Anime, id: 439884: path: Z:\ServerFolders\Videos\Anime

But did not note any of the library issues that are being reported on these system updates as Server Configuration: CollapseVideoFolders: True overrides all library settings where False allowed different library settings previously.

[adminExitium 355]

Yeah, I have it as True also, because I set it manually when I setup this server initially almost 2 years ago:

Info App: Libraries
        Server Configuration: CollapseVideoFolders: True
        Library:  Movies - 4K (DV), id: 1268782, CollectionType: movies, CollapseSingleItemFolders: True
        Configured paths: /mnt/media/movies/4k-dv
        Library Folder: 4k-dv, id: 1268781: path: /mnt/media/movies/4k-dv
        Library:  TV Shows - 10s, id: 2733394, CollectionType: tvshows, CollapseSingleItemFolders: True

Hopefully, there's some reasonable explanation why some are facing issues but others are not.

[Luke 42077]

It looks like it might have gotten inadvertently flipped for some. Probably limited to older installs.

[adminExitium 355]

Can you expand on what the setting is supposed to accomplish if the folder layer is now visible for everyone?

And will it be removed altogether forcing it False for everyone in some future beta/release? If so, I would like to start scanning in a fresh server soon because it's going to take a while for the library size I have.

I don't really have any installs with it set to False so I can't compare the Folders tab display with it True & False.

[Luke 42077]

8 minutes ago, adminExitium said:

Can you expand on what the setting is supposed to accomplish if the folder layer is now visible for everyone?

And will it be removed altogether forcing it False for everyone in some future beta/release? If so, I would like to start scanning in a fresh server soon because it's going to take a while for the library size I have.

I don't really have any installs with it set to False so I can't compare the Folders tab display with it True & False.

Someday in the future the flag will be removed and every install will be the same. It was never meant to be a personal preference although some have discovered it and used it as such. It is more of new vs old scanning.

[Ronstang 293]

Thanks for the tip in the other thread Luke about the setting under "Display" that turns this problem off but I just found a new problem and don't know if I should post it here or somewhere else.  Under "Edit Images" there is no longer the ability to search for currently available ones, only the option to delete what is there or add one manually.  I did not change any settings just installed the update so what is going on?

[Happy2Play 9780]

3 minutes ago, Ronstang said:

Thanks for the tip in the other thread Luke about the setting under "Display" that turns this problem off but I just found a new problem and don't know if I should post it here or somewhere else.  Under "Edit Images" there is no longer the ability to search for currently available ones, only the option to delete what is there or add one manually.  I did not change any settings just installed the update so what is going on?

True as folder will display the image that is in the folder but is not the content so there are no metadata providers at that level.

[Ronstang 293]

17 minutes ago, Happy2Play said:

True as folder will display the image that is in the folder but is not the content so there are no metadata providers at that level.

Sorry but what does that actually mean?  It has always worked before so what is different now?  What is the point of having a database of ready images if you cannot access them?

[Happy2Play 9780]

2 minutes ago, Ronstang said:

Sorry but what does that actually mean?  It has always worked before so what is different now?  What is the point of having a database of ready images if you cannot access them?

You can access them it is just at a different level when in Folder View.  Folder view is no longer collapsed to item levels like the Movie/Shows tabs (unless you have a flat file structure).  So the folder is just that a folder and cannot use online providers as it is not the media item.  

[Ronstang 293]

13 minutes ago, Happy2Play said:

You can access them it is just at a different level when in Folder View.  Folder view is no longer collapsed to item levels like the Movie/Shows tabs (unless you have a flat file structure).  So the folder is just that a folder and cannot use online providers as it is not the media item.  

So you have taken folders and made them useless?  You know, every time I think we may be getting somewhere you all take us backwards.  I can no longer organize my content and this is a time waster.  You have essentially made this useless but what you are really saying is "we think you should just throw everything in one giant folder because our database handles it all" but that only handles content not file organization.  

I simply don't know what to do now.  The old stable is a pain due to navigation issues and double dates that will never get resolved and now I can no longer organize my content because I am an organized person who uses folders so I can segregate and quickly find everything.  So although it is easier to record stuff I can no longer organize it because for some reason you all just don't like folders.

FORCING a flat folder structure means having way too many libraries while organizing and that is a pain too.  This is not good at all, what a disappointment.

So a year an a half wait and it's worse,  great. 

Edited October 7, 2025 by Ronstang

[mrmixed 77]

I'd like to add my vote to restore the way folders/Folder View used to work.  (Not that I get a vote.  But I'm a long-time lurker who literally created a forum account after this last upgrade for the sole purpose of commenting on the usability/organization issues this change now presents... so perhaps that helps to emphasize to you that this change has brought about strong feelings.)

While I will not profess to be especially familiar with how everyone likes to organize files in Emby, I would suggest that there are basically two categories: people who dump titles into a relatively flat folder structure and don't really care what it looks like as long as Emby can sort it out and display it neatly, and people who keep an organized folder structure so that they can navigate it inside Emby based on their mental organizational model, as well easily find things outside of Emby at the file system level.  

For example, I structure my folders based on my own genre categories.  I have a single [mixed content] library for both movies and TV shows, and my Folder View allows me to navigate all titles based on how I segregated them by genre subfolders.  In Folder View, each title only ever appears in the one place where I designed it to appear.  Sure, I could set this up with genre tags and the Genre View, but I'd be forever removing and changing tons of genre metadata tags just to get it to match the more limited genre categories I'd prefer to use.  It's not worth the effort of swapping around genre tags, especially when up until now I was able to accomplish the same thing by placing titles in a particular folder location.  And having my own "custom genre folders" as a separate view option from the "metadata genre view" is actually pretty neat and caters to a variety of interesting ways of traversing the titles.  Regardless, that's just my particular folder preference.  I'm sure lots of other people have come up with their own unique organization which works for them and their needs.  

Moreover, if I want to stream something outside of Emby (which I tend to do frequently because a lot of my titles have VOBSUB subtitles which Emby can't display without transcoding), I can open up whatever media player app I want to use instead, and browse the file system using the exact same mental model I use to traverse Folder View to find my title.  This would be a nightmare if I have to scroll through a large, flat list of titles if I didn't have an organized folder structure. 

Having organized folders is just something that some people like to do.  If I want to make a copy of a particular folder because I want to give it to someone else, I can easily pull out the folder from the filesystem and make a copy.  I don't want to rely solely on Emby metadata settings to organize my content.  I'd like to be able to do it myself, at least in terms of the general folder structure.  And I'd prefer to do it with the folders working the way they did before this upgrade.

[ZanderKeen 72]

I haven't updated yet, I'm mostly fearing if my structure will break emby now... I have two ways my folder structure currently functions. An OLD way (from my old plex/jellyfin days) and the newer way I started after moving to Emby....

My old way; where all the movies are dumped together in their genera folder:
.../drive1/media/action/movie.mp4
.../drive1/media/action/funmovie.mp4
.../drive3/media/family/anothermovie.mp4
.../drive4/media/comedy/funny.mp4

My new way; where movies get put into their own folder following their genera folder:
.../drive1/media/action/fastmovie/fastmovie.mp4
.../drive1/media/action/wildmovie/wildmovie.mp4
.../drive3/media/family/familystuff/familystuff.mp4
.../drive4/media/comedy/laughmovie/laughmovie.mp4

Both my old & new way still display each movie in the respected genera folder under folders view (i also keep up with genres too for simplicity sake for my users to use which ever way they prefer)

My Emby is setup with one movie Library that sees all the different file-paths up to the genera (its a rather long list of folders (16 total lol)). 

I'm trying to wrap my head around whats changed. Does this mean my old way of doing file-paths will allow movies to still show up still in folders but my new way wont show those movies?  

Edit: I do have advanced library options set to "Use file creation date" and I save the .nfo data and artwork/thumbnails in the media folders.

(( Maybe I'll setup a test server instance with a smaller library of movies & see what happens using the new version just to be safe.  )) 

Edited October 7, 2025 by ZanderKeen
clearification in one sentence

[AnotherMatt 15]

I'm thoroughly confused on the implied change here.  My media is currently organized as follows:

/Movies/Movie Name (year) {tmdb-XXXX}/Movie (year) - resolution.mp4
/Series/Series Name {tmdb-XXXX}/Season XX/Series Name - SXXEXX - Episode Name - Resolution.mp4

Will I experience a difference in functionality if/when I upgrade?

[mrmixed 77]

6 hours ago, ZanderKeen said:

I haven't updated yet, I'm mostly fearing if my structure will break emby now... I have two ways my folder structure currently functions. An OLD way (from my old plex/jellyfin days) and the newer way I started after moving to Emby....

My old way; where all the movies are dumped together in their genera folder:
.../drive1/media/action/movie.mp4
.../drive1/media/action/funmovie.mp4
.../drive3/media/family/anothermovie.mp4
.../drive4/media/comedy/funny.mp4

My new way; where movies get put into their own folder following their genera folder:
.../drive1/media/action/fastmovie/fastmovie.mp4
.../drive1/media/action/wildmovie/wildmovie.mp4
.../drive3/media/family/familystuff/familystuff.mp4
.../drive4/media/comedy/laughmovie/laughmovie.mp4

Both my old & new way still display each movie in the respected genera folder under folders view (i also keep up with genres too for simplicity sake for my users to use which ever way they prefer)

My Emby is setup with one movie Library that sees all the different file-paths up to the genera (its a rather long list of folders (16 total lol)). 

I'm trying to wrap my head around whats changed. Does this mean my old way of doing file-paths will allow movies to still show up still in folders but my new way wont show those movies?  

Edit: I do have advanced library options set to "Use file creation date" and I save the .nfo data and artwork/thumbnails in the media folders.

(( Maybe I'll setup a test server instance with a smaller library of movies & see what happens using the new version just to be safe.  )) 

Your old way will work great at the initial level--if you navigate using Folder View, you will see your top-level folders of "action", "family", "comedy", and they will work great. They are just folders and they are intended to be folders.  However, where you will get into trouble is if you have any movies that exist in their own folder underneath that top level.  For example, if instead of:

    .../drive1/media/action/movie.mp4

You instead needed to have:

    .../drive1/media/action/movie/movie.mp4
    .../drive1/media/action/movie/extras/alternate_ending.mp4

In this situation, Emby has forced you put put "movie" into it's own subfolder because it's the only way to get extras/featurettes to slot under the title where they belong.  The new update will cause "movie" to display as a useless and unhappy "folder" alongside a functional "funmovie" title (and "movie" metadata may need to be redone, because whatever identification you did in the previous version doesn't live in the same place anymore, as the folder and title are now handled separately).  You will lose the ability to sort across both titles; because "movie" now appears as a "folder", it will be at the top of the list no matter what field you sort by.

So your choice is to abandon the extras, or abandon having your genera-organized folder structure in favor of a very monolithic folder structure (in which you would never want to use Folder View anyway because it would just be a mess of unorganized folders).  Or preferably, add your voice alongside we agitators who are hoping to get this fixed back to how the way it was.

 

I believe the "new way" you are using for organizing folders will also have similar problems in the new system.  At least, assuming you like to use Folder View to navigate your custom genera folders.  It may work ok in other views, although you might have metadata/image issues which need to be fixed--see more on this below.

 

Not that my recommendation counts for anything (see my full disclaimer below), but I would suggest waiting (I wish I did!) or going the test server route.  

Note that these issues may not be immediately noticeable after the upgrade, but will kick in after a few minutes later.  I was initially boggled by some of these changes and thought I blew out some metadata by playing with the new "Add option for folder view to auto open single items in folders" setting, so I restored my pre-upgrade database backup and everything looked ok again.  But then it all proceeded to slide out of alignment again as the system realized it now had some more folders it needed to mangle. 

 

4 hours ago, AnotherMatt said:

I'm thoroughly confused on the implied change here.  My media is currently organized as follows:

/Movies/Movie Name (year) {tmdb-XXXX}/Movie (year) - resolution.mp4
/Series/Series Name {tmdb-XXXX}/Season XX/Series Name - SXXEXX - Episode Name - Resolution.mp4

Will I experience a difference in functionality if/when I upgrade?

You may have issues with metadata (especially for anything that can't be auto-identified or was edited) since single-title-folders and the actual movie titles are now operating at different levels, and you may have issues with image display (although on another thread it sounded as though the devs do consider that a bug to be fixed, at least).  However, assuming you don't use Folder View to navigate, you may be spared most of the aggravation some of us others have experienced.

 

But please keep in mind that I myself have only limited experience with my particular library organization.  I don't mean to come across as having the definitive word on these issues.  I just know that I have fought with the system for a few years to get it to display things the way I wanted, while at the same time trying to stay as close to the folder structure that I prefer to have (which is not necessarily the one they recommend for us to use).  It's not necessarily the easiest system to implement if you are very particular about organization, but the devs have done a reasonable job (well,  perhaps up until this past update) at providing options which cater to a wide variety of approaches.  It would be nice if we could convince them to restore this one!