Completed Bring back the old folder view

[ebr 16169]

5 hours ago, soderlund91 said:

I was kind of hoping it would be there for movies and shows aswell.

Those library types already collapse movies in this way. No need for an option.

[halitayarci 13]

5 hours ago, GrimReaper said:

Correct.

As I understood it, it might get added for Movie-type libraries as well.

 

It would be great to have that option in movie-type libraries too... Any idea when we can get this update? Or any beta users to weigh in about this issue?

[cp41 42]

1 hour ago, ebr said:

Those library types already collapse movies in this way. No need for an option.

The Movies Library already has the option to collapse, BUT it still treats the collapsed Items as "Folders" and not "Media Items". So even though it prevents the extra click, it still does not promote the metadata to the top level.

I guess we would like to make it clear that the Legacy View should act like version 4.8 where collapsed items are treated as single Media Items and not just folders minus one click.

Edited December 17, 2025 by cp41

[mrmixed 77]

3 hours ago, cp41 said:

The Movies Library already has the option to collapse, BUT it still treats the collapsed Items as "Folders" and not "Media Items". So even though it prevents the extra click, it still does not promote the metadata to the top level.

I guess we would like to make it clear that the Legacy View should act like version 4.8 where collapsed items are treated as single Media Items and not just folders minus one click.

Thanks for posting this.  Mixed Content is doing the same thing.  I was initially unsure if I had a weird issue going on with restoring my 4.8 backup, and well as contending with some semi-corrupted 4.9 NFO files, but at this point I'm pretty sure that this new setting does not quite get us all the way back to the 4.8 functionality.  Which is not a complaint against the devs; I appreciate that we've gotten some amount of progress--and we all know by now that their test environments are not altogether equipped to evaluate this sort of folder setup.   But this next step of promoting metadata and being able to access content context menu options rather than folder context menu options are sort of the main things that we lost in 4.9, so it's important to get that back too.  

At any rate, I just wanted to suggest to all of the fellow advocates tracking this topic that this is not yet a Christmas miracle, but there's technically still a week left for @Luketo drop a new beta down the chimney.

 

[ebr 16169]

13 hours ago, cp41 said:

The Movies Library already has the option to collapse, BUT it still treats the collapsed Items as "Folders" and not "Media Items"

Okay, you are talking about a Movies library but using the "Folders" tab, correct?

[Zelig 48]

Let's see if I can bring some light to this:

I'm actually in 4.9

Have some "movie type" libraries created long long ago.

"Folder view" for this libraries still function same as in 4.8

However

If i create a new "movie" type library in 4.9 It will perform with the new "folder view" and not the 4.8 type folder view.

So yes, the new option for legacy view should be avaliable for "Mixed" and "Movie" folder types to get the full 4.8 "Folder view".

 

 

[cp41 42]

Thank you for clearing that up. I did create a new “Movie” library to test 4.9. I didn’t have any previously existing 4.8 “movie” libraries. Good to know new ones do not perform the same as existing ones. 

[Raelone 19]

17 hours ago, Zelig said:

Let's see if I can bring some light to this:

I'm actually in 4.9

Have some "movie type" libraries created long long ago.

"Folder view" for this libraries still function same as in 4.8

However

If i create a new "movie" type library in 4.9 It will perform with the new "folder view" and not the 4.8 type folder view.

So yes, the new option for legacy view should be avaliable for "Mixed" and "Movie" folder types to get the full 4.8 "Folder view".

 

 

If you look at the log file for the startup of the library I suspect you will find the same as me.  The one that works like the old view is

Library Folder: Video offload, id: 351520: path: M:\Video offload

Library: Music, id: 12, CollectionType: movies, CollapseSingleItemFolders: True

 

The one that does not work is
 

Configured paths: M:\Video Movies

Library Folder: Video Movies, id: 540016: path: W:\Classic Movies

Library: Wrestling, id: 842382, CollectionType: movies, CollapseSingleItemFolders: False

 

CollapseSingleItemFolders seems to be the key.  When true, It works as before. When false, it is the ugly mess it is now in folder view.  This is not a setting you can set in the UI.  No it is not the merge contents.  It is just a carryover from the past. If carried over it works; if not it won't. Seems if the library was created with 4.8 or earlier (it might even have been earlier) you get the old behavior.  For me the ones with CollapseSingleItemFolders: True started life back in a version that options.xml existed for each library and that has been a while since that was no longer used so it might even need to be earlier than 4.8.

It is not the following setting.  This does not impact that startup setting at all.  My settings are identical for the one that is the old usable view and the one forced to the new folder view, with the only difference being the paths for the libraries and under what version the library was created.

[yaksplat 66]

On 11/27/2025 at 3:42 PM, Zelig said:

I use it EXCLUSIVELY.

Long ago, I tied to use other tabs but, having a HUGE movie collection (8,000+ films) it's almos imposible to find something the way i want it.

So I developed a Folder  structure dividing movies first by decade, each decade by genre and each genre by subgenre.

So I feel of watching a marvel movie I navigate to the Scifi Library, then to superheroes folder, go into de Marvel folder  and there there are all the marcel movies which I could order anyway i wanted. (Release date mostly so i can see them in the order of the general plot). With 4.9 that is gone. There is NO WAY to order the movies within the marvel folder which makes this structure useless. 

Same process if I feel to watch a zombie movie of the 80's or a "Film Noir" of the 50's or a Wold War II movie of the 70's of a mafia movie of the 80's. This cannot be achived automaticly EVER and has taken YEARS to do following the directives given by the developers since de media browser days.

So you're basically making collections, but in a folder structure?

[mrmixed 77]

10 hours ago, yaksplat said:

So you're basically making collections, but in a folder structure?

Speaking for myself, yes.  But it's more than just an alternate way of making collections; nested folders allow for nested "collections" (which doesn't currently exist in Emby), which are essential for how I want to organize and present my content.  And it's all built automatically, simply by placing the title in the correct folder location, so I don't need to go around adding titles to collections.  It also then simplifies the view of the actual "Collection" tab, since rather than having a huge list of Collections that span franchises, studios, etc., I have a comparably simple list of about a dozen or so collections that essentially represent specific holiday-related content that cuts across my entire library.

I also consider it a feature that each title lives in one place, so when I'm looking for something to watch, I don't have to pass over the same title showing up in multiple places (like is typical with Genre view).  Other users understandably don't prefer this approach, since it requires all users understand the server owner's mental organization model.  But my server is only for my immediate family, so this isn't a large concern for us.

And as a lot of my content is big science-fiction franchises that span movies and tv, I can keep everything in a single mixed content library and not be fussy about having to make the movies show up as "specials" of the TV shows, or all of the other hoops that is typically necessary to organize these things.  I can just have subfolders to separate everything and make it easy to find.  Even if nested collections were to be implemented, I'd probably still want to organize things this way just for convenience.

For me, the only downside is that the Movies/TV tab is a useless unorganized spew of all of my content.  I never use it, and exclusively use Folder View.  But ultimately it's less work to maintain Folder View than any other approach, and it's truly the view I prefer to use when doing anything in Emby.

[IAmHugh 63]

I for one like having the TV Series library, Movies Library, Movie Series library, etc..., but I would not mind having a way to say under Collections to have the original movie series in one folder, rebooted movies in a separate folder, and both folders in the parent folder. So say Star Trek Series click on it's collection poster and be presented with sub collections for the original series of movies and one for the reboot collection.

[Raelone 19]

4.9.4.1 is close but not quite right yet.  If you have deeper than 2 folders deep that images still do not propagate all the way up.

4.8 -

4.9.4.1 beta

The ones that have the ugly placeholder as folders within folders (collections within collections).  If I drill into DCU Movies all is right at that level

Definitely headed in the right direction though.

[ebr 16169]

3 minutes ago, Raelone said:

images still do not propagate all the way up

Hi.  Since those are custom organizational folders wouldn't you rather give them an appropriate image anyway?

[Raelone 19]

The point is that for years and years, we didn't have to.  All we want is the old functionality available, not more work for us to do to get it to look right.  Emby should be concerned about giving the best impression it can without additional interaction. 

If I want to replace the image Emby chooses, fine.  But I shouldn't have to do it myself when, for years and years, it worked this way.  Again, it does the image selection just fine when it is a folder with subfolders (two levels).  But only 2 levels.  Not doing the same behavior for 3+ levels is a bug IMO.  There is no reason to treat two levels any different than 3+ levels.  Propagate a single image from one of the folders below up to the parent level by default.  I can change what images I do not want that I don't like the one Emby picked for me, then I can.

If the point is to make available legacy behavior, they are not there yet, but like I said, this is a great step forward.  The code to do this properly is still in Emby because the "4.8" screenshot is actually a library that started life back sometime 4.8 or earlier, but it continues to work the "legacy" way even in 4.9.1.90.

[ebr 16169]

5 hours ago, Raelone said:

Not doing the same behavior for 3+ levels is a bug IMO

Something not behaving how you wish it to isn't a bug .

5 hours ago, Raelone said:

There is no reason to treat two levels any different than 3+ levels

There actually is - complexity and performance.  Additionally, not sure it makes all that much sense to search multiple levels down a file chain until you find something with an image.

If one is designing custom categorized folders, I would think you'd want an appropriate image on those folders as opposed to just some random poster from something way deep within that container.  Wouldn't it be much better to have a "Disney" image on your Disney folder?  You only have to create it once.

[cp41 42]

FWIW, I can only speak to how I used Folders for Mixed Content and the 4.9.4.1 Beta matches exactly what I used to have in 4.8. 

[Raelone 19]

3 hours ago, ebr said:

Something not behaving how you wish it to isn't a bug .

The feature is being described as bringing back the old legacy view for Folder View.  It clearly does not do that. It is a bug.  This is not "it doesn't work as I want it to";  It is that it does not do what it is described to do, iow duplicate the way it has worked for years. The feature does not work as the 4.8 and earlier Folder View did.  Period.  It is close, but is not recreating the legacy behavior as advertised.  This is a beta feature and bug reports against it allow them to get it right. Please stop being an apologist for the facts that the devs did not consider some scenarios.  The purpose of reporting issues is so they can present as polished a product as possible.  

3 hours ago, ebr said:

Something not behaving how you wish it to isn't a bug .

There actually is - complexity and performance.  Additionally, not sure it makes all that much sense to search multiple levels down a file chain until you find something with an image.

If one is designing custom categorized folders, I would think you'd want an appropriate image on those folders as opposed to just some random poster from something way deep within that container.  Wouldn't it be much better to have a "Disney" image on your Disney folder?  You only have to create it once.

Again, the code to do this is in the app already otherwise my old folders, which were created 4.8 or earlier, would not be working, but they are.  All we are asking for is to just have the option for it to continue to work as it always has.  I do not understand why you think that continuing to use the existing code to pick an image from the sub folders is somehow complex and performance hinfdering since it has done this for years and years without being either.  iow the exact same code being used to pick an image from the sub folders can be used for picking an image from the images associated with the sub folders for a given N folder structure and associating that image with the parent folder is so complex or performance-hending. 

This is a freshman-level assignment to walk a direcotry tree. It is neither complex nor time-consuming. It is well within the capabilities of the developers to do (again, there is already code in the server doing this).  Unless they know that there are scenarios they did not consider or test, how can they fix the product to the best it can be?

[mrmixed 77]

On 12/22/2025 at 6:42 AM, IAmHugh said:

I for one like having the TV Series library, Movies Library, Movie Series library, etc..., but I would not mind having a way to say under Collections to have the original movie series in one folder, rebooted movies in a separate folder, and both folders in the parent folder. So say Star Trek Series click on it's collection poster and be presented with sub collections for the original series of movies and one for the reboot collection.

For what it's worth, this is what you can do with a Mixed Content library and Folder View (and my apologies if I'm inadvertently reposting anyone's copyrighted images that I borrowed for the folder art).  And there is really no configuration needed, other than adjusting the Sort Titles and choosing images for the main folders.  (Although I do agree with @Raelonethat the old version always used to autogenerate images for folders.  I don't think I have ever encountered a situation in the previous version where a folder image was simply left blank.)

[mrmixed 77]

On 12/17/2025 at 10:27 AM, cp41 said:

The Movies Library already has the option to collapse, BUT it still treats the collapsed Items as "Folders" and not "Media Items". So even though it prevents the extra click, it still does not promote the metadata to the top level.

I guess we would like to make it clear that the Legacy View should act like version 4.8 where collapsed items are treated as single Media Items and not just folders minus one click.

 

On 12/17/2025 at 2:15 PM, mrmixed said:

Thanks for posting this.  Mixed Content is doing the same thing.

At any rate, I just wanted to suggest to all of the fellow advocates tracking this topic that this is not yet a Christmas miracle, but there's technically still a week left for @Luketo drop a new beta down the chimney.

 

So while I have been trying to be patient for this last issue to get corrected, it's been several weeks and I figure it's time to politely badger again.  @Luke, are you able to offer a forecast for when a fix for this issue might be available in a beta?

[Happy2Play 9780]

The Legacy option is in release 4.9.3.0 for Movies and Mixed Content

• Add library option to use legacy folder scanning method

Does not exist in Movies in beta 4.9.4.1 yet only Mixed Content.

 

[cp41 42]

On 1/8/2026 at 11:30 AM, Happy2Play said:

The Legacy option is in release 4.9.3.0 for Movies and Mixed Content

• Add library option to use legacy folder scanning method

Does not exist in Movies in beta 4.9.4.1 yet only Mixed Content.

 

I posited on the other thread, but here it is again:
 

I have a development server running on Mac OS and 4.9.3 appears to have fixed the issue.
BUT...I installed 4.9.3 on my Synology NAS (DSM 7.2+) and I have not seen the issue resolved (I was previously running 4.9.1.80).

I made sure to select the "Legacy" scanning option for my Mixed Content and Movie libraries. I re-scanned the libraries, but all the movie folders continue to be treated like Folders and not individual media items. I even created new Mixed Content and Movie libraries with new files (with Legacy scan selected) but the behavior still acts like individual folders and not collapsed Media items. 

I wasn't sure if other people had installed 4.9.3 on Synology and observed the same behavior.

[cp41 42]

Here is some more info.

[mrmixed 77]

Mods--thanks for re-opening this topic so we can keep everything in one place.

 

@cp41-- I have this problem with the 4.9.4.1 beta as well (also Synology NAS DSM 7.2+), and am highly interested in knowing when the fix will be available.

I haven't been able to test with 4.9.3.0 because it would involve a full reinstall.   I am unable to rollback 4.9.4.1 to 4.9.3.0.

 

I would appreciate if the devs could illuminate what the path forward is going to be for the complete fix as well as a viable "upgrade" path when starting from 4.9.4.1.

 

[Happy2Play 9780]

11 hours ago, mrmixed said:

Mods--thanks for re-opening this topic so we can keep everything in one place.

 

@cp41-- I have this problem with the 4.9.4.1 beta as well (also Synology NAS DSM 7.2+), and am highly interested in knowing when the fix will be available.

I haven't been able to test with 4.9.3.0 because it would involve a full reinstall.   I am unable to rollback 4.9.4.1 to 4.9.3.0.

 

I would appreciate if the devs could illuminate what the path forward is going to be for the complete fix as well as a viable "upgrade" path when starting from 4.9.4.1.

 

@Lukewould have to confirm but to my knowledge there is nothing breaking in beta that would prevent anyone from downgrading from 4.9.4.1 to 4.9.3.0.  As currently 4.9.3.0 has the newest options in reference to folder view.  Or should say it applies to Movie content type also where it is not in the current beta.

[mrmixed 77]

4 minutes ago, Happy2Play said:

@Lukewould have to confirm but to my knowledge there is nothing breaking in beta that would prevent anyone from downgrading from 4.9.4.1 to 4.9.3.0.  As currently 4.9.3.0 has the newest options in reference to folder view.  Or should say it applies to Movie content type also where it is not in the current beta.

Thanks for your reply.  My issue is that the Synology package installer won't actually let me install the 4.9.3.0 package because it considers it a "rollback".  I don't understand exactly why @Lukechose to call the release 4.9.3.0 instead numbering it as 4.9.5.0 to give beta users a pathway to get back to stable.  Regardless, since the Synology NAS server installation for 4.9.3.0 still seems to have a bug in it relating to Legacy scanning (as per @cp41notes above), assuming yet another release is needed to fully address this, I would ask that the numbering please be set higher to cooperate with Synology's unfortunate package numbering rules.