Plugin: Home Screen Companion

[soderlund 221]

20 hours ago, mwongjay said:

@SunderlandI installed 4.4.0 and there's a bug. It's hard to know what's going on, but I'll do my best to explain my configuration. I create a new source from an external mdblist called Trending. The only thing configured is to add a tag. The source list contains 30 items. I then create a top-list of movies by Trending tag. The first time I created this top-list and synced it to home screens it worked. I could see the home screen section with the numerical badges limited to 10 items. At some point after 24 hours users now see one of the following and it's hit or miss:

- User sees the correct top list home screen section with 10 items showing the numerical badges
- User sees the home screen section named "Trending" with no numerical badges and 30 items (this appears to be the original tagged list of 30 items)
- User does not see the home screen section named "Trending" at all

So after troubleshooting this together over PM, here's a short summary in case anyone else runs into the same thing.

 

It turned out to be a bug in the plugin that only shows up with a certain setup: a top-list with the same title as another home row, in this case a row built on tags. Both were called "Trending". Very simplified, the plugin could mix the two up, which most likely made the top-list row disappear for some users and the tag row show up instead for others. It's more likely to happen if you also use Home Screen Sync (Copy & Sync).

There was also a second bug: once a top-list row had disappeared, the plugin never put it back. Only Home Screen Sync did, and never for the master user.

So this won't affect most users, but if you see it:

• Give the top-list and the other row different titles.
• Then open the top-list in the plugin and click Save. That recreates its row for all its users.

Both bugs are fixed in the next release. The plugin no longer mixes up rows that share a title, and a missing top-list row is put back on the next sync.

 

[mwongjay 103]

@soderlundJust wanted to voice my opinion - the more I've thought about the delineation between the tags and collections and top-lists the more I believe top-lists should be eliminated in favor of a source that 1. is sorted for deterministic results and 2. add badge/image generation. Those would effectively allow any source to be a "top-list" which builds on the existing source types. I believe that would lower complexity and improve the UX. Today, if you wanted to add a top-list based on a tag created as a source and have it positioned after row 3 it's not clear/intuitive what you'd need to do to accomplish that and perhaps that due to bugs for that use case.  

[soderlund 221]

17 hours ago, mwongjay said:

@soderlundJust wanted to voice my opinion - the more I've thought about the delineation between the tags and collections and top-lists the more I believe top-lists should be eliminated in favor of a source that 1. is sorted for deterministic results and 2. add badge/image generation. Those would effectively allow any source to be a "top-list" which builds on the existing source types. I believe that would lower complexity and improve the UX. Today, if you wanted to add a top-list based on a tag created as a source and have it positioned after row 3 it's not clear/intuitive what you'd need to do to accomplish that and perhaps that due to bugs for that use case.  

You do have a valid point. When i built the top-list function I remember thinking about how to incorporate it in the UI. This was at the time the easier way and I don't believe it to be that bad tbh. Yes, its set up for some errors and will fix that at least! 

I'll also take a look on how to better improve the UI regarding this. When i built it i wanted it to be in the same "menu bar" as everything else. It might actually be a good time to look into this more. As the image below has always been my ambition, and I might actually take a look into making this now. 

 

I wont promise anything, but I will see what I can do. 

Edit: To clarify - the image is just made in paint, its it NOT in the plugin (yet)

Edited October 17 by soderlund

[kjhedges 69]

I have a question that may have appeared before, but i cannot find.

I have setup some basic mdblist sections and added them to the homescreen via all the settings and everything works great.

then, i wake in the morning and go onto emby, and they have all gone.

So i go and restore the backup, run the groups again and they back.

There is no restart of emby during the night. just the scheduled tasks running.

Is there a reason that they are disappearing after the scheduled tasks? 

[soderlund 221]

6 hours ago, kjhedges said:

I have a question that may have appeared before, but i cannot find.

I have setup some basic mdblist sections and added them to the homescreen via all the settings and everything works great.

then, i wake in the morning and go onto emby, and they have all gone.

So i go and restore the backup, run the groups again and they back.

There is no restart of emby during the night. just the scheduled tasks running.

Is there a reason that they are disappearing after the scheduled tasks? 

Hmm.. Haven't heard about that one before.. 

On top of my head I'm thinking that you have enabled home screen sync from a user that do not have any rows set up?

If so, either disable or make sure to set it up properly. 

The other thing i can thing of is the sources themself. Make sure that this option is ticked in the settings:



Next step is to look at the logs and see what they say. 

[soderlund 221]

New BETA release -  Version 4.4.2.0-beta
Download .dll and full release notes: https://github.com/soderlund91/HomeScreenCompanion/releases/tag/v4.4.2.0-beta

New features, updates and fixes

Install/update via Emby plugin catalog or manually download the .dll.
If you are going through the plugin catalog, make sure to use the beta channel.

IMPORTANT! 
Minimum required Emby server v4.10.1.0

Release notes

Top-lists have been reworked. A top-list used to be a standalone feature built on a tag: you had to tag the titles first and then create the list from that tag. Now a top-list is part of its source group, and no tag is needed. It takes its titles straight from the source, in the source's order.

To create one, open the group's Home Screen tab, tick Add as home screen section, and then tick Create as top-list. The top-list replaces the group's plain row and uses the same users, title and position. Apply Tag is switched off when you tick Create as top-list; tick it again if you still want the tag on the titles.

The Top-Lists tab in the main menu is still there, but it is now mainly an overview of all top-lists. You can still create manual lists there, or jump to a group to make one from it.

When upgrading from earlier versions, existing top-lists are moved to their group automatically. You don't have to do anything.

Whit that said, always do a backup before updating! To be extra safe also do a full Emby backup.

New:

• Top-list: Create a top-list straight from a source with Create as top-list in its Home Screen tab. It replaces the source's plain row and no longer needs a tag. Existing top-lists are moved to their source automatically.
• Home section: New Position setting (top, before or after a row). Users who lack the chosen row get it next to the nearest one they have.
• Logging: HSC now has its own log. Download logs gives you a zip for bug reports, with user names anonymized, API keys masked.
• Schedule: Holiday presets that add a ready-made date rule.
• Cleanup: Playlists is now added to the cleanup section. All users playlists can now be reviewed and deleted from here.

Updates:

• Top-list: Apply Tag switches off when you tick Create as top-list and comes back if you untick it.
• Home section: Rows only move when you change the Position setting, so rows you moved yourself stay put.
• Users: Users disabled in Emby are skipped everywhere: their home screen is left as it is.
• Copy & Sync: Each user's own top-list rows keep their place.

Fixes:

• Top-list: Missing rows are added back where they were, and a row is never removed because a plain row has the same title.
• Top-list: Deleted users no longer cause errors when a list is saved.
• Top-list: New top-list libraries are hidden right away, and so are the libraries for new users.
• Backup: A restore no longer leaves the library and rows of a removed top-list behind.
• Ranked collections: Libraries are now created as movie libraries.

HomeScreenCompanion.dll

[mwongjay 103]

@soderlundLooking forward to testing this! Thanks for your awesome work.. and anyone else who contributed!

[kjhedges 69]

16 hours ago, soderlund said:

Hmm.. Haven't heard about that one before.. 

On top of my head I'm thinking that you have enabled home screen sync from a user that do not have any rows set up?

If so, either disable or make sure to set it up properly. 

The other thing i can thing of is the sources themself. Make sure that this option is ticked in the settings:



Next step is to look at the logs and see what they say. 

Hi,  I checked the 2 possibles above but they were not the issue.

I did yesterday remove the scheduled task for Home Screen Sync, and this morning everything is how it should be.


 

[ilPala 2]

Could you please add supporto to Groq (yes, not Grok) AI? It has a nice free API tier.

[Brazer 47]

7 hours ago, kjhedges said:

Hi,  I checked the 2 possibles above but they were not the issue.

I did yesterday remove the scheduled task for Home Screen Sync, and this morning everything is how it should be.


 

Hi @kjhedges,

That fits a known pattern with Home Screen Sync (Copy & Sync). On each run it replaces every target user's rows with the master user's rows. It keeps top-list rows, but not normal source rows. So if your MDBList sources show their row to users, but the master user (the one you sync from) isn't one of that source's Target Users, the master doesn't have those rows, and each scheduled Home Screen Sync removes them from everyone. The next full sync or Run Group adds them back, hence gone overnight and back after re-running.

Two ways around it until there's a fix:
- tick the master user in each of those sources' Target Users (Home Screen tab), so the rows are part of what gets copied; or
- leave the scheduled Home Screen Sync off, as you've done.

I'll look at making Copy & Sync keep a source's rows for its own users, like it already does for top-lists. I'll submit a PR to the main repo once I have fixed this. 

[kjhedges 69]

1 hour ago, Brazer said:

Hi @kjhedges,

That fits a known pattern with Home Screen Sync (Copy & Sync). On each run it replaces every target user's rows with the master user's rows. It keeps top-list rows, but not normal source rows. So if your MDBList sources show their row to users, but the master user (the one you sync from) isn't one of that source's Target Users, the master doesn't have those rows, and each scheduled Home Screen Sync removes them from everyone. The next full sync or Run Group adds them back, hence gone overnight and back after re-running.

Two ways around it until there's a fix:
- tick the master user in each of those sources' Target Users (Home Screen tab), so the rows are part of what gets copied; or
- leave the scheduled Home Screen Sync off, as you've done.

I'll look at making Copy & Sync keep a source's rows for its own users, like it already does for top-lists. I'll submit a PR to the main repo once I have fixed this. 

Hi, thanks for your reply here.

For me, my media server being friends and families only, (20+ Users) I force everyones home screen to be the same as mine, with the exception of a Childrens users, that i created MBList for them.
So for me, i am happy to have the scheduled task off and for me to config anything manually.

(Most of the users would never have a clue as to what is being done server side, as long as media keeps getting added they are happy, and this plugin for me, allows me to show more content available to them on the homescreen rather than just Next Up, Latest Media and Recently Released)

[Brazer 47]

17 minutes ago, kjhedges said:

Hi, thanks for your reply here.

For me, my media server being friends and families only, (20+ Users) I force everyones home screen to be the same as mine, with the exception of a Childrens users, that i created MBList for them.
So for me, i am happy to have the scheduled task off and for me to config anything manually.

(Most of the users would never have a clue as to what is being done server side, as long as media keeps getting added they are happy, and this plugin for me, allows me to show more content available to them on the homescreen rather than just Next Up, Latest Media and Recently Released)

Hi @kjhedges,

Thanks, that helps. If the children's accounts are in Home Screen Sync's "Sync to" list, that would explain it: the sync replaces their rows with the master user's, and the master doesn't have their MDBList rows.

If so, there's an easy way to keep the scheduled sync on: untick the children's accounts in the "Sync to" list. Home Screen Sync only touches users in that list, so their MDBList rows stay, and everyone else still gets the shared layout.

I've also sent @soderlund a fix (PR #26) so the sync keeps a source's rows for that source's own users, even when the master doesn't have them.
 

[mwongjay 103]

49 minutes ago, Brazer said:

Hi @kjhedges,

Thanks, that helps. If the children's accounts are in Home Screen Sync's "Sync to" list, that would explain it: the sync replaces their rows with the master user's, and the master doesn't have their MDBList rows.

If so, there's an easy way to keep the scheduled sync on: untick the children's accounts in the "Sync to" list. Home Screen Sync only touches users in that list, so their MDBList rows stay, and everyone else still gets the shared layout.

I've also sent @soderlund a fix (PR #26) so the sync keeps a source's rows for that source's own users, even when the master doesn't have them.
 

Would it make sense to use tags rather than build what seems like a lot of complexity to manage sources to users and master relationships? Each user already has a set of restricted tags via Parental Controls so by setting those individually and allowing multiple tags per source that might solve his use case without adding manual management or hierarchical relationships

[Brazer 47]

47 minutes ago, mwongjay said:

Would it make sense to use tags rather than build what seems like a lot of complexity to manage sources to users and master relationships? Each user already has a set of restricted tags via Parental Controls so by setting those individually and allowing multiple tags per source that might solve his use case without adding manual management or hierarchical relationships

Hi @mwongjay,

Good thought, and for kids' accounts it can work today. HSC tags the titles, and Emby's Parental Controls ("only allow items with these tags") decide what each user can see. A row whose titles are all hidden for a user stays empty, and Emby hides empty rows, so everyone can get the same rows while the kids only see their own.

The catch is that tag restrictions hide titles across the whole library, not just in one row. For adults that would mean the kids' titles disappear for them entirely. So it works as a content filter, but it can't replace choosing which users get which row. It also doesn't change Home Screen Sync replacing rows the master doesn't have; that's what PR #26 fixes.

How rows are assigned is @soderlundcall, though. He's mentioned he's rethinking the top-list setup anyway.

[soderlund 221]

Hi again guys! 
 

First off, I’m curious to know how many are testing out the beta release? 
If you could just react to this post with a +1 or something I would greatly appreciate it! 

There is unfortunately no way for me too see how many downloads/installs there is from the catalog, and getting a to know how many testers there are gives me a hint of how the beta is performing. (I know just a fraction of users will see this post and then actually reply) 

Thanks! 

[soderlund 221]

Secondly a question to the Emby devs:

@Brazerhad a nice idea to implement Sonarr/Radarr to the plugin, allowing us to see what movies or episodes are missing from our external and AI lists. Then from within the plugin send request to Sonarr/Radarr. My question is how does this apply with the Emby development policy? 

The HSC plugin is not doing or managing any downloads, it only send a request to another service outside of Emby. 

Tagging all the admins from the staff overview in hope for a reply.
@Luke @ebr @Abobader @bigjohn

Thanks! 

[mwongjay 103]

11 minutes ago, Brazer said:

The catch is that tag restrictions hide titles across the whole library, not just in one row. For adults that would mean the kids' titles disappear for them entirely. So it works as a content filter, but it can't replace choosing which users get which row

It hides titles if you apply the tag to a title. If you have a collection and apply the tag to the collection it will have the expected outcome

14 minutes ago, Brazer said:

It also doesn't change Home Screen Sync replacing rows the master doesn't have

Correct, however, if you manage the visibility of content via tags and Parental Controls you would then make the master the source of truth and replicate across users

[Brazer 47]

2 minutes ago, mwongjay said:

It hides titles if you apply the tag to a title. If you have a collection and apply the tag to the collection it will have the expected outcome

Correct, however, if you manage the visibility of content via tags and Parental Controls you would then make the master the source of truth and replicate across users

@mwongjay, you're right. If the tag goes on the collection rather than its titles, only that collection (and its row) is hidden for those users, and the titles stay visible everywhere else. That makes "same rows for everyone, master as the source of truth, tags decide who sees which collection row" a clean setup for a family server. Thanks for the correction!

[mwongjay 103]

6 minutes ago, soderlund said:

Secondly a question to the Emby devs:

@Brazerhad a nice idea to implement Sonarr/Radarr to the plugin, allowing us to see what movies or episodes are missing from our external and AI lists. Then from within the plugin send request to Sonarr/Radarr. My question is how does this apply with the Emby development policy? 

The HSC plugin is not doing or managing any downloads, it only send a request to another service outside of Emby. 

Tagging all the admins from the staff overview in hope for a reply.
@Luke @ebr @Abobader @bigjohn

Thanks! 

Please don't get this plugin banned lol. It's so good right now.

[soderlund 221]

13 minutes ago, mwongjay said:

Please don't get this plugin banned lol. It's so good right now.

Hahah, that would be something! 
 

Hopefully the devs will answer, and I won’t proceed with this feature unless I get an approval. 
 

There are other plugins doing this that the devs haven’t banned, but for the plugin-catalog the bar is set higher. 

 

[soderlund 221]

1 hour ago, mwongjay said:

Would it make sense to use tags rather than build what seems like a lot of complexity to manage sources to users and master relationships? Each user already has a set of restricted tags via Parental Controls so by setting those individually and allowing multiple tags per source that might solve his use case without adding manual management or hierarchical relationships

 

1 hour ago, Brazer said:

Hi @mwongjay,

Good thought, and for kids' accounts it can work today. HSC tags the titles, and Emby's Parental Controls ("only allow items with these tags") decide what each user can see. A row whose titles are all hidden for a user stays empty, and Emby hides empty rows, so everyone can get the same rows while the kids only see their own.

The catch is that tag restrictions hide titles across the whole library, not just in one row. For adults that would mean the kids' titles disappear for them entirely. So it works as a content filter, but it can't replace choosing which users get which row. It also doesn't change Home Screen Sync replacing rows the master doesn't have; that's what PR #26 fixes.

How rows are assigned is @soderlundcall, though. He's mentioned he's rethinking the top-list setup anyway.

Yea, this would make sense. But at the same time I feel you are over complicating this. 
 

I can most definitely add an option to tag a source with multiple tags. Consider it done. Then you can do this setup if you like and know how to. For our average joe this would be complicated and if the plugin implement this it has to be really intuitive in the UI. To be honest I’m not sold on this. 
 

Not sure how many who are using filters on the external list, but those are pretty powerful! You could have a list of 1000 movies, and then use filter to: only movies from Netflix with Ukrainian subs and with PG13 etc etc. 
 

Im getting of topic now. My point is that we already have all of these filters and possibilities and I feel like this is min-maxing. 
Take your time and set up the plugin properly. Do an extra source group for the kids instead of complicating things.

Set up a “kids master” profile and an “adult master” profile. Then use these two for the copy and sync and do manual syncs. 
 

I know, we can only select one for them to run as the scheduled task. What I want to to (thought about this just now) is add a multiple copy function so we can have:
Kids master —> Daughter, son, mistress kid 
Adult master —> Me, Mom, dad, wife, mistress

My intent when creating the copy function was indeed as you say to setup a master profile, then copy that to everyone (except kids). Then do some manual edits for me and my wife (some extra rows etc)
 

Im actually not using the scheduled task myself, but it came as a way to force the users to run the Home Screen setup I have made for them, in case some user decided to remove everything or reorder. 
Im only doing manual copy’s when I have adjusted the master profile, and then on a tag & collection sync the “individual” rows will come back. 
 

I will redo the copy sync so we can add more “copy profiles” and have multiple masters that go to different users. In my head it feels like a good way to fix some use cases. 
 

Enough of me ranting, now it’s sleepy time for me. 

[mwongjay 103]

25 minutes ago, soderlund said:

I can most definitely add an option to tag a source with multiple tags. Consider it done. Then you can do this setup if you like and know how to. For our average joe this would be complicated and if the plugin implement this it has to be really intuitive in the UI. To be honest I’m not sold on this. 

My opinion is the tag and Parental Controls solves this exact use case natively and has been recommended by Emby devs and other members of this forum so that mental model is/will becoming the standard approach so that's why I mentioned it

43 minutes ago, soderlund said:

My point is that we already have all of these filters

I get that you can use filters in a way that achieves a similar outcome, but I believe the better approach is to lean in to native functionality when it exists

50 minutes ago, soderlund said:

Take your time and set up the plugin properly

This goes both ways lol! Take time and set up your user profiles properly using Parental Controls!

52 minutes ago, soderlund said:

Set up a “kids master” profile and an “adult master” profile

How is this done? I looked around the plugin and couldn't see how to create separate profiles with separate home screen sources

Ultimately, it's your plugin and I appreciate your work and ideas! I'm just giving my opinions for this use case and admittingly it isn't a use case for me personally

[kingom 17]

I'm trying to use this awesome looking plugin.

I have created a Top10 movie list but when i assign it to a user all the other Homescreen sections are gone.
If i disassign the list from the user again the sections come back like they were.

I can't find a option to alter this. What am i missing?

Or does HomeScreen companion Replace the complete old Homescreen section so that every user has to rebuild the sections to their liking?

Sections before adding top10

After adding Top 10

Edited October 21 by kingom

[soderlund 221]

14 hours ago, mwongjay said:

My opinion is the tag and Parental Controls solves this exact use case natively and has been recommended by Emby devs and other members of this forum so that mental model is/will becoming the standard approach so that's why I mentioned it

I get that you can use filters in a way that achieves a similar outcome, but I believe the better approach is to lean in to native functionality when it exists

This goes both ways lol! Take time and set up your user profiles properly using Parental Controls!

How is this done? I looked around the plugin and couldn't see how to create separate profiles with separate home screen sources

Ultimately, it's your plugin and I appreciate your work and ideas! I'm just giving my opinions for this use case and admittingly it isn't a use case for me personally

I’ll add an option to setup multiple tags for the same source/row, and then this approach should be pretty easy? 
 

What i mean is to set up a user account like ”kids master” and use that as the reference, or use an existing user account as the master. 
Curently we can can not setup so the sync have two different copy profiles. Only one is possible. But i will add this in future updates! 

3 hours ago, kingom said:

I'm trying to use this awesome looking plugin.

I have created a Top10 movie list but when i assign it to a user all the other Homescreen sections are gone.
If i disassign the list from the user again the sections come back like they were.

I can't find a option to alter this. What am i missing?

Or does HomeScreen companion Replace the complete old Homescreen section so that every user has to rebuild the sections to their liking?

Sections before adding top10

After adding Top 10

Thats.. not suppose to happen… Your top list should en up tiggerier with existing rows. What plugin version are you running? 

[mwongjay 103]

35 minutes ago, soderlund said:

I’ll add an option to setup multiple tags for the same source/row, and then this approach should be pretty easy? 

I think that's a viable solution, however, as @Brazerand I were discussing earlier the grouping (collection or playlist) should be tagged with one or more tags otherwise items could disappear globally

44 minutes ago, soderlund said:

What i mean is to set up a user account like ”kids master” and use that as the reference, or use an existing user account as the master. 

Ah, got it now, thanks for clarifying. In 4.4.2.0 disabled accounts are filtered when processing. I use disabled accounts, preventing signing in as those accounts, as templates (for creating new accounts) similar to how these "master profiles" would be used. If a master profile account is disabled how does 4.4.2.0 handle that? If you have to enable the account, then do a full sync, then disable I'm not sure I'd use it that way due to the friction.