How do I use the new Spotlight feature?

[Chiefmas 43]

Hello!

I'm on v4.10.0.40. I read the release notes, and I saw the mention about the "Spotlight" feature, so I went to check it out.

The release notes say:

Quote

• Add new spotlight home screen section option

So I went to my home screen layout, and went to add a new section, but I'm not seeing it in the drop down. I force reloaded the page to try and make sure I'm not getting a cached version, but I'm not seeing it in the type drop down. Am I in the wrong place?

 

I searched the forums and the documentation and didn't find anything more in depth. It does seem like all though discovery of new things is possible through the release notes, it may not always be clear(as I am running into) how/where to get to a new feature?

Thanks!

 

[GrimReaper 5152]

 

[Chiefmas 43]

Ah, it's farther into the dialog tree, got it.

That's what I'm talking about where it's not always clear. It's ask here, click around constantly and hope to find it, or wait for documentation updates.

Thanks!

 

[DMazer 9]

Hi All

I have been using my own folder for Spotlight movies for some time and have been waiting for this feature.  I typically put videos in a folder to spotlight them, but that's a lot of moving videos around. 

I have 4.10.0.40 installed.

1. I went to add a new section... picked "My Media" since no spotlight option exists.  Then looked at "View Type" and only two options appear "Cards, Buttons".  There doesn't seem to be a way to flag a specific movie to be spotlighted.  I like to select movies based on the month... ie Christmas, Valentines, Halloween ect...

2. I looked at the properties of a video and don't see a checkbox or anyway to flag a video for spotlight. 

I would have though a section would be labeled spotlight and then the admin checks a box on the video properties (flag) to add to the spotlight rotation.  I was hoping this feature would be simple.

As it stands, it looks like you have to spotlight an entire library or section, that to me, is not spotlighting a video for a specific reason/month/holiday.

So, not sure how this works, confused?  Also, is this user specific, not global?

Edited 1 hour ago by DMazer

[howllor 47]

5 minutes ago, DMazer said:

Hi All

I have been using my own folder for Spotlight movies for some time and have been waiting for this feature.  I typically put videos in a folder to spotlight them, but that's a lot of moving videos around. 

I have 4.10.0.40 installed.

1. I went to add a new section... picked "My Media" since no spotlight option exists.  Then looked at "View Type" and only two options appear "Cards, Buttons".  There doesn't seem to be a way to flag a specific movie to be spotlighted.  I like to select movies based on the month... ie Christmas, Valentines, Halloween ect...

2. I looked at the properties of a video and don't see a checkbox or anyway to flag a video for spotlight. 

I would have though a section would be labeled spotlight and then the admin checks a box on the video properties (flag) to add to the spotlight rotation.  I was hoping this feature would be simple.

As it stands, it looks like you have to spotlight an entire library or section, that to me, is not spotlighting a video for a specific reason/month/holiday.

So, not sure how this works, confused?

The easiest way is just to tag items that you want to appear in the spotlight, then choose "dynamic media" for the section type, you can then pick media type and filter by tag

Edited 1 hour ago by howllor

[DMazer 9]

15 minutes ago, howllor said:

The easiest way is just to tag items that you want to appear in the spotlight, then choose "dynamic media" for the section type, you can then pick media type and filter by tag

Thank you for the information... I just got that working... 

Is there a way to tell the system to use a specific image within the directory, such as *-banner.jpg.

I don't see a "NONE" option for "Tag" if I want to use Genre or Studio, each option should have a none to prevent from using those.  Or are they acting as Filters for the Tag?

Is there a way to Turn On/Off spotlight in the event, I don't have anything to spotlight that month.

I typically only want to spotlight maybe 5-10 videos per month.

Edited 1 hour ago by DMazer

[howllor 47]

25 minutes ago, DMazer said:

Thank you for the information... I just got that working... 

Is there a way to tell the system to use a specific image within the directory, such as *-banner.jpg.

I don't see a "NONE" option for "Tag" if I want to use Genre or Studio, each option should have a none to prevent from using those.  Or are they acting as Filters for the Tag?

Is there a way to Turn On/Off spotlight in the event, I don't have anything to spotlight that month.

I typically only want to spotlight maybe 5-10 videos per month.

There's no automation to it, but it sounds like you would get some joy out of the Home Screen Companion plugin, it comes with a lot more automation and filtering than the built in functions

 

https://emby.media/community/topic/146080-plugin-home-screen-companion/