Jump to content

Marking downloaded metadata and images as hidden files


Recommended Posts

Posted

Hi,

 

I'm currently using the option "Save metadata and images within media folders" which to my horror has lay waste to my otherwise very clean file system. I know I can turn this off and have the metadata saved elsewhere, but I would prefer to keep the metadata and images with the media as long as these files are marked as hidden so they don't show up in explorer by default. I was going to suggest adding this as option (i.e. "Mark metadata files as hidden"), but I think metadata files should always be hidden. Does anyone really want to see these files? If one wishes to view or delete these files, they can easily do so by showing hidden files.

 

Cheers

  • Like 2
Beardyname
Posted

I actually Always show hidden files and folders, but on the other hand i never look in my media folders :P i Always belive in giving people options though, so If this gets implemented make it an on/off button somewhere

  • Like 1
Posted

The problem is we use the 'hidden' attribute to ignore items.

Koleckai Silvestri
Posted (edited)

Wayne Luke, is You mean MetaBrowser?

No... Have never installed MetaBrowser. I mean the MediaBrowser Server stores the XMLs in a hidden Metadata folder. It stores the .nfo files for XBMC within the actual season folder and the episode XMLs in a hidden metadata folder. I didn't create any of the folders.

 

Haven't used any third-party metadata features since November when I installed MediaBrowser. Before that I did use Media Center Master.

 

Not really a big deal. I don't really care about the contents of the folders as they aren't going to be seen by anyone by me. Just confusing because the system is reading from hidden folders.

Edited by Wayne Luke
Posted

Well, my bad on the hidden thing.  That wouldn't be a problem I guess.

 

However, i think creating hidden files would just cause a lot of confusion for the average user who didn't have show hidden files turned on in explorer and then couldn't figure out if they were there or not.  

 

My Metadata folders created by MB are not hidden...

Latchmor
Posted

Yip I agree. I'd rather see everything in the folders... on the very few times you are actually in the folders anyway.

Cheers

 

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk

 

 

Koleckai Silvestri
Posted

The problem is we use the 'hidden' attribute to ignore items.

 

This is confusing as MediaBrowser stores all of the .xml files for television episodes in a hidden "metadata" folder.

Posted

we do process hidden metadata so that only applies to actual media. also, but don't mark the metadata folder as hidden.

WWWestern
Posted

Wayne Luke, is You mean MetaBrowser?

Aussiedroid
Posted

I would like the option to hide them. Right now its turned into a mixed bag on my storage in the folders..most hidden, some new ones are not. Would like to hide it all.

Posted

Clearly people have different preferences. I'm actually surprised anyone wants to see the metadata all the time. I'd imagine these are the sort of people that have hidden files visible all the time anyway, so would probably be unaffected by such a change. I just think as a default setting, most average users will find it to be a bit of a rude surprise to look at their media folders after installing Media Browser and finding them filled to the brim with metadata files, as I was.

 

Most users probably won't care where metadata is stored, but if the default location is going to be in their media folders, then the metadata files ought to be marked as hidden.

 

In fact, having all the metadata in a hidden "metadata" subfolder as some have mentioned here would be another worthy enhancement in my opinion. Perhaps then it wouldn't even need to be hidden. I think mixing metadata among the actual media files is probably a bad default behaviour.

Posted (edited)

Yip I agree. I'd rather see everything in the folders... on the very few times you are actually in the folders anyway.

 

I am the same,I would rather see everything there,us hard users know where things are kept,hidden or not but joe average doesn't even know how to unhide folders.

 

What happens if you get bad or wrong metadata and then the novice user doesn't know how to find it.Now they can just go into the movie folder and bam there it is and easily fixed. Things need to be made simple for everyone to use a product effectively.

Edited by Yogi
Aussiedroid
Posted

Yeah it should be an optional preference not the default for the average user, but still would be good to have included so everyone is happy :)

  • Like 1
Posted

Most users probably won't care where metadata is stored, but if the default location is going to be in their media folders, then the metadata files ought to be marked as hidden.

 

In fact, having all the metadata in a hidden "metadata" subfolder as some have mentioned here would be another worthy enhancement in my opinion. Perhaps then it wouldn't even need to be hidden. I think mixing metadata among the actual media files is probably a bad default behaviour.

 

It isn't our default behavior.  In order for this to happen you have to check an option in the configuration (or start-up wizard) that says "Save metadata and images within media folders". 

 

It is recommended, however, since doing so can make scans much faster and take a huge load off of providers like tmdb.

Posted

It isn't our default behavior.

 

Oh ok, I must have set it and don't remember.

 

I think, given the mixed opinions on hiding metadata files, I think if all metadata was put into a a non-hidden "metadata" sub-folder as mentioned previously, I think everyone would be happy with that as a solution. It keeps the file system clean, and users can choose to hide the metadata folder manually if they desire. It also makes it easy to delete all metadata in one click.

 

Does anyone have any issues with putting all metadata files in a sub-folder so they're not intermixed with all the actual media files?

Posted

We're not changing the location sorry. Too many external entities would be affected by that.

  • Like 1
Posted

Yeah I thought there may be a compatibility issue. In that case then, as per the original request, is providing an option to mark metadata files as hidden plausible? You wouldn't need to worry about marking existing files as hidden as it's enough to do those manually.

Posted

i think the original request is reasonable.

Posted

But the question then becomes, would that cause compatibility problems?  Will all the other tools and front-ends find hidden metadata and images?

Posted

Well, then I guess we'd be good to go :).

Posted

Yes they all have save hidden options too

  • 3 weeks later...
Posted

When may we expect to see this option for hiding metadata?

  • 1 month later...
Redshirt
Posted

+1 for this idea.

  • Like 1
Posted

 

What happens if you get bad or wrong metadata and then the novice user doesn't know how to find it.Now they can just go into the movie folder and bam there it is and easily fixed. Things need to be made simple for everyone to use a product effectively.

I'm kind of thinking that the novice user who doesn't know how to hide/unhide items in explorer is not the type of person who is going to want to tinker with xml files?  Please implement a hidden metadata option because as it stands I have about 6 terabytes of stuff that now looks like a bomb has hit it, and I keep getting a headache from the missus for "messing it all up when it was working just fine."

Where's the hardship in giving us the option?  Heck, even put a disclaimer next to the option.  Eg.  "Mark all metadata as hidden (Advanced users only)"

  • 5 months later...
Posted

I'm still hanging out for this! I keep checking every new release for this option under "Metadata" in the MediaBrowser web dashboard.

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...