How to force a collection

[ebds 1]

Hi folks. I have a very large collection of Alfred Hitchcock movies dating from 1925 (his first) all the way to his last. I want them to be in a collection so there are not so many individual entries in the main list of movies. I am quite new to Emby and I don't know how to force all of those movies into a collection. Can someone help me?

 

Thanks,

Rob

[Koleckai Silvestri 1154]

You can use the Auto Boxset plugin if you are a Premiere member. It will scan the collections at The Movie Database (tmdb.org) and automatically create collections if your items match. It won't pull in custom lists. Only clearly marked collections.

 

If there is no collection at The Movie Database, then you have to either create your own collection manually or put all your Hitchcock movies into their own library. You can then choose to show that library on the home page for quick access. I use the library method myself as collections fall short during display of the main movie collection. So I have libraries for Holiday Movies, Disney Animation, Disney Live Action, Marvel Cinematic Universe, John Wayne and so forth. You will probably have to do one of these for all the Alfred Hitchcock movies.

Edited March 13, 2017 by Koleckai Silvestri

[Luke 42077]

The AutoBoxSet plugin is free and does not require Emby Premiere. Enjoy

[blade005 185]

Hi folks. I have a very large collection of Alfred Hitchcock movies dating from 1925 (his first) all the way to his last. I want them to be in a collection so there are not so many individual entries in the main list of movies. I am quite new to Emby and I don't know how to force all of those movies into a collection. Can someone help me?

 

Thanks,

Rob

@@ebds

 

There is no Collection ID in http://themoviedb.org for a Hitchcock collection.

 

For your HItchcock collection, I think your best option, without having to create a unique library is to manually create a collection that you can name HITCHCOCK MOVIE COLLECTION.

 

If you enter the COLLECTION tab at the top of the WebUI while in your MOVIE library you will see a + icon selection that will allow you to create a NEW collection item that you can name whatever you choose. There will be a new folder in your Collection library with the name you choose and you can include a folder.jpg, backdrop.jpg, logo.png items there. This folder should be in your Emby Server installation location under DATA\COLLECTIONS. Attached is a link to a couple of movies posters that might work for your Hitchcock collection artwork. https://fanart.tv/movie/354777/alfred-hitchcock-the-masterpiece-collection/

 

Once the collection is set up then you can browse through your collection and individually add each Hitchcock movie to your newly named collection. Or, if multiple Hitchcock movies are on the same page of the WebUI, use the multi-select option (long LEFT MOUSE click on first movie item) and you can select multiple Hitchcock movies and then select the pull down 3-dot menu in the upper right corner of the WebUI and select ADD TO COLLECTION and put multiple movies into the Hitchcock collection at once.

[ebds 1]

Thank you folks for all the great replies. I did figure out how to create my own personal collection and then add all the Hitchcock movies to it. Thanks to you all it is now set up the way I wanted it. Great forum!

 

Rob

[Luke 42077]

Well done.

[Joe Canas 0]

Hey Luke, I had 30+ custom collections—including the Alfred Hitchcock sets—because TMDB didn’t provide them via AutoBoxSet plugin. Your latest update wiped them out. The impact and testing assessment was poorly executed on your end and it ruined premier users’ collection setups. Lessons learned, you need to do better on releases and warn us of potential catastrophic events like this in advance.

[Luke 42077]

On 1/19/2026 at 3:09 PM, Joe Canas said:

Hey Luke, I had 30+ custom collections—including the Alfred Hitchcock sets—because TMDB didn’t provide them via AutoBoxSet plugin. Your latest update wiped them out. The impact and testing assessment was poorly executed on your end and it ruined premier users’ collection setups. Lessons learned, you need to do better on releases and warn us of potential catastrophic events like this in advance.

Hi @Joe CanasI apologize. This was not intended or expected. We will do some upgrade testing to see if we can find anything to resolve in a 4.9.x update. Thanks.