Option to have "Specials" folder moved to the end?

[Strudo76 7]

Would it be possible to add an option, so that when a specials season is used, it can be automatically placed at the end after all the season? The naming convention of using "season 00" for specials put the specials item as the first item in the list. This makes the option to automatically select the next unplayed episode a bit useless, as it will select a special episode rather than the next one in the season.

 

Unless I'm doing it wrong? I know I can use the metadata editor to change the sort order and move it to the end, but that seems a little hacky to do manually for each TV show.

[jordy 284]

@@Strudo76, make sure you have this box checked in the Library / Display tab. It enables playback of Specials at the correct point in the season they are aired in.

 

[Strudo76 7]

Hey there Jordy, thanks for the reply. I am aware of that setting, and I do have that set. It has the same issue that the specials folder is still the first item in the series, so the feature to automatically select the next episode will pick an unplayed special if one is available, rather than the next episode in order.

 

For example if there are episodes ep1, ep2, special1, ep3, ep4, special2, ep5, in the series screen, the specials will be the first item (00), followed by season 1 (01). If I watch up to episodes 1, 2, special1, 3, then as the specials are the first item, special2 will be selected aas the next unplayed episode, rather than episode 4. Indeed, having that setting enabled makes an even stronger case for having the specials at the end, as all the specials will be naturally played in their correct position in the series in the due course of watching the series.

[Happy2Play 9785]

Specials need additional metadata to say when to play the special.

 

[Strudo76 7]

Hey there Happy2Play, I'm aware of the metadata requirements, but having the specials inserted into the seasons where they are supposed to be isn't a problem, and works as intended.

 

I'll try and reword my previous example to give a different perspective.

 

Let's say there is series that has one season and a couple of specials. When I enter the series display, I see two items. The first is specials, the other is season 1.  The metadata for the episodes specifies that they should be watched in the order of:

 

episode 1

episode 2

special 1

episode 3

episode 4

special 2

episode 5

 

At this point, the highlighted item is the specials folder, as that is first on the screen and has an unplayed episode (special 1). To be in the correct order, episode 1 should be watched before any of the specials, so the season 1 folder should be highlighted.

 

If I then watch episode 1, episode 2, and special 1, then next episode that I would need to watch is episode 3. If I go into the series screen, the highlighted item will again be the specials folder, as that is the first item on the screen and has an unplayed episode (special 2).

 

By having the specials folder as the last item on the page, in combination with the option to insert specials in their correct order, every time I enter the series screen, the highlighted item will always be the next episode I want to watch as specified by the metadata.

 

Hope that explains what I'm talking about it a little better. I use the WMP plugin without the smart home page (or whatever it's called), so I don't make use of features like the "next episode". This is when I go to the TV shows library and select a show I want to watch. This is going into the library, not directly into the folders. The option to show plain media folders is disabled.

[Waldonnis 148]

If I understand you correctly, the easiest way to change that is to set a sort title on the Specials folder to Specials.  By default, it's blank, which places it before Season 1 for some reason (probably because it's technically Season 0).  I do this locally because I don't watch specials all that often and just want the seasons listed first on the series overview page with the Specials folder displayed last.

[Strudo76 7]

Exactly right Waldonnis, and I use the same solution for my larger series. Just though it would be a good option to have available. Most noted when watching Doctor Who. Since it has 26 seasons plus specials, if always entered the series screen at the specials folder, then have to navigate all the way through to whatever season I was up to. Ended up just putting the specials folder to sort order 99. Would be handy to just specify that I always want specials at the end of the list rather than the start. Would make it easier for the kids to navigate too.

Edited April 21, 2017 by Strudo76

[Waldonnis 148]

Exactly right Waldonnis, and I use the same solution for my larger series. Just though it would be a good option to have available. Most noted when watching Doctor Who. Since it has 26 seasons plus specials, if always entered the series screen at the specials folder, then have to navigate all the way through to whatever season I was up to. Ended up just putting the specials folder to sort order 99. Would be handy to just specify that I always want specials at the end of the list rather than the start. Would make it easier for the kids to navigate too.

 

Ah, agreed, that kind of global option would be fantastic for me too.  I get that it sorts based on Season 0, but it just looks wrong when it's showing a "Specials" title and isn't sorted appropriately for that.  Frankly, I think the default should be to sort it last, but that's probably just my personal taste talking (and peeve about alphabetical order).  And, yeah, Doctor Who is a monster of a series to scroll through already without an extra non-season in front of that.