Per user collections of same name

[TheShanMan 40]

With the new way that collections work, how would I build separate adults and kids movie collections where both are named "Movies"? I have several collections where I want to do the same thing and I don't want to name every collection "x - Adults" or "x - Kids".

 

Incidentally, it was a little concerning to install the new server and then see most of the content of my collections disappear. It took a while before I realized what happened (lost all the media locations that weren't common to both users). At first I thought I just had to wait for MB to finish scanning. I'm not complaining though because I understand the nature of beta software - just relaying my experience. Ultimately I think this change will be more user friendly than the old way.

[ebr 16170]

In short, you can't at this time.  You need to give each media folder a unique name.

[TheShanMan 40]

http://mediabrowser.tv/community/index.php?/topic/4800-important-info-about-the-next-server-release/

 

I did see that ahead of time, but I didn't (and still don't) notice anything relating to this problem.

 

In short, you can't at this time.  You need to give each media folder a unique name.

 

Meaning the ability to do so will be coming soon? It's gonna be ugly in the meantime so hopefully not too long.

 

Thanks!

[TheShanMan 40]

Seriously? I have to say I'm VERY disappointed in this decision, and it looks like I'm not the only one who thinks so. For a moment it looked like I had a workaround because the metadata manager lets you rename them to the same name, but then the user profiles choke pretty hard on that. Can't you at least make it so you can use media manager to give them the same "display" names but internally the actual names (ID's) are used to reference them?

 

I get that you're trying to make the management aspect of MB as straightforward as possible, but it seems like a really bad decision to force us to compromise on the most important part - the part people using MB actually see. So I have to choose between stuff like "Movies" + "Movie" or "Movies - Adults" + "Movies - Kids" or "Movies (a)" + "Movies (k)", which is completely redundant (I already logged in as an adult) and clutters the interface unnecessarily.

 

[Luke 42077]

I honestly think you'll get over it and you'll see that the system is better than it was before. One user said that after prefixing a movie folder with his kid's name, they were estatic to see their name on screen. Yes, we are trying to make it as easy as possible and as a result all of our decision making is prioritized to suit the needs of the broadest possible audience. And that audience is telling us that this is a change for the better.

 

We've already gone the extra mile by allowing mixed media folders, something a big competitor of ours doesn't do. So that's one of the reasons why I feel we've done well on this, and that to go any further will put us on the wrong side of the bell curve in terms of features vs ease of use.

 

As far as workarounds to allow for it, yea I never say never, but given all of the other projects going on we need to see demand before we can justify allocating time for it. So like any other request that is just something we will have to wait and see on. 

[Koleckai Silvestri 1154]

Would it be possible to have a Display name for Media Folders in the metadata? 

 

Personally, I think it would be confusing having multiple Media Folders with the same name. Under the old system, you would just manage under the user. With the new system, one admin user can administrate all Media Folders. I'd always forget which Media Folder was which so appreciate the lack of duplicate names. However users (read wives, parents, grandparents and children) can freak out at the slightest change. My son runs the Media Network at his mother's house and changing from "TV Shows" to "Television" almost sounded like they couldn't use the system anymore. 

 

A Display Name would give people the ability to name things the same if they wished. At least for presentation.

[TheShanMan 40]

I'll get over it but I can almost guarantee that I'll never be satisfied with it. Prefixing with a kid's name does me no good because I only have one user account that both my kids share, and that isn't going to change.

 

I doubt your audience is telling you that not allowing 2 different users to see a collection named "TV" is a change for the better. I'm sure what they're telling you is that the overall change to the management features is a change for the better and some users are telling you they can live with this new limitation.

 

Honestly, while I'm reluctant to say this because I'm a software developer myself, I don't see what would be so hard about having the management features show the internal ID (the true name) of the collection but the normal media browser interface show the display name that's set in the metadata manager. It would cause little, if any, confusion but would be throwing a big bone to those of us who define our collections with generic names.

[ebr 16170]

Maybe I misunderstand the issue/ request, but wouldn't setting the parental rating for your kids (in the user library access settings) do the trick?

This will avoid the need to have multiple directories/libraries.

You could use just one "movies" folder and simply limit what will be shown to your kids.

This will also give you full control if you decide to manually edit the parental rating and lock it (by setting the metadata field to off)

 

Just my two cents.

 

Greets,

Ernst

 

This works to an extent but some like to have it go the other way as well.  For instance, I have a bunch of movies only my daughter likes to watch (Lion King, Alpha and Omega, etc.).  My son and I don't want these showing up in our  profiles and they are all rated G/PG.  So, the solution is to create a separate physical location for these movies and only assign that location to the media folder my daughter sees and not the one that my son and I do.

 

I just sucked it up and named her media folder "Allison's Movies" to get around this new limitation.  It would be great if we can get past the limitation at some point but I don't see it as a huge priority.

[Luke 42077]

http://mediabrowser.tv/community/index.php?/topic/4800-important-info-about-the-next-server-release/

[TheShanMan 40]

That isn't what I'm looking for, Abo. I want naming consistency across user profiles. And no Ernst, I don't want to use ratings as the primary means of limiting access because then I have to worry about ensuring that each and every thing I put in the collections has proper ratings.

 

Another approach to solving this problem would be to add options to the Library Access tab for providing an alternate display name. Each media folder could be one of those expandable panes that shows more options when you click on them.

[Ernst 29]

Maybe I misunderstand the issue/ request, but wouldn't setting the parental rating for your kids (in the user library access settings) do the trick?

This will avoid the need to have multiple directories/libraries.

You could use just one "movies" folder and simply limit what will be shown to your kids.

This will also give you full control if you decide to manually edit the parental rating and lock it (by setting the metadata field to off)

 

Just my two cents.

 

Greets,

Ernst

[Luke 42077]

Take a look at the last two pages. And no, there are currently no plans to add it. Our explanation is there on the last couple pages. We looked at ways to add it, and we compared to other products and decided it doesn't make sense.

[Abobader 3464]

Good day,

 

What I use like this for movies folder collection:

 

For Adult: Movies (have all folders path for movies)

For kids: Movie "or Films, or whatever" (Have only folders path for family movies).

 

Or switch the names, Movies for kids, Movie for Adult.

 

Really I like it, well done Luke.

 

My best

[Starkadius 219]

http://mediabrowser.tv/community/index.php?/topic/5086-fr-server-allow-same-name-media-folders/