How to Use Plex Collections !

[@marioStortuga]

I guess I'll comment on the main thread instead of replies.
If you encounter this bug where there is no drag and drop.
When creating the collection DO NOT click on the "save as"
Instead, click on the little arrow to the right of it.
A dropdown will show
Now Click on Add collection
Name it
Click create
Now the collection is draggable.
At least until they fix it. 😁
EDIT :
It also seems if you another dropdown like say you wanted to list 80's movies and select the decade > then menu> Add to collection that is also bugged.
So the best chance is to use the advanced filter for everything for now ☹️

[@gplans]

I can not get the grips to show.

[@methanoid]

Thank you.. I saw when asked twice Lon was just "update your Plex" when like me I suspect people were already on latest Plex. This WORKS.

[@marcOnline]

Doesn't work for me and I am on latest version... :-(

[@methanoid]

@@marcOnline do it just as he says and it DOES work

[@marcOnline]

@@methanoid Well maybe for you. It doesn't work for me. Watched the video and then did it step by step with the video I can't drag and drop the movies no matter how I try to do it.

[@autobahn4610]

Lon I want to thank you for videos like this and many others that helped to take my Plex Library to another level! This one and the one about migrating the metadata were priceless!😁😎

[@jrbees929]

Thanks Lon! I love using/sharing my Plex & have for years but never really looked into these types of features. Very helpful!

[@Viper1171]

Thank you for explaining in detail about "Collections" on Plex. I used to do playlists for each person using Plex though this is better, many thanks! 👍

[@Alphahydro]

Good Plex content as usual Lon. I thought of toying with the collections feature but opted to use the sort title feature to list everything in chronological order. These days I curate more than I watch Plex so I can see myself playing around with it.

[@snarkynerdette3162]

Just discovered this, I've been looking for a nice way to organize things in a better way, and this is EXACTLY what I need to get started, thank you!

[@timothyhood2827]

Thanks for the explanation. This will greatly help me reduce the number of thumbnails on my movies view and yet give ready access to any of the movies. Without your explanation, I certainly would not have stumbled into this great feature!

[@unfinishedsente]

Nice, simple and to the point. Also explained the difference between Playlists and Collections. Nice.

[@Frankaupolis]

Thank You! Very informative! We are very fortunate to have access to this amazing thing called PLEX!

[@asdf51501]

The smart playlist feature reminds me of iTunes circa 2013 or so with its Smart Playlist option. The Collections stuff is cool, and I think I will do that. Thank you for the informative video!

[@blackpietto]

Thanks! I learned some new collection stuff I never knew.

[@cj_zak1681]

great vid Lon - I don't have Plex but my buddy is gonna share a Star Wars collection with me just like yours...I feel an epic Star Wars binge coming on :-)

[@Equilibrier]

Great tutorial, thank you for all of the well presented info !

[@AlwinCrasto]

Hey Lon, can you please pass on feedback to Plex to add nested collections? We really need the ability to have multiple collections (Captain America Trilogy, Iron Man Trilogy, Avengers movies) within a larger collection (MCU Collection). Bonus points if we can achieve a tree like organizing structure.

[@grayfool]

Plex is surely one of the best media servers now. Thanks for your work.

[@jjones2582]

5:58 - The sorting of a Smart Collection can be set at the edit screen up top next to "Advanced Filters" where it says "By Title" as the default.

[@bobbenton7088]

This sort works on Smart Collections. Thanks for finding that!

[@paulpringle6441]

Great tutorial, thank you

[@dylanhunter5414]

This is awesome, thank you.

[@garynagle3093]

Great tips on collections

[@marramgg]

TIL I can create collections on Plex. Thanks for the very well worded video.

[@heshlk]

@lon hi can you do video on the types of movie categories (left panel) that we can create . Ive been trying to figure out whats the best way to group movies into different movie tabs

[@andrecourchen1997]

First of all great video. I just started to add all my movies into Plex and it's working great. I just ran into a problem with the Collection. I did exactly what you indicated in video, but one issue there is no Collection in the drop down menu under Save As, only the three:
Add to Playlist
Save as Smart
Playlist.
Oh yes the Collection is enabled and I had selected Hide items which are in collections.
Any suggestions is appreciated.
Sincerely,
Andre'

[@reddlief]

As I add movies to library, Plex will make automatic collections bundling all movies beginning with M or P or so forth. Where do I go to end this. I'll look at the advanced filters you show in this video and find out if there's a smart collection doing this that I inadvertently created in my early organization trial and error period. Great to the point videos!

[@mydogvlad]

This helped a lot with Star Wars

[@andrewlucabaugh9113]

At the top where it has recommended, Library and Collections , mine has categories instead, is there a way I can change it from categories to collections like yours?

[@MrSupersidewinder]

I made a collection in a library of my own videos called 'Play Alongs!' It would lose all its contents whenever the server updated or restarted. Renamed a new collection without the '!' On the end... trying again. Was it the exclamation mark causing the issue???

[@CF542]

Hi Lon, I have followed these instructions but no matter what I set, I see the collections and items in my library even though items are set to hidden. Any ideas?

[@DeNo1Designer]

Can it do automatic collections like emby?

[@brianlasker5697]

If I just plug in my movie hard drive into my nvidia shield tv pro...can I manage this collection from a separate computer that is not connected

[@mikerulon]

I am having all kinds of problems with using WD EX2 ultra as a plex server, in your opinion is it just too weak to do it... thanks

[@mikerulon]

just wondering have you had many people report recording problems using WD EX2 ultra, my shows are not recording consistently and I have no idea how to get Plex to help me

[@DWeb17]

If I sort it by TITLE Like my collection and your collection have Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker after Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope when it should be at the end. Ive done some looking around but does anyone have a fix for this?

[@budstephens8670]

Will The Ewok Adventure and Ewoks The Battle for Endor be added to my Star Wars collection, if not is there a way to add them?

[@PetrusWBM]

Hi, Can you tell why Backgrounds in my Plex Collections after update server not working on my tvs (LG OLED 65B7V).
On Plex APP on PC and smartphone still works.
On second TV LCD LG in my sleeping room not working collection background not working too :(.
Do you have the same problem?

[@powerflex500]

When I create collections in the Movie Library, the Collections tap does not populate. Any suggestions is appreciated.

[@timelesstimesgoneby]

dreamworks studios update in order of release date automatically updating because I can do by hand but there’s a total 44 I don’t want to go through and add it all when I can have a smart device create it so how do I go about this

[@SouthWestSeaDog]

Could have mentioned that there is a collections poster pack available.

[@smartintellectual9995]

This guy is Plex guru

[@hykok]

Can you nest collections together? For example, MCU has multiple phases, so have MCU as parent to the phases and each phase has different MCU movies for that phase.

[@user-gh3cr3vu2r]

i just made a 'collection' is it possible i could delete the file in my initial library and just keep the one in my collection? or atleast hide it? lol

[@DizzyGamerOfficial]

Does this also happen with Studio Collections, like, say, you have a set of Nickelodeon Movies, would you create a collection called "Nickelodeon"?

[@niravniel561]

hi, is it possible to create my own collection manually picking my movies? without filtering , I couldnt find away of doing it

[@LonSeidman]

Yes just click the check mark on each

[@kyfisher3662]

drag and dropping them dosnt work for me, is there a different way to order them?

[@taranagnew436]

seine your server is analible to only you, can you stream movies to a tv on your local network without wifi?

[@unfinishedfootsteps1404]

2:44 But what if I Don't want them along side the individual movies? Id much rather all those movies in one collection / folder. Than have them all seperate aswell

[@JohnWickFour]

Nice work Lon. Can you filter by aspect ratio?

[@LonSeidman]

I do not see that as an option unfortunately.

[@danielwilton2421]

Thank you for all of your very good and informative videos.
I have run in to a problem with my Plex server.exe on my pc. It keeps shutting down several times a day so I have to restart it. It doesn't show any error or any other information about it. It just stops working. The plex icon is still showing until I put my marker arrow over it then it disappear. Do you have any idea why this happens on my pc? It's been going on for several months now.
I would be forever grateful if you could help me with this because it is very annoying. I want to be able to use my server when I travel. Best regards, Daniel

[@CantankerousDave]

Okay, I actually didn’t know that Collections worked this way. I had been manually grouping movie series together and displaying them in my desired order using the Sort Title tag - Harry Potter 1, Harry Potter 2: etc. instead of the actual movie name. You seem to explain it backwards at 7:33, BTW. “Title” is the name displayed beneath the thumbnail, “Sort Title” is the hidden name it uses to order them.

[@mikerulon]

can you give some advice I bought a EX2 ultra to run my plex. I am a really novice.... I wanted it to record and playback tv over the air ... paired it with HDHomerun 4k and antenna, the EX2 just cant do it.... should I start over or is there a good fix adding something to my set up... thanks

[@LonSeidman]

You really need a nas that supports hardware transcoding, I have a few videos of that topic in the playlist.

[@mikerulon]

@@LonSeidman thank you is there a good solution keeping that for storage and using something else for the server?

[@Watto-lp8lr]

Apologies if this has been asked, covered, answered but if you say create a collection called "star wars" is there anyway of hiding the individual star wars films from the library screen so if I wanted to watch a star wars film I could go straight to the collection, click in that and then select from the collection?

[@LonSeidman]

7:21

[@Watto-lp8lr]

@@LonSeidman many many thanks

[@benjaminstanley4364]

Loved this instructional video. Do you know if it is possible to have a TV show collection? Of multiple series that all go together? Like the Star Trek series for example? If you wanted to make a chronological collection of all the series, crisscrossing in their actual order, would it be possible to do that in a collection, or for something like that, would a playlist still be better?

[@brentgreeff1115]

I just watched "Star Trek Enterprise and Discovery are set in a NEW timeline created by Time Travel and Temporal War" - interesting idea.

[@LonSeidman]

Yes you can organize the series in that way, the collections have a single icon for the series and all of the episodes/seasons of that series are the next layer down.

[@benjaminstanley4364]

@@LonSeidman Thank you for your response, I will definitely look into that, because I have some massive playlists for many of my shows that have movies or spin offs. My Star Trek playlist alone is currently at 801 titles. Which as I'm sure you can imagine is time consuming to build, and takes an incredible amount of time to scroll through. I'd love to have something more efficient!

[@benjaminstanley4364]

@@LonSeidman If you have the time, I'd love to see an instructional video on specifically how to organize TV series into a collection, as well as how to re-order specific episodes in a different order if need be, without having to build a tedious playlist.

[@LonSeidman]

@@benjaminstanley4364 It's the same process as movies but you can't reorder the episdoes, just the series.

[@BrokenChalice]

So I have a collection in Movies Library of Pokemon as well as a collection in my TV library called Pokemon but my TV shows dont show when in movies and vice versa when viewing the collection

[@JA-lc7nt]

Lan maybe you can help me with this issue I just started having with Plex. Trying to login to Plex server getting an error “Plex is not reachable" on windows 10 browser Microsoft Edge, Chrome and Firefox. thank you for your time. J

[@CrunchEnhancer]

Had a ? how can i get plex to group together seasonal movies on my home page

[@niravniel561]

Hi Lon, as a plex expert, what would you recommend from the two NAS, Synology DS220+ or WD PR2100 ?

[@LonSeidman]

I'd go with the Synology it's got a more up-to-date processor for transcoding.

[@niravniel561]

@@LonSeidman thanks a lot

[@alshabi]

Problem is that Collections dont work only when you set up the library to be sorted by Title, but once you change it to Date Added, the collection doesnt show any more and movies are shown separate again

[@GamerFromJump]

What’s the best way to add a web series that has seasons like a TV show?

[@gregoryfricker9971]

So to clarify, you can do a custom sort order for collections? I thought that was one of the downsides of collections.

[@LonSeidman]

Yes that's the big change with this new version but only with manually created ones - not smart collections.

[@carmelo418]

How do you delete collections that were created automatically?

[@edwinperez2813]

On Collections you failed to mention that you can Edit the Library advanced and set this setting for Automatic collections ... Minimum automatic collection size 2 ... That way Plex creates collections on the full library. When you refresh all metadata.

[@brentgreeff1115]

Nice - can you tag and then get automatic collections with a specific tag? - that would be awesome.

[@bracketk]

Setting the size to 2 fixed the problem that keep me from using collections. THANK you!

[@1981dasimpson]

you are a godsend i was about to start manually building collections

[@SlimmePim]

thanx!!

[@GGMan]

I am Version 4.59.2 and cannot drag them into any order

[@yourpalfranc]

What's your workflow for ripping movies, Lon? That might make a nice video?? ~Frank

[@DirtySoap]

I built a tower in a Cooler Master Storm Trooper case that has drive bays down the entire front of it and filled with DVD drives. It lets me do 8 at once because I filled my top slot with a drawer to keep small screws, USB, and such.

[@LonSeidman]

See here! UA-cam has limited its reach unfortunately: ua-cam.com/video/9uW6XhU9aNA/v-deo.html

[@yourpalfranc]

@@LonSeidman Thanks, Lon. I'm set up very similar to you...have the same Shield, use a QNAP NAS that is also my Plex server, use MakeMKV to rip, but I really struggle with Plex. For example, I just ripped a couple of bluray discs with MakeMKV and one of them just simply won't play through Plex. VLC plays them beautifully, but Plex simply returns "Playback error...please check that the file exists and the necessary drive is mounted." I tend to think it's the QNAP server and I'm tempted to build a new Plex server on a different platform. But again, it's just always been a struggle with Plex for me. Do you still use Kodi in the same way?? Thanks again, as always!! ~Frank

[@marlonkelch9050]

what do you use to put your dvd on your computer?

[@LonSeidman]

MakeMKV

[@marlonkelch9050]

Thanks. I was using MakeMKV and on some of the new DVD after coping there would be no audio. I will try downloading the New version and see what it does. Like your videos.

[@bnwinsf]

The features described here don't work on my Plex server (Synology, up-to-date; Plex Pass user). I can't drag movies around in the collection. Hiding the movies in a collection from displaying on the Library screen doesn't work. I had made collections in the past using tags. I don't know if this has anything to do with it. Also, I created a new collection using the method described here. It didn't work... the collection was empty. When I deleted it, one of the movies in the collection no longer displays in the Library (though I can find it on a search). Seems to me these features aren't completely baked in yet.

[@methanoid]

same for me.. wonder if Lon is using a newer version of PMS?

[@1981dasimpson]

it is how he is creating the collection that allows it

[@timelesstimesgoneby]

how to not have tv collection not refresh to pull other tv show plex

[@marioStortuga]

I've known about collections but I could never get it to drag and drop like that I even fired it up right now on my pc and on the server. On the collection itself, I can't drag them around like you can what am I missing here? I'm on the admin account and lifetime plex pass user

[@LonSeidman]

Make sure you update your server this functionality was just added.

[@marioStortuga]

@@LonSeidman I updated last night I'll try a repair ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Thanks for replying either way

[@FrostyButters]

@@marioStortuga I can't drag the movies around either. I'm running the latest version of Plex (1.23.5.4862) on Unraid

[@marioStortuga]

I figured how to force it kind of annoying but hey This looks like there is a bug in the collection update.
So If I create the collection using the save as button If it pops up only the create box and no search that one is bugged.
Once you click create It tends to be a normal collection like before no drag and drop feature at all.
Now here's the kicker If you use the little down arrown that opens a dropdown menu then click add to collection name it and then click create.
Now the collection movies are dragable.
So for now don't use the Save as button but the little drop down arrow to the right of then add to collection.
That way it 100% of the time it's dragable.
So Now I have to recreate all my collections fun lol
But at least there is a workaround 😁

[@marioStortuga]

@@FrostyButters I figured out the bug. IF you use the save as button no drag.
If you use the down arrow next to it then add collection> name it> create.
It has the drag function.

[@jcny08]

how do i delete a collection without deleting the movies.

[@Majestros]

Jellyfin can do it automatically

[@davidadiwego4608]

and kodi

[@ericfielding668]

You are missing the Star Wars Christmas Special (sorry - but I had to)

[@DonkeyPuncher1976]

Can you share your Plex with my family?

[@TLC94LS]

Anyone have issues trying to get Plex on a DSM 7 synology? I get the oops, no soup for yo message?

[@LonSeidman]

I think they have a new server version just for DSM 7

[@paulbuschmann1596]

i cannot drag the movies like in 2:30...

[@nat101yt]

You missed the KEY concept of Collections! It is not at all like a playlist. Much more sophisticated.
In my Music library I have tons of ALBUMS tagged with MULTIPLE Collections.
These collection tags can be anything I want. Say I tag an Album with "Night", "Party", "Johnny", "Bass", "Summer", whatever. (You can tag multiple at the same time.) Now, once all (as many as you want) the albums are tagged as being part of some collection(s), you can very easily filter all the albums on any combination of Collection tags. (This from the album view in Plex. Not to be confused with the Artists view, which have a different set of collections!) So, I can choose to see all the albums that belong to "Night" & "Treble" & NOT "Picnic", whatever. All those otherwise unrelated albums will be displayed together (because they fit the same collection criteria). THEN, you can also tell it to create a playlist with the search results!
Plus! The Plexamp app, for Windows & Android (am assuming also for Apple) understand Collections and allow you to filter by collection with multiple rules, as well.
All the best.

[@AwesomeShows]

FYI, your movie Strange Days isn't properly linked. I own it, that's not the correct poster.

[@ryanmalone2681]

Would be great if Plex could use the GPU to conduct some of these tasks automatically. I have over 8,000 films so doing it this way manually isn’t practical.

[@ra3im]

I had the power to give 1k likes 😪

[@timelesstimesgoneby]

How to Create a Smart Collection

[@vajona2495]

The fact you cannot create Collections Across Libraries or created collection by folder is sad. L2Program plex...

[@asmrvidsaccount]

Here's how to do it the easy way in 2024 :
PLEX Auto Collections -
Go to Settings, choose a library to edit, then go to ADVANCED.
Now go to where it says MINIMUM AUTOMATIC COLLECTION SIZE and set to 1 or 2 from DISABLED. If you already added all your content, you need to then REFRESH METADATA!

[@Fran-kc2gu]

Love collections for movies, but collections for music it's pretty useless, I know I might be a minority of that feature since most people create playlists instead of album collections but yeah

[@nat101yt]

Collections for music are WONDERFUL. See my post above.

[@Fran-kc2gu]

@@nat101yt pretty interesting post, I decided to give collections a try again and they improved some things, have to take my comments back, last time I checked them, was hard to maintain (1 Month ago), I guess the new update agonized more of the things I suffered from, very nice Plex.

[@davidadiwego4608]

just ONE click in KODI settings, and related movies (sequels, prequels, etc) are grouped straight away...None of this manual tagging crap or agent settings, blah, blah, blah.
Plex sucks.

[@jhill1023]

I'm sorry to come in hot and a bit aggravated but for those of us that are new to PLEX, your videos assume a lot and leave us, newbies, completely in the dark. Again, as usual, a Great video, but if you are new like me, and your plex may not be set up perfectly or there are some things that are confusing, full explanations would be a great help. So if you don't mind holding a person's hand through some of these videos, I'll go ahead and leave me a question. Way back at the beginning of the video, you said to click Advanced Filter to select the movies you want to put into a collection, okay-easy, done... then go over to the save as button on the top right and click the down arrow and there will be your choice of selecting collection or playlist... Ooops, nope, mine only offers the playlist option, not collections, must be a setting? Not sure, I don't know... it would have been nice (and informative) if you would have covered what to do if you don't have a Collections option, I know you can't predict everything, but if there are two options, the what-ifs could be easily covered. I guess, heck I don't know. PS, Ive had a Lifetime PLEX Pass for over a year and I NEVER use PLEX because it's too confusing and there are way too many settings options to even possibly know how to set them up. Just saying... Shouldn't PLEX have a how-to video starting with step one and moving forward so guys like me can get this thing going right and not be confused about everything? I was stumped at how to set up a server. I have one now but it took me like 6 tries, I've got all kinds of extra stuff on my account from making mistakes in the set up process and don't have a clue how to clean it up. I'm not a complete dummy, I can use KODI like an expert, Plex, I'm a complete dummy...... Anyway. Thanks for the video

[@lordgarth1]

ripping discs is illegal in the US unless there’s no encryption. do i think it should be? hell no. but i wouldn’t make YT videos showing that i did just that.

[@Alphahydro]

The U.S. has bigger problems

[@brentgreeff1115]

I thought it worked like ROMS - if you own the original media you can make a private copy, - but I am not really qualified to comment.

[@lordgarth1]

@@brentgreeff1115 No the Backup copy provision exists but illegal if you have to circumvent the encryption to do it even if trivial. And pretty much all dvds and blu-ray’s have encryption.

[@lordgarth1]

@@Alphahydro Just not as big as most other places.

[@Ralphia01]

WOW you really like to monopolize my time with the crappiest ads available and even make me sit tight and not skip the ad after 5 sec. So I grant you 100% negative feedback. every time I watch your content. So even if I like your content, sorry you already bought my negative feedback.

[@wimpie2918]

help collection created in plex after playing a movie it disappears from that collection and comes back to my library later xxx wim

[@diiivoy]

If you're looking for awesome posters for your collections make sure to check out theposterdb