PlexNine PMS MediaManager
From Plex
Plex Media Manager
What is the Media Manager?
It's a utility that lets you manage your Sections, media match, metadata and other information about your media. It's a central place where you can ensure your media files are identified correctly, have artwork that you like and grouped together sensibly. You can use the Media Manager once the post install initial scan has completed.
Launching the Media Manager
The Plex Media Manager can appear different on Mac OS X to Windows PC’s, depending on how you access it, There are 2 ways to access the Media Manger:
- On Mac OS X: as a standalone application, or in a web browser
- On Windows PC: in a web browser
- On Linux PC: in a web browser
Launching Media Manager on Mac OS X
There are 2 ways to load the Media Manager on a Macintosh:
Launch the Standalone application
Locate and click the Plex icon in your Mac’s top menu bar or Dock and choose Media Manager… the Media Manager will launch.
If you don’t see the Plex icon in the Dock, choose Preferences > General from the Plex icon in your Mac’s top menu bar, then check Show a dock icon
Access the Media Manager in a Browser window
You can access the Media Manager using any modern browser from anywhere in your local area network. You can also access the Media Manager from outside your network with a correctly configured router. To access the Media Manager in your browser, find the IP address of the Plex Media Server computer then:
- Open a browser window
- Enter http://your.PMS.Server.IP:32400/manage/
- Your web browser will open and load the Media Manager
There are some small differences between the Mac OS Media Manager application and browser based access to the Media Manager. The differences will be noted in this manual. In the images below, the left image is the Mac OS native application, the right image is the Web UI in a browser.
Launching Media Manager on a Windows PC
There are 2 ways to load the Media Manager on a Windows PC.
Launch the Media Manager on the same PC as the Plex Media Server is installed
To launch the Media Manager on the same PC as the Plex Media Server is running on:
- Locate the Plex icon in your PC’s System Tray – at the right bottom of your Windows desktop
- Right-click the Plex icon then choose Configure Plex Media Server
- Your default browser will launch and load the Media Manager
Access the Media Manager in a Browser window
You can access the Media Manager using any modern browser from anywhere on your local area network. You can also access the Media Manager from outside your network with a correctly configured router. To access the Media Manager in your browser, find the IP address of the Plex Media Server computer then:
- Open a browser window
- Enter http://your.PMS.Server.IP:32400/manage/
- Your web browser will open and load the Media Manager
Launching Media Manager on a Linux PC
There are 2 ways to connect to the Media Manager
Launch the Media Manager on the same PC as the Plex Media Server is installed
To launch the Media Manager on the same PC as the Plex Media Server is running on:
- Open a browser (Firefox/Chrome/YourChoice)
- In the address field enter: http://localhost:32400/manage/index.html
- Your browser will load the Media Manager
Access the Media Manager in a Browser window
You can access the Media Manager using any modern browser from anywhere on your local area network. You can also access the Media Manager from outside your network with a correctly configured router. To access the Media Manager in your browser, find the IP address of the Plex Media Server computer then:
- Open a browser window
- Enter http://your.PMS.Server.IP:32400/manage/
- Your web browser will open and load the Media Manager
Media Manager Initial Setup
The first time you choose Configure Plex Media Server, your browser will launch and the Media Manager Setup Screen will load. The screen allows you to begin setting up Media Sections. A Section is a group of Movies, TV Shows or Music files. Each section will appear in the Plex client – whether it’s your LG Netcast TV or another Plex Client. On a Macintosh, the Media Manager initial configuration is done by the Startup Assistant as previously discussed.
Setting up your first Section
Choose Add Movies Section from the startup screen – a sheet will slide down.
- Choose the Section Type - Movies, TV Shows or Music
- Enter a Section Name
- Choose a Scanner
- Choose a Primary Metadata Agent
- Choose a Language
- Add the media folder by clicking the + button, then select the folder. The folder appears in the list. You can add more than one folder to any Section.
- Click Add Section - the new Section is scanned
On Mac OS, adding folders looks different:
Installing additional metadata Agents
If the metadata agents installed by default don't suit you, you can install attentional agents. Agents like International Language and special interest can be installed to extend resources metadata is gathered from. To install additional agents:
- Launch your Plex Client
- Select Plex On-line > More > Metadata Agents
- A list of the available Agents is displayed
- Select the Agent you want to install then press Play on your remote
Once a new Agent is installed, you can select it when creating or editing a Section in the Media Manager.
Understanding a Section Scan
Once you’ve added a Section to the Media Manager, it will be scanned by the Plex Scanners, then an Agent will attempt to match the media files it’s identified. You don’t need to do anything during this process. Media files undergo several steps as they are first seen, analyzed and then identified.
- File seen – when a file is first seen, a generic tile is displayed
- Analysis starts – A screen grab is taken from the file and stored as a generic image. You’ll notice the image from the movie replaces the generic tile
- Media Analyzed – The media file is analyzed for codec, resolution and other details. You’ll notice the ‘Atom’ icon overlayed on the screen grab
- Agent Fetching Metadata – each file is queued for the Plex Agents to fetch metadata from the internet. You’ll notice the screen grab is dimmed indicating it is awaiting the data
- Process Complete – once the metadata has been fetched, the screen grab will be replaced by the movie poster
Using the Media Manager
The Media Manager interface
The Media Manager is divided into several sections:
- The left sidebar - select, add or remove Sections
- The right main pane - preview media, correct incorrectly matched shows, edit or refresh Sections, and manually add metadata for media content
- On the Mac OS standalone application, there is an additional toolbar with some filtering options
Managing Sections
Add a new section
- Click the + button at the bottom of the sidebar. A sheet will slide out at the top of the window
- Choose the Section Type - Movies, TV Shows or Music
- Enter a Section Name
- Choose a Scanner
- Choose a Primary Metadata Agent
- Choose a Language
- Add the media folder by clicking the + button, then select the folder. The folder appears in the list. You can add more than one folder to any Section.
- Click Add Section - the new Section is created and scanned
The Mac OS app is shown on the left, web interface on the right.
Modify or delete an existing Section
To modify an existing section: Click the Section you want to edit, then click Edit Section from either the gear icon (WebUI only) or at the right of the Media Manager window. Make the changes you want then click Update Section
To delete an existing section:
- Click the Section to delete
- Click the - button at the bottom of the sidebar
- Confirm the Section deletion
The Mac OS app is shown on the left, web interface on the right.
Refreshing Sections
New media is added to your Library by copying the file to the Section folder, then refreshing the Section. Sections can be refreshed automatically or manually.
Auto Updating
Auto-updating the Library is a Plex Media Server Setting. To change the setting:
- On Mac OS, choose Preferences… from the Plex icon in either your Mac’s top menu bar or the right-click the Dock icon
- On a Windows PC, right-click the Plex icon in the Windows System tray and choose Configure Plex Media Server or follow the previous instructions and launch the Media Manager in a web browser
- Click the Preferences button – the Plex Media Server Settings dialog will open
- Click the Library icon to view the following options:
- Update my library when changes to my folders are detected - the library will be updated when file system changes are detected. If you’re often making changes to your media folders (like downloading internet media directly to a Section folder), you may notice the Media Server is continually scanning. In this case, don’t select this option.
- Update my library... Choose the frequency you’d like the library re-scanned
- Empty trash automatically after every scan - Choose to empty the Soft Deletion trash after every scan
- Include music sections... Choose whether to include music sections in automatic updates
- Additional Reading: Understanding and using Soft Deletion
Manually Refreshing Sections
In addition to the Scheduled refreshes, you can manually refresh a Section. There are several types of Section refresh:
Turbo Scan
By default, Sections are refreshed using Turbo Scan. This is a quick scan that only updates folders that have changed since the last refresh. You can run Turbo Scan by:
- Setting an automatic refresh option in the Plex Media Server Library Preferences
- Click the Refresh button at the bottom right of the Media Manager window
- (Mac Media Manager Only) Click the Update All Sections button or choose Update Library form the Plex icon in your Mac's Menu bar
Deep Scan
A Deep Scan will scan all folders in a Section regardless of whether it has been modified since the last scan. This is useful if you're having trouble with media not being recognized. To perform a Deep Scan:
- Hold down the Option (Mac OS) or Alt (Windows) key and click the Refresh button
Force Refresh
A Force Refresh is the most extreme type of Section refresh. Turbo and Deep Scan only scan for new media and so are passive around existing item metadata. Force Refresh will trigger the Metadata Agents and cause metadata to be re-downloaded for all items in the Section. If you've edited metadata items in the Edit Metadata screen, you'll notice the padlock icon 'locks'. Locked items include posters and artwork you've manually selected. Locked items will not be overwritten by a Force Refresh.
- Hold down the Shift key and click the Refresh button
Individual Item Refresh Metadata
You can Force Update a single item by right-clicking it in the Media Manager and choosing Refresh Metadata. This causes the item metadata to be re-downloaded. If you've edited metadata items in the Edit Metadata screen, you'll notice the padlock icon 'locks'. Locked items include posters and artwork you've manually selected. Locked items will not be overwritten by a Refresh Metadata.
Editing Metadata
If you don’t like the metadata you get from the Internet sites, you can enter your own using the Edit Metadata screen. Right-click on the item to edit, then choose Edit Metadata. Once you have made changes to an item, the padlock icon will lock, preventing the changes from being overwritten by downloaded data. To unlock a locked item, click the padlock icon.
Fix Incorrect Match
Sometimes, an item might be incorrectly matched to another show. To fix this, right-click the incorrectly matched item, then choose Fix Incorrect Match… a list of possible matches with be presented. Choose the one you want, then OK.
You can perform a Custom Search by clicking the Custom Search button. You can change the Search agent, enter the show name and year. Click Search to do the search.
Refresh Info…
If you want to refresh the information for a particular item, right-click it and choose Refresh Info. The information is downloaded again from the Internet.
Collections
A Collection is a grouping of your media files into your own category. For example, you might like to gather together all of Pixar’s animated movies into a Pixar collection. To do this:
- Select the Item to include in a Collection, right-click then choose Edit Metadata
- Enter the Collection name in the Collection field
The Collection is created and appears in the list under the Section heading. Once created, Collections appear in the Section you’re browsing on the Plex Client.
There are additional contextual menu options available in the Mac OS standalone application. To access these options, right-click an item in the Media Manager standalone application.
Unmatch and Match Using
If an item has been matched, you can unmatch it by choosing Unmatch. Once an item has been unmatched, you can specifically select a particular Metadata Agent to use to match the item. This is only useful if multiple agents are available for the section.
Add to Collection
If you want to add an item to an existing Collection, or add it to a new Collection:
- Click the item to select it
- Right-click the item and select Add to Collection
- Select the existing Collection to use or choose New Collection…
Reveal in Finder…
To reveal the source file for an item:
- Click the item to select it
- Right-click the item then choose Reveal in Finder…
- A Finder window will open with the source file selected
Inspect individual Movie item details
You can inspect individual item details by double-clicking the item in the Section view. When in this view, you can Fix Incorrect Match, Change Artwork or Edit Metadata
Changing Artwork
You can choose from different artwork items downloaded from the Internet. To do this, click Change Artwork then choose from Poster, Banner or Background Art. A pane will slide up with the available artwork. Choose the one you’d like to use then Select Image. If there are no additional items available on the Internet site, the selection may be empty.
Local Posters and Fanart
Local posters and fanart can also be added by including the art files in the enclosing folder. To do this, place:
- Posters and fanart inside a folder named after the movie: poster.jpg, poster.tbn, fanart.jpg
- Poster inside or outside of a folder: moviename.jpg, moviename.tbn
- Fanart inside or outside of a folder: moviename-fanart.jpg
Any of the above can be used for VIDEO_TS folders however they need to be placed on the same level as the VIDEO_TS folder: Batman Begins (2005) fanart.jpg poster.jpg VIDEO_TS
Inspect individual TV Show details
You can inspect individual item details by double-clicking the item in the Section view. When in this view, you can Fix Incorrect Match, Change Artwork or Edit Metadata
Changing Artwork
You can choose from different artwork items downloaded from the Internet. To do this, click Change Artwork then choose from Poster, Banner or Background Art. A pane will slide up with the available artwork. Choose the one you’d like to use then Select Image. If there are no additional items available on the Internet site, the selection may be empty.
Multi-version Media (Mac OS standalone application only)
Your media collection might have several different versions of the same show – for example, an SD and HD version. You might not even know that you have the duplicate versions in your library! The Plex Media Server lets you know about the duplicate files by showing a blue badge on the show's thumbnail in Media Manager. When you choose to play one of these shows in the Plex Player, you can select which version to play. You can manage these multi-item shows as follows.
Split a multi-item show apart
To split a multi-item show apart:
- Open the Media Manager and find the item
- Right-click the item and choose Split apart. The items are split apart.
To re-join split items: If you want to re-join split apart items:
- Choose one of the split items
- Right-click the item and choose Fix Incorrect Match
- Choose the movie's entry in the list. The item will be joined.
- If you have more items to join, do the same for other items
Enable/Disable Multi-item Display in the Plex Player
You can toggle display of multi-items in the Plex Player:
- Choose Preferences > Video > Multi-item and toggle it on or off
Plex Scanners and Agents
Plex Media Server use Scanners and Agents to gather information about your media. You can influence how your media is scanned, and Internet based metadata gathered using the Agents Preferences Pane. For example, re-ordering the list of Agents influences what metadata is gathered about your media. Enabling Local Media Assets allows gathering metadata embedded in the media file or on your local drive.
- Additional Information: Scanner and Agents Guide
Understanding and Using Soft Deletion
Media files stored on external or NAS storage can suddenly become unavailable - you might pull the plug out of the drive by mistake for example. You might delete some files by mistake. Plex Media Server is tolerant of media files going missing for whatever reason with Soft Deletion. The idea behind this feature is simple: a media item in your database is not deleted - even if the original file is missing - unless you empty the trash.
Configure Plex Media Server Preferences
You can control wether to enable the Soft Deletion feature via a setting in the Plex Media Server Preferences:
- Checking Empty trash... disables Soft Deletion. If you delete a media file, then refresh the Section the media file will be deleted immediately from the database
- Un-checking Empty trash... enables Soft Deletion. If you delete a media file, then refresh the Section the media file will be retained in the database. You'll see a yellow ! badge, indicating that the media file is missing from the source
- Additional Reading: Plex Media Server - Library Preferences
Using Soft Deletion
Even though Soft Deletion is a simple concept, it allows many things to be done that could be tricky. You can safely move media from one location to another retaining the entry in the database. The key to understanding how Soft Deletion works is to realize that each media file in your Library is uniquely identified by a File Hash. A File Hash is generated for each media file when it is first scanned into the database and is absolutely unique. It's also important to realize that if the media file is changed in any way, it will become a new file to the database as it will have a new Hash. This includes editing embedded metadata, removing or adding tracks etc.
Deleting a media file
The basic operation of Soft Deletion is:
- Name and drop a file into one of your Section folders
- Refresh the Section - the file is recognized, analyzed and identified by the Scanner and Agents
- As part of the Scan, a file Hash is generated
- Ensure the Empty trash... option is disabled in Plex Media Server preferences
- Remove the file from the Section media folder
- Rescan the Section - the file is missing - a yellow ! badge is placed over the file poster in the Media Manager
Remove the Database entry
If you're certain you want the media file removed from your Library:
- When the yellow ! badge is displayed over a poster, it is Soft Deleted
- To permanently remove the show from the Database, click the Trash icon at the lower left of the Media Manager window
- Confirm the deletion - the show is removed
Restore a media file
If you want to restore a media file to your Library:
- When the yellow ! badge is displayed over a poster, it is Soft Deleted
- Restore the original media file to the Section media folder
- Rescan the Section - the yellow ! badge will disappear
Music
The Plex Media Server can share your personal music over your network.
Create a Music Section
To add Music:
- Click the + button at the bottom of the Media Manager sidebar
- Choose Music as the Section type
- Choose the Primary Metadata agent
- Choose the Language
- Add the folder containing your Music
- Choose Add Section
The Section is scanned and metadata downloaded from the selected agent source. Plex Media Server uses file naming and ID3 tags to gather it’s information. If your music isn’t being recognized correctly, review the previous file naming and folder organization section for more information.
Editing Metadata
If you don’t like the metadata you get from the Internet sites, you can enter your own using the Edit Metadata screen. Right-click on the item to edit, then choose Edit Metadata. Once you have made changes to an item, the padlock icon will lock, preventing the changes from being overwritten by downloaded data. To unlock a locked item, click the padlock icon.
Fix Incorrect Match
Sometimes, an item might be incorrectly matched to another artist. To fix this, right-click the incorrectly matched item, then choose Fix Incorrect Match… a list of possible matches with be presented. Choose the one you want, then Select Artist.
You can perform a Custom Search by clicking the Custom Search button. You can change the Search agent, enter the show name and year. Click Search to do the search.
Refresh Info…
If you want to refresh the information for a particular item, right-click it and choose Refresh Info. The information is downloaded again from the Internet.
Collections
A Collection is a grouping of your media files into your own categories. For example, you might like to gather together all your favorite old music into a Old Favorites collection. To do this:
- Select the Item to include in a Collection, Right-Click and choose Edit Metadata
- Enter the Collection name in the Collection field
The Collection is created and appears in the list under the Section heading. Once created, Collections appear in the Section you’re browsing on the Plex Client.
Inspect individual Music item
You can inspect an individual item by double-clicking it in the Media Manager. An Item Detail view will open.
Changing Artwork
You can choose from different artwork items downloaded from the Internet. To do this:
- Double-click the item to change
- Click Change Artwork then choose from Poster, Banner or Background Art. A pane will slide up with the available artwork
- Choose the one you’d like to use then Select Image. If there are no additional items available on the Internet site, the selection may be empty.
