Flexible file layout

You cannot put things anywhere, but your folder layout hardly matters, and even with very messy file names, name recognition in PRO can usually still tell what a title is. This page lists the layouts and naming styles the server accepts, and what name recognition adds. For how to write the names, see File and folder naming.

These layouts all work#

No license needed. The server reads all of this by itself:

A few more points:

• Folder name = title + year. You can also write Title [2010] or Name.2017.1080p. Technical markers in file names such as 1080p, BluRay and x265 are ignored.
• Category folders do not become titles, in movie and TV libraries alike and at any depth. The server treats a folder as a show when it holds videos directly, has season folders, or has a tvshow.nfo, so do not put videos directly in a category folder: it would be taken as a show.
• Season folders can be called Season 1, S01 or 第2季. Part folders such as Part 1 and Part 2 are treated as two seasons of the same show.
• Episode styles: S01E02, 1x02, 第03集, EP03, or one file holding two episodes.
• For anime with absolute episode numbers, the server tries to map them to the right season and episode while scraping. Those that do not match are listed as needing identification, and you can fix them by hand.
• With fansub-group naming inside the show's folder, the free core already picks up the episode number. Whether the [Group] tag in the file name is stripped depends on the case; a single file placed directly in the library root needs PRO name recognition for the group name to be removed.
• One folder per episode works only in a TV library, and only inside a show-name folder. That level needs at least 2 folders, each holding just 1 video, with episode numbers that can be told apart.
• In a TV library, a folder that holds videos directly counts as a show; no tvshow.nfo is needed, and season folders are not required either.
• An ID can be written [tmdbid-123], {tmdb-123}, [imdbid-tt…] or [tvdbid-…]: brackets can be [] or {}, the joiner -, = or :, the id part is optional, and case does not matter. We suggest -, because file names on Windows and SMB cannot contain :. With an ID, scraping uses it directly instead of guessing from the name, which is the most accurate way.
• Several versions of one movie (Title (2010) - 1080p), split videos (cd1, cd2) and extras (trailers, behind the scenes) are written as described in File and folder naming.

What PRO name recognition also handles PRO · MAX#

When file names are so messy that the basic rules in the core cannot tell what a title is, name recognition in PRO also looks at the full path (the file name plus the names of the folders above it):

• Release-group and site tags. A bracket that is entirely the name of a fansub group, a site or a release group (for example [SomeGroup] or [SomeSite]) is not taken as the title.
• PT disc naming. Release names chained with brackets and dots, such as [Chinese.Name.English.Name.2010][spec][group][size]main.iso, are split into the Chinese name, the English name and the year, and then searched.
• Chinese and English mixed. When a Chinese and an English name are written together, each becomes a candidate title, which makes a match more likely.
• AI fallback (BETA). When a title still finds no match at the data source after recognition, AI can take one more guess at it (once per item). You first set up your own model service and allow it on the plugin page. Only the file name and the names of the folders above it are sent, never the file contents, and the guess is not always right.

To turn on name recognition and AI fallback, see PRO features in detail.

A few rules that still apply#

However relaxed, these still hold, or the server has too little to go on:

1. A show needs a folder of its own, or each episode's folder must carry the show's name. Episodes of several shows mixed in one folder cannot be told apart.
2. Add the year when two works share a name. The safest is to add [tmdbid-…]. Without a year it still works, but works with the same name are easier to match wrongly.
3. Folder-level files such as posters and NFO files are assigned automatically only when a movie has its folder to itself. With a movie in the library root, or several movies in one folder, use filename-poster.jpg and filename.nfo.
4. A file with no title at all (such as VID_0001.mp4) can only be fixed by hand: identify it on the item's page and pick the right title.
5. Name a show's season folders with a season number, such as Season N.

See also: File and folder naming, Metadata and NFO.