Collections
Group films by rules that keep themselves up to date, or pick them by hand.
Written for highsea 0.1.0.
A collection groups films your way. Its films come from rules that keep themselves up to date, such as "from the 2010s, rated 4.5 or more, in English", or from films you pick by hand, such as "Staff picks". Collections are made for the people who watch, and a collection can also feed a featured section on the home screen; see Curation.
Collections is in the admin's sidebar, below Movies, for Owners and Admins.
The list of collections
Each collection has a card with:
- its artwork and name;
- Smart if it has rules, or Picked if its films were chosen by hand;
- its rules in words, such as "Released 2010–2020, rated 4.5 or more, in English";
- what it holds and who sees it, such as "4 films, 3 in the apps", or "Nothing matches yet";
- Edit and Delete.
Only films with a file show in the apps. A collection whose films match but none has a file yet is marked Hidden in the apps.
Make a collection
Press New collection. On the left is the form; beside it, Right now shows what the collection holds as you change it: how many films match, how many have a file and show in the apps, and their posters in the collection's order. A film without a file is dimmed.
- Give it a Name. The apps show it.
- Add a Summary if you like, shown under the name.
- Under Artwork, keep The mosaic of the first four posters, or choose one film's poster.
- Under How films get in, choose Use rules or Pick them.
- Set the Order and Who sees it.
- Press Save collection.
You can also start from the library: on Movies, filter and sort the list, then press Save as smart collection. The new collection starts with the status, title filter, tag and sort you had as its rules. See Discover and Movies.
Use rules
A rule is a condition: a field, a comparison and a value, such as Year between 2010 and 2020, or Genre includes any of Animation.
- Choose Match all of these conditions or Match any of these conditions at the top.
- Add a condition adds another row. The remove button beside a row takes it away.
- Add a group adds a group of conditions with its own all or any, for rules like "all of these, and any of those". Groups go one level deep.
- With no conditions, every film is in it: "No conditions yet, so every film is in it. Add one to narrow it down."
If a condition isn't finished when you save, it's marked and the form says "Finish the conditions marked below."
The fields
The fields come in groups. The choices offered, such as genres, languages, studios, tags and people, are the ones your library has, so every choice can match something.
| Group | Fields |
|---|---|
| Release | Year, Release date, Decade |
| Ratings | Rating (out of 5 stars), Votes, Certification |
| Language | Original language, Audio language, Subtitle language |
| Content | Title, Genre, Runtime, Keyword, Studio, Country, In a collection |
| People | Actor, Director, Writer, Composer, Producer, Cinematographer, Editor, Anyone in the cast and crew |
| Library | Date added, Status, Tag, Root folder, Quality profile |
| File | Resolution, HDR, Video codec, Edition, Size |
Watched and Last played are listed but can't be used yet; they're marked "comes with playback".
A few things worth knowing:
- In the last keeps a rule current: "Year in the last 2 years" or "Date added in the last 30 days" moves forward with the calendar.
- People fields match one role. "Composer includes" matches only films that person scored, not ones they act in. Anyone in the cast and crew matches any role. Choosing several people matches a film with any of them.
- In a collection matches films in one of TMDB's collections, or in another of your own.
Pick films by hand
Choose Pick them, then Search the library and Add each film. Drag the handles to put them in order. A picked collection needs at least one film.
Switching from Use rules to Pick them starts the picks with the films the rules found, in their order. Switch back before saving and your rules return.
Exceptions
With Use rules, two lists adjust what the rules find:
- Always include: in it whatever the rules say.
- Never include: left out whatever the rules say.
A film can be in only one of the two.
Order and how many
- Sort by: Rating, Release date, Year, Date added, Title, Runtime, Popularity or Shuffled, once a day. A picked collection can also keep In your order.
- Direction, in the field's own words: Highest first, Newest first, A to Z and so on.
- How many: leave it empty for every film, or enter a number to keep only the first ones in that order.
Shuffled, once a day gives a new order each day, and the same order all day, so a row doesn't reshuffle on every visit.
Who sees it
Who sees it sets the collection's audience: Everyone, or only some Roles, some People or some kinds of Apps.
How collections keep up
A smart collection isn't a saved list of films. highsea works out what it holds each time it's shown, so it follows the library as films arrive, leave or change: a new film that matches is in it at once, and a film you remove is gone.
A collection with nothing to show isn't shown in the apps until a film in it has a file.
Change or delete a collection
Press Edit on its card, change what you need, and press Save changes.
Delete, on the card or in the editor, asks first. The collection leaves every app's library; the films in it stay in your library. A collection that a featured section draws on can't be deleted until you choose another source for that section in Curation.
TMDB's collections
A film that belongs to a series on TMDB, such as a trilogy, shows that collection on its page, with a button to add the films you're missing. Those come from TMDB and can't be edited here. See Discover and Movies.