227 lines
4.2 KiB
Markdown
227 lines
4.2 KiB
Markdown
# Media Library Organization
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---
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### 1. Goal
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This guide gives a clean folder and naming system for movies, shows, music, books, and other media. A good library should be readable by humans and easy for media apps to scan.
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The main rule: make filenames boring, consistent, and searchable.
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---
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### 2. Top-Level Layout
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Start with clear categories:
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```text
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Media/
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Movies/
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Shows/
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Music/
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Books/
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Podcasts/
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Stand-Up/
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Documentaries/
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Unsorted/
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```
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Use `Unsorted` as a temporary inbox, not a permanent home.
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---
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### 3. Recommended Apps
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The best tools depend on whether you want manual control or automation.
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* **Jellyfin:** self-hosted media server for browsing and streaming your organized library.
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* **FileBot:** strong paid renamer for movies, shows, and anime when you want fast batch renaming.
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* **MusicBrainz Picard:** best first stop for tagging and renaming music.
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* **Calibre:** best general ebook library manager.
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* **MediaInfo:** quick way to inspect files before deciding where they belong.
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* **MKVToolNix:** useful when you need to fix tracks, subtitles, language labels, or container metadata without re-encoding.
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* **Radarr / Sonarr:** advanced automation tools for movie/show library management. Only connect them to sources and indexers you are legally allowed to use.
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Official links:
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* Jellyfin: `https://jellyfin.org`
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* Jellyfin movie naming docs: `https://jellyfin.org/docs/general/server/media/movies/`
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* FileBot: `https://www.filebot.net`
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* MusicBrainz Picard: `https://picard.musicbrainz.org`
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* Calibre: `https://calibre-ebook.com`
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* MediaInfo: `https://mediaarea.net/MediaInfo`
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* MKVToolNix: `https://mkvtoolnix.download`
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* Radarr: `https://radarr.video`
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* Sonarr: `https://sonarr.tv`
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---
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### 4. Movies
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Recommended format:
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```text
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Movies/
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Movie Title (Year)/
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Movie Title (Year).mkv
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```
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Examples:
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```text
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Movies/
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Heat (1995)/
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Heat (1995).mkv
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Alien (1979)/
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Alien (1979) - Director's Cut.mkv
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```
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Keep extras in a separate folder:
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```text
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Movie Title (Year)/
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Movie Title (Year).mkv
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Extras/
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Behind the Scenes.mkv
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```
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---
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### 5. Shows
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Recommended format:
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```text
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Shows/
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Show Name/
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Season 01/
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Show Name - S01E01 - Episode Title.mkv
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```
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Examples:
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```text
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Shows/
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Example Show/
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Season 01/
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Example Show - S01E01 - Pilot.mkv
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Example Show - S01E02 - The Second Episode.mkv
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```
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Use two digits for season and episode numbers. It keeps sorting clean.
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---
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### 6. Music
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Recommended format:
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```text
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Music/
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Artist/
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Album (Year)/
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01 - Track Title.flac
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```
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Examples:
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```text
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Music/
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Artist Name/
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Album Name (2024)/
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01 - Opening Track.flac
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02 - Second Track.flac
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```
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Keep album art in the album folder as:
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```text
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cover.jpg
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```
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---
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### 7. Books and Audiobooks
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Books:
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```text
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Books/
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Author Name/
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Book Title (Year)/
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Book Title - Author Name.epub
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```
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Audiobooks:
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```text
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Audiobooks/
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Author Name/
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Book Title (Year)/
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01 - Chapter Title.m4b
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```
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For series:
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```text
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Author Name/
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Series Name/
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01 - First Book/
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02 - Second Book/
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```
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---
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### 8. Metadata IDs
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When a media app keeps matching the wrong movie or show, add a metadata provider ID to the folder name when supported.
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Examples:
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```text
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Movies/
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Movie Title (Year) [imdbid-tt0000000]/
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Movie Title (Year) [imdbid-tt0000000].mkv
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Shows/
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Show Name (Year) [tmdbid-000000]/
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Season 01/
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Show Name - S01E01 - Episode Title.mkv
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```
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Use IDs sparingly. They are most useful for remakes, duplicate titles, anime, specials, and titles with regional naming differences.
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---
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### 9. Cleanup Rules
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Before adding files to the library:
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* remove release tags that do not help you;
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* keep edition labels that do help you;
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* normalize capitalization;
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* remove duplicate copies;
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* keep subtitles beside the video file if they are external;
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* avoid dumping loose files into top-level folders.
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Useful edition labels:
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* `Director's Cut`
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* `Extended`
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* `Remastered`
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* `Theatrical`
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* `Unrated`
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---
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### 10. Maintenance Routine
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Once a month:
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1. Empty `Unsorted`.
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2. Fix duplicate folders.
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3. Check failed metadata matches in your media app.
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4. Remove partial downloads.
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5. Back up new additions.
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A media library gets messy when intake is faster than cleanup. Keep the intake folder small.
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