Separators Default Metadata Files

Separators are a special form of collections which are used similar to index cards in a library, they help to "split up" collections by identifying categories (such as "Studio Collections" and "Holiday Collections").

These are empty collections which do not contain any movies/shows themselves, but highlight that the collections which follow it are of a certain category.

Below is an example of a separator, which can be seen surrounded by a red square.

Important Note:

Plex does not support creating these empty collections natively through its UI, so they can behave strangely in some cases, primarily related to showing/hiding them in the main library view. As a workaround, you can use a template variable [placeholder_SOMETHING_id] to specify a single movie/show to add to these collections so they have one thing in them and will then behave as expected.

Separator Files

These are all the files that contain a separator

Collection Name	Default File
Seasonal Collections	`seasonal`
Chart Collections	`separator_chart`
Universe Collections	`universe`
Streaming Collections	`streaming`
Network Collections	`network`
Genre Collections	`genre`
Studio Collections	`studio`
Country Collections	`country`
Audio Language Collections	`audio_language`
Subtitle Language Collections	`subtitle_language`
Decade Collections	`decade`
Year Collections	`year`
Ratings Collections	`content_rating*`
Resolution Collections	`resolution*`
Award Collections	`separator_award`
Actors Collections	`actor`
Directors Collections	`director`
Producers Collections	`producer`
Writers Collections	`writer`
Based On... Collections	`based`

Shared Separator Variables

Template Variables can be used to manipulate the file in various ways to slightly change how it works without having to make your own local copy.

Note that the template_variables: section only needs to be used if you do want to actually change how the defaults work. Any value not specified is its default value if it has one if not it's just ignored.

Shared Variables are NOT available to separator collections in any default file.

Variable Description & Values

use_separator Description: Turn the Separator Collection off.
Values: false to turn of the collection

sep_style Description: Choose the Separator Style.
Default: orig
Values: amethyst, aqua, blue, forest, fuchsia, gold, gray, green, navy, ocean, olive, orchid, orig, pink, plum, purple, red, rust, salmon, sand, stb, or tan

sort_prefix Description: Changes the prefix of the sort title.
Default: !
Values: Any String

sort_title Description: Changes the sort title of all collections.
Default: <<sort_prefix>><<collection_section>>_!<<title>>
Values: Any String

placeholder_tmdb_movie Description: Add a placeholder Movie to the Separator.
Values: TMDb Movie ID

placeholder_tvdb_show Description: Add a placeholder Show to the Separator.
Values: TVDb Show ID

placeholder_imdb_id Description: Add a placeholder Movie/Show to the Separator.
Values: IMDb ID

name_separator Description: Changes the name of the specified key's collection.
Values: New Collection Name

summary_separator Description: Changes the summary of the specified key's collection.
Values: New Collection Summary

collection_section Description: Changes the sort order of the collection sections against other default collection sections.
Values: Any number

collection_mode

Description: Controls the collection mode of all collections in a Defaults file.
Values:

`default`	Library default
`hide`	Hide Collection
`hide_items`	Hide Items in this Collection
`show_items`	Show this Collection and its Items

url_poster_separator Description: Changes the poster url of the specified key's collection.
Values: URL directly to the Image

Use Separators

Separators are enabled by default, but can be disabled/enabled per-file and per-library.

An example of disabling separators at the library-level can be seen here

libraries:
  Movies:
    template_variables:
      use_separator: false

And at the file-level

libraries:
  Movies:
    metadata_path:
      - pmm: studio
        template_variables:
          use_separator: false

Separator Styles

Multiple styles are available for Separators, to match Plex's "categories" feature.

The available styles available are:

Style	Value
Original	`orig`
Amethyst	`amethyst`
Aqua	`aqua`
Blue	`blue`
Forest	`green`
Fuchsia	`fuchsia`
Gold	`gold`
Gray	`gray`
Green	`green`
Navy	`navy`
Ocean	`ocean`
Olive	`olive`
Orchid	`orchid`
Pink	`pink`
Plum	`plum`
Purple	`purple`
Red	`red`
Rust	`rust`
Salmon	`salmon`
Sand	`sand`
Brown	`stb`
Tan	`tan`

This image shows an example separator in each of the above styles

An example of changing the separator style at the library-level can be seen here

libraries:
  Movies:
    template_variables:
      sep_style: red