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.

Separator Files

These are all the files that contain a separator.

Collection Name	Default File	Collection Section
Seasonal Collections	seasonal	00
Chart Collections	separator_chart	01
Universe Collections	universe	02
Streaming Collections	streaming	03
Network Collections	network	04
Genre Collections	genre	06
Studio Collections	studio	07
Country Collections	country	09
Audio Language Collections	audio_language	10
Subtitle Language Collections	subtitle_language	11
Decade Collections	decade	12
Year Collections	year	13
Ratings Collections	content_rating*	14
Resolution Collections	resolution*	15
Award Collections	separator_award	16
Actors Collections	actor	17
Directors Collections	director	18
Producers Collections	producer	19
Writers Collections	writer	20

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: orig, red, blue, green, gray, purple, or stb
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 cam 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
Blue	blue
Brown	stb
Gray	gray
Green	green
Purple	purple
Red	red

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

The style of separator can be defined per-file and per-library.

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

libraries:
  Movies:
    template_variables:
      sep_style: red

And at the file-level

libraries:
  Movies:
    metadata_path:
      - pmm: studio
        template_variables:
          sep_style: stb