Lock Fields So A Rescrape Doesn't Overwrite Them#

You fixed a movie title by hand, picked specific artwork, or rewrote an overview the way you want it. A value you type yourself is already kept on rescrape: your value wins over the provider's. A lock goes further: MetaTana never fills, changes, or clears a locked field.

When to use this#

• You corrected a wrong machine translation and don't want the provider's bad value to come back
• You picked specific artwork that an artwork fetch would otherwise replace
• You set a custom overview, content rating, or runtime that should survive every refresh, including bulk edits
• You merged metadata from multiple sources and want the merged value to stick

Step 1: Open the editor#

In Library, select the title's poster, then select Edit on its page. The editor opens on Details.

Step 2: Select the lock next to a field#

Every field has a lock beside its source label. Select it to lock the field:

• The lock shows as closed
• The value is now yours to change: rescrapes, refreshes, and bulk edits skip it
• The field reads as read-only until you unlock it, so locked fields are easy to spot

Step 3: Lock artwork#

Artwork is locked per title, not per slot. Select the titles in Library and choose More › Other actions › Lock artwork. Locked artwork stays through Fill N empty slots, artwork fetches, and provider refreshes.

Step 4: Lock many titles at once#

If you've curated dozens of titles and want to protect them all at once:

1. Select the titlesIn Library, filter to the titles you want, for example with a saved view, then select them.
2. Lock fieldsChoose More › Other actions › Lock fields…. Set the fields you want and lock them, then apply.
3. Lock artworkIn the same menu, Lock artwork locks the artwork of every selected title.

Step 5: Check where each value came from#

In the editor, each field shows a source label for its current value. A value you typed yourself reads You; a value from the latest scrape reads Scraped. Hover the label to see where the value came from and the other values the providers offered.

What success looks like#

• Locked fields show a closed lock in the editor
• Fields you edited by hand show You as their source
• A later Rescrape leaves them untouched (check with Review changes, which marks locked fields blocked by lock)

Going deeper#

• The metadata editor: how locks work, field by field, and source labels
• Metadata and scraping: what scrapes do (and don't do) to locked fields
• Edit metadata on a movie: editing one title, where the locks live
• Work through the metadata tasks queue: fixing many titles at once