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These docs are for MetaTana 2.0, coming soon

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Manage A TV Show

Shows have moving parts movies don't: seasons, episodes, episode order policies, per-season artwork. This recipe opens a show and walks through the actions you'll use most: rescraping the show, fetching season artwork, editing show fields, and fixing episode numbers.

Before you start You need at least one show in your library. If you only have movies, see Add your first folder first and point MetaTana at a folder that contains TV files.

Step 1: Open the show

In Library, select the poster of the show you want to manage. The show opens as its own page.

A show's page: backdrop and poster, Edit show, Play for the next episode, the ⋯ menu, and the seasons with their episodes below.
A show's page

At the top are Edit show, Play for the next episode, and ⋯ with Rescrape show…, Rename & organize…, Write NFO, Fetch season artwork, Episode order…, and Run tool…. Pick a season to see its episodes; the season's menu has Edit season…, Change season poster…, and Renumber season…. Right-click an episode, or use its menu, for Edit episode…, Rescrape…, and the rest. See Pages: Library.

Step 2: Rescrape the show

Open ⋯ › Rescrape show…. It works like a movie rescrape: pick the match, read Review changes if you want to, and apply. Your edits and locked fields are kept. The work runs in the background, and Activity lists it as it goes. To rescrape one episode, use Rescrape… on that episode; to rescrape only the episodes of several shows, select them in Library and use Rescrape episodes in the bulk menu. Rescraping episodes fills only the episodes; the show keeps its summary, genres, certification and artwork.

Pick an episode order policy first For anime, multi-arc shows, or shows that were reordered, set the episode order (⋯ › Episode order…) before scraping. The order decides which episode each file belongs to: aired, DVD, or absolute. With the wrong order, episodes get the wrong details. See Metadata and scraping for how episode order works.

Step 3: Fetch artwork

Open ⋯ › Fetch season artwork to fetch missing season posters and fanart. Season posters come from your own TMDb key when you have one; on Pro they come from MetaTana's metadata otherwise, and on Free without a key each season says the key is missing. For show-level artwork, open Edit show › Artwork and select Fetch Missing Artwork. Fetches follow:

  • Provider order in Settings › Providers › Source priority
  • Locked artwork, which stays untouched

When the fetches finish, the editor's Artwork tab shows what came back. Curate single slots with Replace current, Keep current, or Lock selected. See Curate show artwork.

Step 4: Edit show-level metadata

Select Edit show. The editor opens on Details. Show fields are mostly the same as a movie's (title, year, overview, genres, content rating, runtime), plus a few for shows:

  • Status: the provider's status as text, such as Returning Series, Ended, or Canceled (cards show Returning Series as Continuing)
  • First air date: used for sorting and for the year in the show's folder name

The same lock/save/cancel behavior from the movie metadata recipe applies here.

Step 5: Work with seasons and episodes

The seasons are listed on the show's page. Pick a season to see its episodes with their files.

Common moves from here:

  • Fix which episode each file is: if files have the wrong episode numbers, change Episode order for the show, or renumber the files (below)
  • Change a season's artwork: the season's menu has Change season poster…
  • Open one episode: select it, or use Edit episode… from its menu; it works like a movie, for that one episode

Missing episodes

Turn on Show missing episodes to list the episodes you don't have, for example 3 missing episodes · DVD order and S01: E03, E07:

  • Gaps are listed in the show's active episode order (aired, DVD, or absolute), so they use the same numbers as your files.
  • Episodes that haven't aired yet are not counted; a note says how many were left out.
  • Specials (season 0) are a separate optional line, Specials (optional), and never count toward the total.
  • Files that match no episode of the show are listed under N files don't match an episode of this show.
  • A file that holds several episodes (S01E01-E03) counts for all of them, and its row shows 01–03.

The episode list comes from your personal TMDb key when you have one, so this works without Pro; otherwise from MetaTana Pro; otherwise from what is already in your library, which only checks seasons you have. If no list is available, the panel says why, for example "This show isn't matched to TMDb yet, so missing episodes can't be checked. Identify the show first."

Daily shows

For shows named by air date (talk shows, news), a file can match more than one episode when several aired the same day. Those files wait under Choose the episode on the show's page, with one button per episode that aired that day (for example S01E05 Episode title). Click the right one; the file takes that episode's season and number.

When only one episode aired on the file's date, Organize can rename the file, using that episode's season and number once the show's provider episode list includes the date. Autopilot does the same: when exactly one episode aired that day and its provider air date matches the file's date, Autopilot gives the file that episode's season and number, and its renames use them. Otherwise the file waits with no numbers written.

Renumber episode files

A file with a missing season or episode number waits in the Inbox under Review with Fix episode…. You can also fix it from Edit show › Files › Set episode. The number editor opens with that file selected. Enter its missing numbers, check the preview, then select Apply. Renaming and NFO writing start off. The numbers stay through rescans, and Undo can put back the old state.

Renumber season… in a season's menu fixes files that carry the wrong season or episode number. It opens Renumber episodes:

  1. Pick the filesSelect episode files by season, or use a season's checkbox to select all of them.
  2. Set the new numbersSet number takes a Season and a First episode (leave either blank to keep it). Shift moves the selected episodes up or down by a number, with −1 and +1.
  3. Choose file changesRename files and sidecars to match renames with your TV or anime pattern and moves a file to a sibling season folder when the season changes. Rewrite NFO files with the new numbers rewrites their NFOs. Both are off by default.
  4. Read the previewEach file shows Now and New, and the new file name when renaming. Rows in amber need fixing first: a number another file already has, two selected files getting the same number or name, an invalid number, or a file already at the new name.
  5. ApplyApply works only when there are no conflicts. The toast offers Undo, and the change can also be undone from Activity.

Renumbered files lose the old episode's title, plot, air date, and alternate numbering, because those described a different episode. Scrape them to fetch the new episode's details. Undo from the toast also rewrites the NFOs with the old numbers; Undo from Activity restores numbers and file names but leaves rewritten NFOs until you rewrite them again.

The numbers you set are yours. Rescans keep them, and the episode list marks those files Numbered by you. A file that holds several episodes (for example S01E01-E02) moves as a whole range. Undo puts back the previous numbers.

What success looks like

  • Every season lists its episodes with their files
  • Show missing episodes lists only episodes you really don't have
  • The editor's Artwork tab shows posters and fanart in each slot
  • Activity shows the rescrape and the artwork fetches with no errors

Going deeper