Folder Metadata *trick* works again

WD Legacy Products WD TV Media Player
1

2014 WDTV Media Player … Firmware 1.02.17

Re-Name folder … ie. add a file extension to the folder and place a xml *outside* the folder works again :smiley:

eg.  “Nitkita” folder … rename to “Nikita.avi” and have a “Nikita.xml” outside the folder …

Nikita.avi   <----- this is a “folder” with a file extension

Nikita.xml  < ---- this is the XML (outside the folder renamed) which will display the plot, genre etc

ALTV.png
ALTV.png1280×733 343 KB

2

Hi,

This might help other users.

Thanks for sharing.

3

what’s the advantages?

Why should I use the folder provided with an extension?
why would I want to place the XML outside of the folder?

4

see the 1st picture with the TV Show “Nikita” ?  see the all the text below it ?

eg. Genre, Plot, Director, Runtime ?

That does not display for “Folders” without using the *trick*

Here’s an example for “Movies” (they are in individual folders) … this is how it looks without using the trick

WDTV_2015.02.19_08.31.48.jpg
WDTV_2015.02.19_08.31.48.jpg1280×720 475 KB

With the folder *trick*

WDTV_2015.02.19_08.42.48.jpg
WDTV_2015.02.19_08.42.48.jpg1280×720 523 KB

5

ahhhhh,

tricky :slight_smile:

6

I’ve tried this a couple of times and I can’t seem to get it to work.

I have a WD TV player connected to a hard drive of mvies via Network Shares. I am just using the generic gallery view and not a specific theme.  I haven’t worked up the guts to try that yet.  LOL  My movies are sorted into folders by “family” for lack of a better word (Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Disney, etc.)  Within those folders I’ve created xml files using WDTVHubGen for the movies and those work flawlessly.

However, when I try this trick - for example I rename the folder Harry Potter.avi and put one of the xml files renamed Harry Potter.xml outside with the folder, I get nothing.  All I see is the generic gallery view with N/A for all of the fields.

I’ve tried renaming the folders so that they are a single word (Harry_Potter) but that hasn’t helped either.  Any ideas are appreciated.  Thanks in advance.

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i guess i forgot to mention … you have to add your Network Share to “My Media Library” for it to work

eg. top right corner of the pictures i posted you will see “My Media Library”

1 Like
8

The “My Media Library” part was what I was missing.  Thanks!  It works like a charm.

9

Nice theme.

Which one is it please ?

Thanks.

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Does this work for a folder wherein I have .mkv files?

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Ketul wrote:

Does this work for a folder wherein I have .mkv files?

yes … press “ok” to enter the folder

1 Like
12

Heming wrote:

Nice theme.

Which one is it please ?

Thanks.

http://community.wd.com/t5/WD-TV-Themes/Alaska-Resurface-WDTV-LIVE-HUB-amp-SMP/td-p/327445

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I tried doing these two things, but don’t see this working. I’ve added folder to the media library from my western digital cloud drive. I’m new to this process, can you help me understand what am I missing? I renamed the folder and placed an .xml file with the same file name. Anything else to be done?

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  1. rename your folder  eg.  ACTION  to  ACTION.avi

  2. edit an existing XML with notepad++ and change the title to the name of the folder eg.  ACTION

edit plot, genre etc tags if you want.

  1. edit the name of the XML as well  eg.  ACTION.xml

  2. IMPORTANT … DO NOT put the ACTION.xml inside the folder !

it is placed OUTSIDE the folder.

eg.

ACTION.avi

ACTION.xml

P.S.  you are running Firmware 1.02.17 aren’t you ?

1 Like
15

Thanks for the detailed explanation Joey, appreciate that. I have bought this 2 weeks back so I believe the firmware is the latest. I don’t have any existing .xml file, how do I get one?

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create a text document in windows (eg. right mouse click … New > Text Document)

copy and paste everthing in red  into the New Text Document.txt and save it

<?xml version=“1.0” encoding=“UTF-8”?>
<details>
<title>ACTION</title>
<genre>Action</genre>
<overview>My Action Movie Collection</overview>
<year>2015-07-21</year>
<runtime>952</runtime>
</details>

now rename New Text Document.txt to ACTION.xml … “yes” when windows file extension warning pops up

done :smiley:

1 Like
17

You are simply amazing, it’s working as a charm. Used WDTVHubGen to create the .xml files and I placed the same file outside. It’s just awesome. Thanks a ton Joey!

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no probs :smiley: