Overview

Use the Views Tab to setup, customize and create views, including the Views Menu, movies lists and group lists and start settings.

Introduction

As of v 6.0.0, MyFilms allows you to add or change Views, including the Views menu and Start Settings within MyFilms.

Artwork for Views/Views Menu

You can customize view images and fanart display on the Artwork Tab, or select a default image for each view in the Custom View Editor by clicking on the image. This image displays on the Views Menu as well as for items in a view when no image is available for a view.  If no view image is selected then MyFilms displays the default view image selected on the Artwork Tab.  The Default View images are stored in:

• ...\MediaPortal\thumbs\MyFilms\DefaultImages

However, you may add custom images, or select them, from any folder you wish.

Note: You may also add a ShowAll.jpg to display a separate image for the ***Show All *** menu item on the Views Menu. 

Views Setup

Open MyFilms Setup either from MediaPortal Configuration > Plugins > MyFilms or the desktop shortcut if you installed it, and select the Views tab: 

The tab is divided into three sections: Custom View Editor, Start Settings and Separators.

Custom View Editor

When you use the Setup Wizard to create a new config, My Films will preset a number of views for you. The preset views are also designed to show you how to use the new Custom View Editor features to create any type of view you wish.

You may add as many Custom Views as you wish, however you may view your movies by any field you wish in MyFilms, so you only need to add views you wish to use frequently. See Using My Films > Views for details.

The controls on the menu bar allow you to navigate the views list, change the order (move up/down) and add or delete views. The 'add defaults' button allows you to add the MyFilms preset or default views.

Note: The order of views determines the order they will display on the Views Menu in My Films.

The list on the left displays all your views, both preset views and custom views you create. You maybe enable or disable views you wish to display on the Views Menu.

To create a new custom view:

1. Press the + icon on the menu bar to create a New View
2. View name/label - Click the New View in the list on the left and enter the name you wish to use for the View
3. DB Field - select the field from the drop down box that you wish to use to determine the items or records to display in your custom view.  For example, to create a view by Category (genre) select the Category Field.
4. Index - if you wish to create an indexed view and group the results alphabetically, enter
   • 0 = no index (default)
   • 1 = single character index
   • 2 = double character index
5. Image - click the image to select the image you wish to display for the View. The image will display on the Views Menu. If you have. or create. your own custom images you may easily customize the Views Menu with your own images by selecting them in the Views Editor.

Filtering Views

You may filter a view to display only some movies:

1. Value - optionally enter a value for the field to 'filter' the records displayed in that view.
   1. Example: if you wish a view of English language films you could select the Language field with a default value 'English'. Then the view will display all English language films.  If no value is entered, a the view will display all values, i.e. all Languages used in your database. 
       As of v 6.0.0  you can also add multiple values separated by a comma:
   2. Example: to create a View for Children's movies, select "Category" field and Value "family, children" to get all movies for both Family and Children categories.
2. Filter Expression - as of v 6.0.0 My Films provides a Filter Editor to help you create filters for either Configs or Views, see Filters Setup. Filter expressions allow even more control than specifying a Value to filter the films that display in your View.

Note:  When creating a view using a Title field (e.g. Films view, Original Title index, Box Sets), enter an asterisk (*) as the Value to select all values i.e. all Titles. 

Sort and Layout for View

Note: Views based on Title fields are automatically sorted by name (i.e. Title field selected in DB Field). 

To sort all other Views:

• Sort Type:
  • Name (default) - alphabetically sorts by the field you selected in DB Field for the view.
  • Count - sorts by the count of films that match the view definitions. For example, for Category view you can sort by the most frequently used Category in your films, such as Action films.
• Sort (Order): ASC (default) or DESC
• Layout - you may select a different layout for each view. For example you may wish to display Films using the List layout, but prefer Icons layout for Actors or other person views. Or for a view of Editions, you may prefer the Big Icon List (as of v 6.0.0)

Start Settings

View

1. View - when you use the Setup Wizard, or the 'add defaults' button, My Films provides preset views for you. You may select any of these views, or custom views you add, from the drop down list.  Note:
   • None - displays all films
   • Views Menu - default (as of v 6.0.0)
   • Films - displays all films
2. Always use Start Settings - default=disabled - return to the last view you displayed whenever you exit and reload MyFilms in MediaPortal. Enable this option if you wish to open the selected start view instead of the last view you displayed.

Movie Sort and Layout 

Select the start settings you wish to use for Film lists:

1. Sort Field - default=None (sorts by Title/name) - Select a field for your default sort order from the drop down box, supported fields are: Formatted Title (or whatever field you select for Sort Title on the General Tab in Setup), Year, Date (Date Added), Rating, Number.
   Note: As of v 6.0.0 number fields sort numerically, i.e. 1,2,3 not 1,10,100
2. Sort Order -  default=ASC - Select the sort order: ASC - for ascending. DESC - for descending
3. Layout - default=List - Select a layout from the drop down box: List, Big Icon List, Small Icons, Large Icons, Filmstrip

Movie Group

Select the start settings you wish to use for Movie Groups, such as Box Sets, Collections, etc.:

1. Sort Field - default=None (sorts by Title/name) - Select a field for your default sort order from the drop down box, supported fields are: Date, Formatted Title (or whatever field you select for Sort Title on the General Tab in Setup) , Rating, Year
2. Sort Order - default=ASC - Select the sort order: ASC - for ascending. DESC - for descending
3. Layout - default=List - Select a layout from the drop down box: List, Big Icon List, Small Icons, Large Icons, Filmstrip

Global Start Settings

The following start settings apply globally to all views when you startup MyFilms:

1. Only Movie Title in List Layout - you may choose a layout other than list for your main films (e.g. Icons, Filmstrip, Coverflow) but prefer to display other Views like Genres, Years, Actors etc only using the list layout.
   Note: If you use the MediaPortal option to ''remember last focused item", choosing this option will 'override' that setting.
2. Show only unwatched movies - default=off - Select this option if you wish to always display only your unwatched movies.
   Note: You may change this option while using My Films, but if you always display the Default Start view, then each time My Films opens it will revert to only unwatched movies.
3. Show only available movies (as of v 6.0.0) - display only movies available for playback (i.e. not those on DVD, or network servers that are currently 'offline')
   Note: To use this option My Films must first scan your films for availability, either using the Global Updates menu option in GUI, or by selecting the 'Scan media on start' option on the General tab in Settings. It is not enabled by default since the scan can take some time depending on the size of your database/catalog and the location(s) of your films (e.g. NAS)
4. Show empty (as of v 6.0.0) - displays empty values in views e.g.selecting a view by Director will display an item '<empty>' with the count of films where the Director field is empty.
5. Reverse Person Names (as of v 6.0.0) -  e.g. Gosling, Ryan instead of Ryan Gosling - applies to all 'persons' views

Separators

Some fields, like Country, Category, Languages or Actors usually contain multiple values when 'grabbed' from internet websites. Separators determine how MyFilms identifies each 'value', which is particularly important when: 

• displaying a view based on these fields
• using the View Options don't split values (see Using My Films > Views) 
• searching for related persons, or for countries, languages or any data in multiple value fields
• searching for persons by role

You can configure the separator used to define each value in the Separators section:

List Separator

Comma, colon and left square bracket are already preset as separators. These should work for most grabber scripts which add data to your database. However, you may edit these or choose additional separators to match your data.

As of v 6.1.0 you can add #LF# (for line feed) if you use a custom grabber that displays each value on a separate line (e.g. Actors)

Role Text Separators

Some grabber scripts also add actors roles to the Actors field in your database. You may even use these roles as search terms if the text separators identify the roles accurately.  Brackets '(' ')', 'as' and ellipsis '...' are preset as these are the most common separators used for roles. However you may edit these or provide additional separators as required to match your data.

What's Next

Once you have setup Views, you may wish to add or choose Custom artwork for your views, or select display items to Customize Display.

Related

• MyFilms Setup