2025-05-30, 03:35 PM
How to Create "Channels" (Genre Libraries) in Jellyfin
You can create your own genre-based "channels" in Jellyfin, but note that this won’t randomly select something to watch — it’s for organizing and browsing. Here’s how I do it to combine movies and shows (for example, Documentaries or Foreign content like Chinese or Japanese):
- Folder Structure: Instead of a single "Movies" folder, create genre folders—like "SciFi," "Horror," "Drama," "Fantasy," etc. Move the appropriate movies and shows into these folders.
- Jellyfin Libraries: In Jellyfin, create a new Library for each folder/genre. This gives you a set of "channels" to pick from.
- Home Screen Layout: Go to 'Settings > Home > Home screen section 1' and choose "My Media (small)". This displays smaller library icons, letting you fit more "channels" (libraries) on the home page without scrolling.
- Combined Library Option: If you want a general "Movies" library too, create a Library that includes all your genre folders. In this combined library, turn off metadata fetching, uncheck the NFO box, and disable real-time monitoring. This way, metadata is handled in each genre library, and the combined library just aggregates everything.
* Combining Movies & Shows: If you want to combine movies and tv shows (like a "Chinese" library), you have the movies in one folder and the tv shows in another - then create a Jellyfin library for each of them (with specific metadata pulling, like TMDB, etc.), and a third Library pulling from both locations (the actual "Chinese" library). Then hide the individual libraries from the home page by going to 'Dashboard > Manage Library' for each and uncheck "Enable the library." Only the combined library will show.
You can create your own genre-based "channels" in Jellyfin, but note that this won’t randomly select something to watch — it’s for organizing and browsing. Here’s how I do it to combine movies and shows (for example, Documentaries or Foreign content like Chinese or Japanese):
- Folder Structure: Instead of a single "Movies" folder, create genre folders—like "SciFi," "Horror," "Drama," "Fantasy," etc. Move the appropriate movies and shows into these folders.
- Jellyfin Libraries: In Jellyfin, create a new Library for each folder/genre. This gives you a set of "channels" to pick from.
- Home Screen Layout: Go to 'Settings > Home > Home screen section 1' and choose "My Media (small)". This displays smaller library icons, letting you fit more "channels" (libraries) on the home page without scrolling.
- Combined Library Option: If you want a general "Movies" library too, create a Library that includes all your genre folders. In this combined library, turn off metadata fetching, uncheck the NFO box, and disable real-time monitoring. This way, metadata is handled in each genre library, and the combined library just aggregates everything.
* Combining Movies & Shows: If you want to combine movies and tv shows (like a "Chinese" library), you have the movies in one folder and the tv shows in another - then create a Jellyfin library for each of them (with specific metadata pulling, like TMDB, etc.), and a third Library pulling from both locations (the actual "Chinese" library). Then hide the individual libraries from the home page by going to 'Dashboard > Manage Library' for each and uncheck "Enable the library." Only the combined library will show.