Enabling Text Titles in Library Folders on Homepage

[houndtt]

I gave this some more thought and revisited the Troubleshooting page, which includes recommendations for enabling debug logging. While researching, I also found this post suggesting that a manual Refresh Metadata with the Search for Missing Metadata option can force a library thumbnail update.

To test this, I set up a test environment and installed the latest Jellyfin 10.10.6. I enabled debug logging and triggered a manual library thumbnail refresh for the Shows library. I recorded the entire process from startup to shutdown and uploaded the logs here: PrivateBin link. You can access it using the same password as before.

Hopefully, this brings us closer to a resolution.

[TheDreadPirate]

Do you have an image called "folder.jpg" (or whatever extension) in the root of each library?  I copied a rando image from Jellyfin's metadata directory, copied it to the library root of a test library, called it folder.jpg, and it picked THAT image up for the library without the text.

   

[houndtt]

Thanks for checking this out. Each library contains only folders at the root level. Inside each folder, there’s a fanart.jpg and poster.jpg for movies, while TV shows may have additional files like banner.jpg, clearlogo.png, and others. These are managed by {app we don't talk about - TDP} and {app we don't talk about - TDP}, respectively. Did the debug logs provide any insights into the issue?

[houndtt]

Your theory about Jellyfin using an existing image file was interesting. I reviewed the previous library image I provided, which appeared to be from The Hunger Games collection. Upon further investigation, I found the exact image saved as fanart.jpg, as shown below:

   

I then checked for any similar images related to the Superman & Lois TV series, which appeared in the previous library image. However, I couldn’t find a matching image file in the folder. It’s unclear where that image originated, as it looks more like artwork than a frame from the video.

For completeness, I’ve included the metadata settings for both {app we don't talk about - TDP} and {app we don't talk about - TDP} below, in case you’d like to try replicating the issue:

       

[houndtt]

Any further update or other information you may need to help diagnose the issue?

[TheDreadPirate]

The only way I was able to replicate the problem was having a folder.jpg file in the library root.

As in Jellyfin was pointed at /media/library/testMovies and the jpg was /media/library/testMovies/folder.jpg.

Nothing in your logs indicates some other issue.

[houndtt]

Thanks for following up on this. I noticed you’re running the Docker version of 10.10.6, while I’ve been using a build from source. To compare, I spun up a Docker instance in my test environment and triggered a library thumbnail update — it worked as expected.

This leads me to believe that:

1. The source-built version behaves differently from the Docker version, or
2. The build environment or compilation options might be affecting the library thumbnail generation.

Do you have any insights or suggestions on this?

[TheDreadPirate]

Are you building from the master branch or release branch?

[houndtt]

It is built from the source code released on GitHub for a specific version. For example, the archives attached to https://github.com/jellyfin/jellyfin/rel...g/v10.10.6.

[houndtt]

I've fixed it! After comparing my build with the Docker version, I noticed a key difference in the logs — my build included the following error, which was absent in the Docker version:

Fontconfig error: Cannot load default config file

Further investigation revealed that this was due to an OS configuration issue, which required setting specific environment variables. Once corrected, the library thumbnails displayed text correctly, as shown below.

   

Thanks again for your help in diagnosing this issue!