Create server collections

Silo is in active development before 1.0. These guides are updated frequently.

Server collections belong to one or more libraries and appear for everyone who can use them, on each library’s Collections tab, for example a set of short films or a seasonal selection. You can also show one as a row on Home or a library page.

Create a collection

1. Open Admin > Libraries > Collections and choose New collection.
2. Choose Manual to pick the titles, Smart to fill it from rules, or Synced list to follow a list from MDBList or TMDB.
3. Enter a Name and choose the libraries it belongs to: under Titles from for a manual collection, in the Rules sentence for a smart collection, or under Match into for a synced list.
4. Fill it in: titles for a manual collection, rules for a smart collection, or the list a synced list follows. For a smart collection, check Live preview for the titles that match.
5. Choose Create collection.

The editor works as it does for personal collections, with these server parts under Where it shows and Look:

• Libraries: Change takes you to where you pick them. If unticking a library would drop titles from a manual collection that are only in that library, the editor names them before you save.
• Shelf: the heading the collection sits under on the library’s Collections tab. Choose Arrange to move it.
• Show on the Collections tab: turn it off to hide the collection from the tab. A hidden collection cannot be added as a row.
• Rows that show it: the Home and library page rows that show this collection. Add as a row adds one to Home or a library page.
• Look: a poster and a backdrop. Without a poster, a manual collection or synced list shows a collage of its titles.

To change a collection later, select it in the list, edit it, and choose Save.

Follow a list with a synced list

A synced list reads a published list again on a schedule. Under The list it follows, choose:

• MDBList: pick from Popular picks or paste any public MDBList link. With an MDBList API key under Lists on Admin > Integrations > Providers, you can also search MDBList.
• TMDB chart: trending, popular, top rated, now playing, upcoming, airing today, or on the air, for movies, TV shows, or both. These work without setup, because Silo includes a TMDB key.
• TMDB list: paste a public TMDB list’s link, such as https://www.themoviedb.org/list/310-my-movie-list. TMDB has no list search, so find the list on themoviedb.org first.

Choose under Sync how often Silo reads the list again, from Every hour to monthly, or No automatic sync to sync only when you ask. Custom schedule… takes a cron schedule in server time.

The list syncs for the first time when you create it. The collection shows only titles that are already in your library, so a list of 100 trending movies may show far fewer. To sync again, open More actions in the editor and choose Sync now. Save your changes first, because a sync runs the saved list.

Genre shelves and TMDB franchise collections come from starter packs.

Find and change collections

Admin > Libraries > Collections opens on List, which shows every collection. Choose a library at the top, search, or filter by Type. A row’s switch shows or hides the collection on its libraries’ Collections tabs. Select a row to edit the collection, or open its action menu to Sync now, add it to Home or a library page, or delete it.

To change several at once, open More, choose Select collections, and tick up to 100. The bar at the bottom syncs the selected lists, or has Show on tabs, Hide from tabs, and Delete…. Syncing skips manual and smart collections.

Arrange shelves

Choose a library, then Arrange. Shelves are the headings on that library’s Collections tab, top to bottom as viewers see them, and each library has its own.

• Drag shelves and collections into place. Changes save right away.
• New shelf adds a heading. A shelf’s action menu renames, moves, or deletes it, and its Order sorts the collections on it.
• A collection’s action menu has Move to shelf, Pin to the start of its shelf, and Hide from Collections tab. A pinned collection also comes first under Server collections on each viewer’s Collections page.
• No heading holds collections that are not on a shelf.
• My collections is where each viewer’s own collections appear when they turn on Show on the Collections tab. You can rename or move it, and its contents are different for each viewer.

Add a starter pack

A starter pack adds a ready-made set of synced lists to your libraries, such as trending and top-rated lists or a shelf for each genre.

1. Open Admin > Libraries > Collections, then More > Starter packs….
2. Choose a pack. All Defaults adds every pack.
3. Under Add to these libraries, choose the libraries to fill. Each library gets only the lists that fit its type.
4. Check What will happen. For each library it counts the lists that are new, already there, and not for that library.
5. Leave Also use the pack’s hero banners off to keep the hero banners you have now. Turn it on to let the pack set the hero banner on Home and on each library page.
6. Choose Add. The button counts what it adds, for example Add 15 collections.

New lists land under No heading on each library’s Collections tab, ready to move into a shelf in Arrange. Each one syncs for the first time right after, and shows only titles that are already in your library. Adding a pack again leaves the lists already there alone.

Delete a collection

Open the collection’s action menu and choose Delete…. If Home or library page rows show it, the dialog lists them, and a button such as Delete it and its 2 rows removes both. To keep a row, open it from the dialog and point it at another collection first.

If a collection looks empty or is missing

Check its rules or list, and its libraries. Each viewer sees only the items their libraries and profile restrictions allow.

If a collection is missing for one profile, check that profile’s parental controls: Maximum content rating, Maximum advisory age, Hide titles without an advisory age, and Restrict libraries. Then check the account’s library access under Access & limits in Admin > Users. A collection does not appear for a profile that can open none of its titles, in the web app, the mobile and TV apps, or Jellyfin-compatible apps. One with no titles yet still appears. A restricted profile’s count on each card includes only the titles it can open, so it can be lower than the count in Admin > Libraries > Collections.

If a synced list does not sync

The Franchise Collections and All Defaults packs add a TMDB Franchise list that does not follow a franchise yet. Its editor says This list doesn't follow a TMDB collection yet. Add its ID so it can sync. Enter the number from the collection’s TMDB link under TMDB collection ID, for example 119 from themoviedb.org/collection/119, and choose Save.

MDBList lists are kept by MDBList users, and a list can be removed there. The collection’s sync then fails, and its editor shows the error while keeping the titles it already has. Choose Change link to follow another list, or delete the collection.