Template-Attributes.md

The script can use templates created by the user to build similar collections with ease.

Each template is defined by the mapping name which becomes the name of the template.

Inside a template, you can give it all the Collection Builders, Collection Details, and Collection Filters attributes that you can give collections expect template.

In any attribute, you can specify template variables that will be changed when calling the template. In the text just replace the text you want to be changed with the template variable name surrounded by << and >>. For example, I can use the person template variable like so tmdb_person: <<person>>. The template variable name can be whatever you want but it must match when calling the template. To use the collection mapping name as a variable use <<collection_name>>.

To call a template from a collection mapping you use the template attribute. The only required attribute under template is name which must correspond exactly to the template mapping name. Any other attributes under template are considered template variables whose names correspond exactly with the template variable name surrounded by << and >> in the templates. These template variables will replace any part of any value that contains the template variable name surrounded by << and >> in the template with the specified template variable's value.

Here's an example Actor template and two different ways to call it.

templates:
  Actor:
    actor: tmdb
    tmdb_person: <<person>>
    sort_title: +_<<collection_name>>
    sync_mode: sync
    collection_order: release
collections:
  Bruce Lee:
    template: {name: Actor, person: 19429}
  Chris Pratt:
    template: 
      name: Actor
      person: 73457  

There are two attributes unique to templates, default and optional.

• default can set default values for template variables to be used if they're not specified in the call.
• optional can specify variables that if not specified on the template call will cause any attribute using one of those variables to be ignored in the template.

Here's an example IMDB Genre template and two different ways to call it.

templates:
  IMDb Genre:
    default:
      title: feature
      limit: 100
    imdb_list:
    - url: https://www.imdb.com/search/title/?title_type=<<title>>&release_date=1990-01-01,&user_rating=5.0,10.0&num_votes=100000,&genres=<<genre>>
      limit: <<limit>>
    - url: https://www.imdb.com/search/title/?title_type=<<title>>&release_date=1990-01-01,&user_rating=5.0,10.0&num_votes=100000,&genres=<<genre>>&sort=user_rating,desc
      limit: <<limit>>
    sort_title: ++_<<collection_name>>
    sync_mode: sync
    collection_order: alpha
collections:
  Action:
    template:
      name: IMDb Genre 
      genre: action
    summary: Action film is a genre wherein physical action takes precedence in the storytelling. The film will often have continuous motion and action including physical stunts, chases, fights, battles, and races. The story usually revolves around a hero that has a goal, but is facing incredible odds to obtain it.
  Comedy:
    template: {name: IMDb Genre, genre: comedy}
    summary: Comedy is a genre of film that uses humor as a driving force. The aim of a comedy film is to illicit laughter from the audience through entertaining stories and characters. Although the comedy film may take on some serious material, most have a happy ending. Comedy film has the tendency to become a hybrid sub-genre because humor can be incorporated into many other genres. Comedies are more likely than other films to fall back on the success and popularity of an individual star.
  Romantic Comedy:
    template: {name: IMDb Genre, genre: "romance,comedy", limit: 200}
    summary: Romantic Comedy is a genre that attempts to catch the viewer’s heart with the combination of love and humor. This sub-genre is light-hearted and usually places the two protagonists in humorus situation. Romantic-Comedy film revolves around a romantic ideal, such as true love. In the end, the ideal triumphs over the situation or obstacle, thus creating a happy ending.
    filters:
      genre: Comedy

Check out the examples files in the Plex Meta Manager Configs Repository for more uses and examples.