What is the ImagesByName folder and how does it work?

The ImagesByName folder contains artwork that is used by MediaBrowser to enhance the overall look of Media Browser. The ImagesByName folder is often abbreviated as IBN.

Predefined Folders

As of Media Browser 2.2.1 (also called Firestorm) the ImagesByName folder has a predefined set of subfolders. These are:

Genre

  • This folder houses subfolders with icons and backdrops like Action, Comedy, Thriller, Horror, etc.
  • Subfolders with folder.jpg files in here will show up in Media Browser if filtering by Genre

People

  • This folder houses subfolders with icons and backdrops for Actors, Directors, etc.
  • Subfolders with folder.jpg files in here will show up in Media Browser if filtering by Actor or when viewing the Actors tab on a Movie details screen

Studio

  • This folder houses subfolders with icons and backdrops for Studios, TV Networks, etc.
  • Subfolders with folder.jpg files in here will show up in Media Browser if filtering by Studio or they will be displayed on a Movie details screen if the active theme supports showing them.

Year

  • This folder houses subfolders with icons and backdrops for Years.
  • Subfolders with folder.jpg files in here will show up in Media Browser if filtering by Year

General

  • This folder houses subfolders with icons and backdrops for Plugins, etc.
  • More details about this can be found here

MediaInfo (as of 2.2.8 (codename Orion))

  • This folder houses subfolders for themes with icons for MediaInfo.
  • As of 2.6.0 (codename Atlas) these subfolders can also contain custom MPAA ratings icons.
  • The design of this folder varies from the other ImagesByName folders but it allows the user to apply custom MediaInfo Icon Sets on a per Theme basis. These for example.
  • More details about this can be found here.

Configuring the IBN Folder

Media Browser looks for the ImagesByName folder in C:\ProgramData\MediaBrowser\ImagesByName. By default, this folder does not exist after a clean installation. You need to create it manually including the above subfolders.

Please note that the C:\ProgramData folder is hidden in Windows by default.

A simple script is available for download that you can use to automatically create the IBN folder for you. It’s very basic and comes without warranties, but hardly anything can go wrong with it.

Download here (updated for 2.2.8)

A final directory structure would look like this:

C:\ProgramData\MediaBrowser\ImagesByName\General
C:\ProgramData\MediaBrowser\ImagesByName\Genre
C:\ProgramData\MediaBrowser\ImagesByName\MediaInfo    (As of Media Browser 2.2.8 (Orion))
C:\ProgramData\MediaBrowser\ImagesByName\People
C:\ProgramData\MediaBrowser\ImagesByName\Studio
C:\ProgramData\MediaBrowser\ImagesByName\Year

Example IBN Folder

For the record, here is an example ImagesByName folder with some contents to get a better idea:

C:\ProgramData\MediaBrowser\ImagesByName\General
                                           Favorites\folder.jpg
                                           Music Library\folder.png


C:\ProgramData\MediaBrowser\ImagesByName\Genre
                                           Action\folder.jpg
                                           Drama\folder.jpg
                                           Thriller\folder.png


C:\ProgramData\MediaBrowser\ImagesByName\MediaInfo        
                                           All\aspect_133.png,...codec_aac.png,...hdtype_720.png,...media_3gp.png,..
                                           Carbon\aspect_133.png,...codec_aac.png,...hdtype_720.png,...media_3gp.png,..
                                           Default\
                                           Diamond\aspect_133.png,...codec_aac.png,...hdtype_720.png,...media_3gp.png,..          


C:\ProgramData\MediaBrowser\ImagesByName\People
                                           Mel Gibson\folder.jpg
                                           Julia Roberts\folder.png    


C:\ProgramData\MediaBrowser\ImagesByName\Studio
                                           BBC\folder.jpg
                                           Universal Studios\folder.png


C:\ProgramData\MediaBrowser\ImagesByName\Year
                                           2009\folder.jpg
                                           2010\folder.jpg

Moving the ImagesByName Folder

The location of the IBN folder can be moved to a different location.

To do this, if you have an existing ImagesByName folder then copy/cut it to the new location. If you do not currently have an IBN folder, then create a folder called “ImagesByName” in the location you would like to store it, and then create the subfolders listed above. If your existing IBN folder does not have those subfolders then you need to create them if you are using Media Browser 2.2.1 (Codename Firestorm) or later .

Once you have done this navigate to the directory C:\ProgramData\MediaBrowser and use a text editor such as Notepad (not a word processor like MS Word) to open the file called “MediaBrowserXml.config”.

Look for an entry in this file that starts with <ImageByNameLocation>
There should also be an end tag that looks like </ImageByNameLocation>

Between these tags is where you need to put the path to your new ImagesByName location, e.g. \\Server\MediaBrowser\ImagesByName or D:\MediaBrowser\ImagesByName

So the end result will be:

<ImageByNameLocation>\\Server\MediaBrowser\ImagesByName</ImageByNameLocation>

or

<ImageByNameLocation>D:\MediaBrowser\ImagesByName</ImageByNameLocation>

Be sure to confirm that there is no hard return after the path and before . It must all stay on the one line.

Then save and close that file. MediaBrowser will now use your new location for ImagesByName.

Important Note: If you move the ImagesByName folder to a network location, this can cause a significant performance impact on Media Browser.

Additional Notes

If you’re using MetaBrowser, you will need to configure MetaBrowser to point to the People folder since MetaBrowser only downloads Actor images.

  • In MetaBrowser, go to Options
  • In the Options window, set the path for “ImagesByName Folder Location” to C:\ProgramData\MediaBrowser\ImagesByName\People (or your custom location)

Currently, the same applies to MetaBrowser 2.0.

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