docs: document collection templates and template bundles #43

Create shared and smart collections gives templates one paragraph. It doesn't say which sources templates use, what each template creates by default, or what the form asks for. It never mentions template bundles, which create dozens of collections at once and can delete existing ones. It also says some sources need a plugin, which is wrong. Administrators setting up a new server hit this first, and personal collection users can't find templates at all in Browse and organize collections. The server repository is removing its copy of this material in Silo-Server/silo-server#1635.

The old server page is linked for reference. Parts of it were stale, including all of its Trakt material, so check each claim against current silo-server code before publishing. The catalog is internal/collections/templates/builtin.go, bundle apply lives in internal/api/handlers/library_collections.go, and the gallery is web/src/components/CollectionTemplateGallery/.

What to change

src/content/docs/docs/running-a-server/collections.md

• Fix the plugin claim. "Some sources need credentials or a plugin" is wrong: no template source uses a plugin. Replace it with the source list below.

• When to use a template. A template makes a collection that follows a known feed and re-syncs on a schedule. Use Add Collection for a smart, manual, or one-off imported collection.

• Where to find them. Browse Templates in the Admin > Collections header, or the Browse Templates tile after choosing Add Collection.

• Sources:

  • TMDB lists such as trending, popular, top rated, now playing, upcoming, airing today, and on the air. These work without setup; Silo includes a TMDB key.
  • Public TMDB lists. Paste a list page such as https://www.themoviedb.org/list/310-my-movie-list, or just the list number. The list must be public, and there's no list search.
  • Public MDBList lists. No key is needed to follow a list. An MDBList API key under Settings > Subtitles & Metadata adds list search to the form.
  • TMDB genre shelves (Discover) and TMDB franchise collections. These apply only through a bundle; the gallery shows a read-only summary for them.

• Categories: Trending, Popular, Streaming Services, Top Rated, In Theaters, Upcoming, On Air, Editorial, and Custom. Custom holds Custom MDBList and Custom TMDB List, which ask for a list URL.

• Defaults:

  • Each template keeps up to 100 titles. The IMDb Top 250 templates keep 250, and Criterion Collection and A24 have no limit.
  • Sync cadence: every 6 hours for Trending Today (All) and Airing Today; daily for the other trending, popular, streaming, now playing, upcoming, and custom templates; weekly for top rated, IMDb MovieMeter, and editorial templates (awards, yearly picks, seasonal, studios, franchises).
  • Everything is editable before the collection is created.

• The template form: Libraries (one or more), Collection Title, Description, MDBList URL or TMDB list URL when the template needs one, Poster (Server default or Custom URL), Max Items, Featured ("Surface in hero shelves"), Default Sort, and Sync Schedule. Create Collection creates it and runs the first sync.

• Template bundles. Add a section. Bundle cards appear above the template search:

  Bundle	Creates
  Core Defaults	Trending, popular, and top-rated movies and TV, now playing, upcoming, airing today, on the air, IMDb Top 250 movies and shows, and a few MDBList picks
  Streaming Originals	Apple TV+, Disney+, HBO Max, Hulu, Netflix, Peacock, and Prime Video originals, plus Shudder
  Awards & Yearly Picks	Oscar and Golden Globes winners, Best of 2023, 2024, and 2025, and IMDb MovieMeter Top 100
  Seasonal Collections	Halloween, Christmas, Valentine's Day, Easter, Thanksgiving, New Year, AAPI Heritage Month, Latinx Heritage Month, Pride Month
  Studios & Labels	Criterion Collection, A24, IFC Films, Studio Ghibli
  Popular Genres	18 genre shelves sorted by current popularity, plus Kids Movies
  Top Rated Genres	The same 18 genres sorted by rating
  Franchise Collections	Star Wars, James Bond, Wizarding World, Fast & Furious, The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, Jurassic Park, Pirates of the Caribbean, Mission: Impossible, MonsterVerse, and the TMDB Franchise placeholder
  All Defaults	Every template in the bundles above

  Templates in no bundle, and so reachable only from the gallery: Trending Today (All), the per-service lists (Amazon Prime Movies and Shows, Disney+ Movies and Shows, HBO Shows, Hulu Shows, Netflix Movies and Shows), Custom MDBList, and Custom TMDB List.

• Applying a bundle:

  • Libraries: pick one or more. Each template goes only to libraries of its kind: movie templates skip Series libraries and the reverse. Mixed libraries take both.
  • Featured Sections: optionally pick a Home Hero and a hero for each library from the bundle's templates.
  • Delete Existing Server Collections: removes every shared collection in the chosen libraries first, not only ones from templates. Collections that also belong to a library you didn't choose, and collections a home section uses, are kept. Say this plainly and suggest Preview first.
  • Preview lists what would be created, skipped, and deleted, without changing anything.
  • Apply Defaults runs in the background.
  • Applying a bundle again is safe. A template already applied to a library, or a collection with the same title there, is skipped rather than duplicated.

• The TMDB Franchise placeholder (in Franchise Collections and All Defaults) has no TMDB collection ID. Its sync fails with "TMDB franchise template requires a collection_id". The web editor can't set that ID, so tell readers to delete the collection. Revise this line if the server adds a way to set the ID.

• MDBList lists are community-maintained. A list can be removed upstream. When that happens, the collection's sync fails; delete it or create a replacement from another list.

src/content/docs/docs/using-silo/collections.md

• Personal templates. On the web Collections page, Browse Templates creates a personal collection from a template when the server supports imported personal collections. It works with TMDB, TMDB list, and MDBList templates. The form adds Watch state, Content, Auto Refresh, and Share with other profiles.

Don't carry over

• Trakt templates. The old page describes Trakt trending, popular, and "Recommended" templates, a Trakt profile picker, and a trakt source. The server removed them; it no longer creates new Trakt collections.
• TMDB key required. The old page says TMDB templates need a TMDB API key in Settings. They work with Silo's built-in key.
• "Every 6 hours for trending." Only Trending Today (All) and Airing Today sync every 6 hours; weekly trending syncs daily.
• MDBList retirements "log a warning". A retired list makes the sync fail.
• Contributor material: poster artwork rules, the poster generation workflow, extending the registry, source contracts, the API surface, and tests. These stay in the server repository.

AI disclosure: drafted with Claude Code (claude-opus-5-5[1m]) from an audit of the server repository's docs against the manual and current server code.