Video Content Organization Overview

Learn how EMMS is structured to help you organize your video content library to optimize user experience on your Endavo apps.

Generally speaking, EMMS is a "channels" and "playlists" driven media management platform, in terms of content organization and publishing. 

Conceptually, channels are used for "forced grouping" of content (think like programming on a TV channel), whereas categories should be used to cross-reference "types" or "genre" of content across all your channels (e.g., "sports" programs in all available channels). Think of categories as a way to create preselected search filters for your users to easily find content across all your channels. 

As you get familiar with your Endavo account in EMMS (Endavo Media Management System), you will notice multiple content types and organization methods, which are very flexible to allow you to customize your user experience at any time: Channels, Playlists Categories, Series, Live Events/Channels.

1. Channels are the primary way to organize your content library in EMMS. Every media item - including standard videos, live events, live channels, and episodic series - can be placed in one or more channels in EMMS. All uploaded videos are required to be in at least one channel (can be added to multiple channels) or season (see Series below).  It's a good idea set up your channels in EMMS before uploading and activating content for your channels. Channels can be edited any time. 
2. Playlists are how your content is published to and organized on your Endavo apps. Every Endavo app has a playlist associated from EMMS. All your apps can have a single playlist in EMMS, if you desire to have the same content and organization on all your Endavo apps (main playlist > all apps), or you can set up individual playlists for each or any of your Endavo apps. Through playlists, you can easily manage which channels and video content are published to all your Endavo apps. Playlists can be edited any time. 
3. Categories are not required but are a great way to organize your content library by "genre" or subject matter, which allows users to see your content related to a specific subject they're interested in viewing. Set up all your categories in EMMS, then add any uploaded media item to one or more appropriate category upon activation. Categories can be edited any time. 
4. Series are designed to accommodate serial, seasonal and episodic content that is designed to be watched in a specific order. Series can be added to one or more channels and be associated with one or more categories. Seasons are a special type of channel that are to be associated with a specific series. You'll notice that uploaded videos can be selected as an "episode" which allows you to associate the episode to a season, which is associated to a series. As for user experience, the Endavo platform tracks registered users watching episodic content (if logged in) on any app and will allow users to resume episodes or move on to the next episode or season. 
5. Live Events and Live Channels must be added to channels just as standard videos. This is important for playlist management and other areas such as subscription service management. You can include live and on-demand content in your channels, or you can set up separate channels for live programing if you desire to keep live content separate in your playlists for your Endavo apps. 

Please continue in the Knowledge Base for more details on managing Channels and Playlists.