Maybe it’s me, but I don’t see the big deal.
Make sure your wife only deletes her shows? Problem solved?
If you have kids however, well that’s a bit different. You could do what somebody else suggested and set read only permissions on all your local content for the user running channels... then you can’t delete?
Why would we be forced to set read options on our Stuff just because Channels DVR allows deletion of all content. That is really a dumb idea. EMBY Plex Sagetv all allow you to protect imported content against deletion. I am not in the habit of baby sitting a DVR. This is a step backwards. I moved all imported content back to EMBY. And if EMBY were to support Comskip I would move all my recorded content there too.
EMBY
I wasn’t aware emby did this. I use Plex myself, which from what I can see is all or nothing.
I am not sure my comments should mean I consider it a "big deal". I am a very early user of Channels before there even was a DVR. I am a huge fan and my wife would not use anything else causing us to actually spend more money on content to make it happen (then TVE came and it is great). However, I am also a fan of PLEX and all the features and sharing and user profiles is also a great product. Would I like Channels to have all of the features of PLEX with a single user interface that we enjoy? Of course. But we have some issues with Channels not having all of the features of PLEX at this point to make it not a replacement for us. And not being able to protect the important content from accidental deletion is a concern. So, sounded like more people were saying if they had a choice of delete anything or delete nothing I felt I should give my reasons for having more choices. We still love and enjoy using Channels and will continue to use it. But until we have more protections we will not replace PLEX and may not use it in parallel with PLEX.
I have both PLEX and EMBY. I got EMBY shortly before the PLEX UI upgrade (which I like). I liked EMBY better before the PLEX UI upgrade. I still have EMBY sharing the same folders as PLEX but I like PLEX better. Not sure I can remember why. But I never use the PLEX UI to delete content that I add which I consider permanent. I do not use the PLEX DVR because I have Channels which I have always considered FAR superior.
I'd say there really needs to be the ability turn delete content on or off, and it needs to be a separate setting for both recorded shows and imported content. I'd suggest putting the setting under the import content menu.
Like others have said, I would never use Channels DVR to delete the imported content, as that is where all content I want to keep perpetually is stored. I would actually prefer the imported content to be under a different menu item, instead of being poured in with all the recordings. I view those two items as completely different things, so it only confuses things to pour them into the same bucket. Separating them would further help prevent errant deletion, because it enforces the fact they are two completely different sources.
It's because of previous errant deletions that I removed all imported content from Channels DVR, and am not likely bring it back in until this deletion is fully resolved with the ability to turn the setting off separately for both imported and recorded items.
The option to put the entire imported library as read-only is not really an option as it would require quite a bit extra work for automated naming/moving/tagging processes. Besides, it would seem like a drastic step when the real solution appears to be a fairly simple one. Unless you are targeting superusers as your primary user base, it wouldn't be a good idea to require people use advanced file management techniques to remedy issues such as this.
I really do see Channels DVR as my go-to app for entertainment, and it's getting better all the time. I appreciate all the work you've done and continue to do in development. I've been with you from the start and you all have exceeded my wildest dreams - and you are still hard at work. I'm sure this issue will be handled in a way that helps us all protect our content, and then this really will be the one stop app for entertainment!
Thanks!
Chief
I have been using the local content since it was first added and I have just stopped using it and removed my imported sources for a couple reasons. First I really like that channels is doing this. The is an awesome direction and the playback experience is fast and fluid. Buttery goodness. But the following are causing me grief:
DVR Content needs to be deleted and managed as I run out of space or as I watch content and no longer want to keep it around. Much of it is ephemeral. When the DVR content is mixed with ripped/saved content it becomes difficult to cleanup the DVR as I run out of space. Where are some things I can delete to make more room?
When me or someone in my house is trying to make room to record more content on the DVR, it is easy to mistake something that is ripped content for DVR content and accidentally delete something that shouldn’t be deleted. Back when I first added local content it couldn’t be deleted so this wasn’t a concern but now it can be deleted and it doesn’t look any different. Ripped content / local content must be able to be protected from removal.
I’ve run into some really bad matches that plex gets no problem. I think the problems on matching are twofold. First, the matching algorithm and number of sources used. It feels like some attention is needed here. Maybe multiple sources could be used at once and some logic can try to determine the best match. Second, when no good match is found right now it picks something and runs with it even if it is a terrible match (i.e. year and name aren’t even close). But this causes the bad match to disappear into the sea of the content library. It seems better to not match and either show as generic artwork and use the file name OR (maybe better) leave the item out of the library and provide some way to correct and to tell which ones are not matched.
This is probably lower priority but I rip all of the extras and having a way to view this content and keep it organized with the movies/shows is needed so I don’t have to jump between apps. In addition, at least previously, extras content was also adding to the bad matches problem above.
I've gone back to Plex and removed my imported content from Channels also.
For me, I like to keep recorded content and imported content separate - they are consumed differently in our family. I was hoping this would change, but Channels devs have indicated this is how they envision the library.
I'm also not going to take the risk that one of the kids deletes any of the imported content and don't want to start messing with setting files as read only.
I realise that imported content is still in its early days, so may revisit down the line if it improves.
Channels as a DVR on the other hand, is second to none!
I also made the move from Channels DVR for my imported content in my case went back to EMBY for a lot of the reasons @syplex posted.
I'm sticking with Channels for my Imports since I made them read-only remote SMB mounts.
Running the server on Linux, I created symbolic links in the import folder that points back to the file on the SMB mount (one symlink for each movie/show I want in Channels). When I delete a movie or tv show, it only trashes the symlink and not the file on the SMB mount. Best workaround for me.
These work arounds are ok for those that have the time but not great for Mom and Pop and those that feel why they should work around something the developer can easily fix. I rather not use the feature for now. Would like to see something like EMBY does a simple check mark by those folders that you want to be able to delete from in the Web interface.
The folders are already listed on the Web interface.
We’re working on server side settings for this.
Understand the devs are working on settings for this, but just wanted to point something out.
I finally tested this today (all my Imports are read-only mounts) by deleting (within Channels) a test movie I imported, then emptying the trash.
Every 5 minutes when the import scanner runs I get a log entry that it's deleting the file.
Since it's on a read-only mount, the delete fails (not mentioned in the log).
2021/03/07 16:53:31.789857 [DVR] Deleting /volume1/arkives/testMovies/Test Movie no match (2019)/Test Movie no match (2019) -h264.mp4
2021/03/07 16:58:32.132941 [DVR] Deleting /volume1/arkives/testMovies/Test Movie no match (2019)/Test Movie no match (2019) -h264.mp4
2021/03/07 17:03:32.474680 [DVR] Deleting /volume1/arkives/testMovies/Test Movie no match (2019)/Test Movie no match (2019) -h264.mp4
2021/03/07 17:08:32.832389 [DVR] Deleting /volume1/arkives/testMovies/Test Movie no match (2019)/Test Movie no match (2019) -h264.mp4
2021/03/07 17:13:33.172128 [DVR] Deleting /volume1/arkives/testMovies/Test Movie no match (2019)/Test Movie no match (2019) -h264.mp4
2021/03/07 17:18:33.521259 [DVR] Deleting /volume1/arkives/testMovies/Test Movie no match (2019)/Test Movie no match (2019) -h264.mp4
2021/03/07 17:23:33.876706 [DVR] Deleting /volume1/arkives/testMovies/Test Movie no match (2019)/Test Movie no match (2019) -h264.mp4
The only way I can figure to keep the log from filling up is to move the imported file out of the import directory or rename it.
In the latest client betas, you can now set Allow Delete to Just DVR Recordings.
In the latest server prerelease, you can now force all your clients to have specific settings. See Beta - Server Side Client Settings
Good to see this moving forward.
That will appease many by not allowing clients to delete Imports.
What I'm waiting for is the setting that brings back the old behavior.
Don't allow deletion of Imports (period) from clients or the admin UI or some future feature...
Treat my Imports like they're DVD's or Blu-Ray's (read-only). I can mount or unmount the Import directories, but not delete the files within from Channels.
I understand others want to use Channels to manage and delete their Imports, so a simple checkbox option would appease all.
Until then I'll just keep my read-only mounts and continue testing Imports.
Isn’t this exactly that?
@chDVRuser I had to read that a few times to understand exactly what you're saying. The new settings feature allows you to prevent Channels clients from deleting imported content. But are you also suggesting that the setting (which is found in the Admin screen) should prevent deleting imported content from the Admin screen?
What's the point of an Admin screen if it is locked down? 
Yes
Choices are good and this one seems so simple to implement.
This is a perfect solution I also uses plex but plex live tv sucks and craps out so much that I have started to use channels and setting only allowing deletion of recorded shows is perfect.