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Advanced Sequences
The Sequence Builder has two optional extras on top of the usual list of blocks:
- Advanced mode lets a block decide when it plays, and what plays in its place when it doesn't. This is the builder's IF / THEN / OTHERWISE.
- Flow view draws your sequence as a workflow you can pan, zoom and drag, with conditions shown as branches.
Neither is required. A sequence built in Simple mode and List view works exactly as it always has. If you're new to sequences, start with Sequences.
Two switches sit at the top of the sequence in Schedules → Sequence Builder:
| Switch | Options | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Mode | Simple / Advanced | Advanced adds a Conditions section to each block's settings |
| View | List / Flow | Flow draws the sequence as a node workflow instead of a list |
Both choices are remembered in your browser. They are independent: you can use Advanced mode in List view, or Flow view in Simple mode.
Conditions keep working if you switch back to Simple mode. Those blocks are marked Conditional, and the builder offers to switch back to Advanced if you want to change them.
- Switch to Advanced
- Select a block
- In Block settings, under Conditions, click Add a condition
- Choose a rule and whether the block plays when it is true or unless it is true
- Under Otherwise, choose what happens when the condition isn't met:
- Skip this block, so the sequence moves straight on to the next block
- Play prerolls from a category, choosing the category and how many
- Play NeX-Up trailers, choosing movies, TV or both, and how many
Under the rules, a summary reads the condition back in plain English, for example:
Plays only when the genre is Horror or Thriller. Otherwise, 1 preroll from House Intros plays instead.
Click Add another rule, then choose whether the block needs all of the rules to hold, or any of them.
If NeXroll can't answer a rule, the rule counts as not met and the Otherwise plays. A conditional block only plays when NeXroll knows its condition holds. This matters most for the genre rule on Plex; see What each server can check.
| Rule | Plays when | Works on |
|---|---|---|
| Trailers available | At least a number of NeX-Up trailers (movies, TV, or both) are downloaded and enabled | Plex, Jellyfin, Emby |
| Time of day | The time is inside a window, optionally only on chosen days | Plex, Jellyfin, Emby |
| Genre | What is about to play has any of the chosen genres | Jellyfin, Emby |
| Movie or episode | What is about to play is a movie, or a TV episode | Jellyfin, Emby (on Plex it is always a movie) |
Counts exactly the trailers a NeX-Up Trailers block would play: downloaded, enabled, and with the file still on disk. Use it to keep a trailer block or a Coming Soon slide out of the sequence when there is nothing to show.
Pick a start and end time, and optionally the days it applies to. No days selected means every day. A window that runs past midnight, such as 22:00 to 03:00, belongs to the day it starts on, so a Friday window still holds at 1am on Saturday. This matches how schedules treat overnight windows.
Add one or more genres. The block plays when the title about to start has any of them. Matching ignores capitals.
- Suggestions come from your connected Jellyfin and Emby libraries, so they use the same names your server does. You can also type any name.
- A TV episode uses its series' genres.
- Choose unless to play a block for everything except those genres.
Plays a block only before movies, or only before TV episodes. Plex only runs prerolls before movies, so on Plex this rule always sees a movie.
In Advanced mode, the builder shows a What each server can check panel. Here is what it means.
Jellyfin and Emby ask NeXroll what to play at the moment playback starts, through the NeXroll Intros plugin. The plugin says which title is starting, so NeXroll can check its genre and whether it is a movie or an episode. Every rule works, and every rule is checked live.
Plex works differently. NeXroll gives Plex one preroll list in advance, and Plex plays it before every movie. Plex never tells NeXroll which movie is starting, so:
- Trailers available and Time of day work. NeXroll re-checks them every 10 minutes and updates Plex when the answer changes.
- Genre is never met on Plex, so the block plays its Otherwise.
- Movie or episode always sees a movie.
Blocks that use a Jellyfin & Emby rule are labelled Jellyfin & Emby in the list, on the block's settings, and on Flow view's IF nodes.
Everything in Simple mode, plus Trailers available and Time of day, works fully for you. For genre-style theming on Plex, use a schedule instead: a Halloween category scheduled through October plays before every movie in October, on every server.
If you share a sequence that uses genre rules, give each genre block an Otherwise that suits a general audience. That is what your Plex viewers will see.
One sequence serves all of them. Jellyfin and Emby viewers get the genre-matched blocks, and Plex viewers get each block's Otherwise. You don't need a separate sequence for Plex.
Flow view shows the same sequence as a workflow, running left to right from Playback starts to Movie starts.
| To... | Do this |
|---|---|
| Add a block at a point in the sequence | Click the + on the connection there and choose a block type |
| Position a block | Drag it anywhere on the canvas; playback order stays the same |
| Reorder playback | Select a block and use the earlier / later arrows beside its step number |
| Tidy the canvas | Click Auto arrange to restore the left-to-right layout and fit the sequence |
| Edit | Click a block; its settings open in Block settings |
| Move around | Drag the background to pan, and scroll or use the + / - buttons to zoom |
| Find your place in a long sequence | Use the minimap in the corner |
In Advanced mode, a conditional block is drawn as an IF node with two branches:
- true (green) leads to the block itself
- false (orange, dashed) leads to its Otherwise, or to Skip
Both branches join the next block. In Simple mode a conditional block is a single node marked Conditional.
Flow view hides the Block library column to give the canvas more room, since the + on each connection adds blocks. Long sequences open at the start and continue to the right, rather than shrinking until they can't be read.
Block positions are saved with the sequence. Simple and Advanced layouts are remembered separately, including the condition branches. Switching to List and back preserves your placement. Follow the connection arrows and step numbers to see playback order; moving a block on the canvas does not change what plays next.
Click Preview to play the sequence as a viewer would see it right now.
- Conditions are checked as if a movie were starting at this moment.
- A panel lists each conditional block and whether it plays, plays its alternative or is skipped, and why.
- For a sequence with genre rules, Preview as switches between Plex (genre unknown) and each genre the sequence uses. For example, A Horror movie on Jellyfin or Emby. Use it to check what both kinds of viewer will get.
- Add a Generated preroll block set to the latest Coming Soon grid or list
- Add the condition when Trailers available, at least 1
- Set Otherwise to Skip this block
When you have no upcoming trailers, the slide drops out instead of showing an empty list. This works on every server.
- Add a Category block for your Halloween category
- Add the condition when Genre is Horror. Add Thriller too if you like.
- Set Otherwise to Play prerolls from a category: your usual intros
Horror on Jellyfin and Emby opens with a Halloween preroll. Everything else, and every movie on Plex, gets your usual intro.
- Turn on Library Trailers under NeX-Up
- Add a Library trailers block with 2 trailers
- Tick Same genre as the movie that's starting
A horror movie opens with trailers for other horror movies you own, and a comedy with comedies. On Plex, the same block plays two trailers from your whole library selection. The trailer for the movie that's starting is never picked.
- Add a Fixed preroll block with your late-night bumper
- Add the condition when Time of day, from 22:00 to 03:00, with Fri and Sat selected
- Leave Otherwise as Skip this block
- Add a Category block for your full cinema intro
- Add the condition unless Movie or episode is a TV episode
- Set Otherwise to one preroll from a short bumper category
Movies get the full intro, and episodes get a quick bumper.
- The Sequence Builder page, in the Conditions section of Block settings
- Creating or editing a schedule, when you build a custom sequence there. Switch that builder to Advanced and edit a block.
- Filler sequences. A saved sequence used as filler keeps its conditions. On Plex, filler is re-checked every minute.
- Export keeps each block's conditions. An Otherwise that plays a category travels by category name and is matched to a category with the same name on import. An Otherwise made of specific prerolls isn't exported, because those files belong to your install; on another install that block is skipped when its condition isn't met.
- Backups keep conditions. On restore, an Otherwise whose category no longer exists is dropped, so the block is skipped rather than playing the wrong thing.
A genre block never plays on Jellyfin or Emby. Check that the server is connected on the Connect page with a working API key, and that the NeXroll Intros plugin is installed. NeXroll asks the server for the title's genres. If it can't reach the server, the rule counts as not met. Also check the genre names match your library's: pick them from the suggestions rather than typing them.
A genre block always plays its Otherwise on Plex. That is expected. Plex never says which movie is starting; see If you use Plex.
A block says Conditional but I can't see any conditions. You are in Simple mode. Switch to Advanced to see and change them.
The preview doesn't match what played. Preview checks conditions at the moment you open it. Time-of-day rules and trailer counts can change between then and playback, and on Plex the list is re-checked every 10 minutes. For genre rules, use Preview as to choose which case to preview.
- Sequences - Building sequences and block types
- Scheduling - Putting sequences on a schedule
- NeX-Up - Trailers and generated prerolls used by trailer and Coming Soon blocks
- Jellyfin and Emby - Installing the NeXroll Intros plugin