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Browsing & Managing Public Catalogs

Public Catalogs represent shared libraries of media across MTVL instances. Every category module (movies, TV shows, books, etc.) exposes a public catalog that serves as the canonical record for items.

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Exploring Catalog Items

On any category page (e.g. /movies, /tvshows, /books), select the Catalog tab:
  • Search Bar: Type any keyword (title, director, author, genre) to instantly filter results.
  • Sorting: Sort catalog items by:
    • Title (Alphabetical A-Z / Z-A)
    • Release Year / Publication Year (Newest / Oldest)
    • Rating / Community Score
    • Created Date

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2. Pagination

Catalogs automatically paginate large collections (defaults to 12 or 24 items per page). Navigate through pages using the pagination bar at the bottom.

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Adding New Items to the Catalog

If an item does not exist in the public catalog, authenticated users can contribute it:
  1. Click the + Add New Item button in the category header.
  2. Complete the category-specific metadata fields:
    • Movies: Title, Director, Release Year, Duration (in minutes), Poster URL, Synopsis / Description.
    • TV Shows: Title, Creator/Director, Total Seasons, Total Episodes, Poster URL, Synopsis.
    • Books: Title, Author, Total Pages, Publication Year, Cover URL, Synopsis.
  3. Click Create Item.
  4. The item is saved to the public database and immediately becomes available for all users to search and add to their personal lists.
:::tip Automatic Personal List Addition When creating a new catalog item, the creation dialog includes a checkbox: “Also add to my personal list”. Checking this lets you set your watch/read progress in the same step. :::