The main Media source in Banshee is the Library, a database of all of your Media. The Library contains links to your media, which remain in the same place. (You can choose to move all media to the default library folder in Preferences. )To add Media to the Library, it must be imported. Most of the time, this will be from the Filesystem(/Hard Drive - SSDs are now used often and Filesystem is used in Nautilus). Banshee has several libraries for different types of media such as Music and Videos.

There are several ways to import Media from the Filesystem:

• Drag files from the File Manager into the Banshee window.

• Choose Media > Import Media... You can then select where to import from in the Import Media to Library dialog. Select one of the following options from the Choose an import source: drop-down list.

  • Home Directory
    • This will import any Media files that Banshee can play in the Home Directory or any subfolders.
  • Local Folder
    • You will be able to choose any folder in the Filesystem. Any media files in that folder or its subfolders will be imported.
  • Local Files
    • You can choose any specific media files to import from any folder on the Filesystem.
  Once you have chosen where you want to import from, click Import Media Source. If you selected the Local Folder or Local Files option, you can then choose the folder or file in the file selector dialog.

• Set the default library folder (not entirely sure if this imports automatically/if you Rescan/doesnt) Choose Edit > Preferences. In the Preferences dialog, click on the Source Specific tab. Choose the type of media with the drop-down list and choose the library folder for that type of media. (Click Close and then choose Tools > Rescan Music Library) - this may not be needed or may want spinning out into its own page and linking. Its pretty small but relevant multiple times, not just here)

If you add files to a folder you have already imported, you can import them into Banshee by choosing Tools > Rescan Music Library. (From 1.5.3 onwards) There is also an Extension available (disabled by default) to automatically follow changes in your Music Library. For help enabling it, see http://live.gnome.org/action/edit/DocumentationProject/Planning/BansheePlanning/