---
title: "Specials"
canonical: "https://docs.pbs.org/space/MM/5343806/Specials"
format: markdown
---
> Macro (toc)
## Overview
A special is a one-time-only (OTO), which does not live within a season structure. A special object is used for two different use cases:
1. A stand-alone movie, which contains a single, full length video. In this case, there will be a a show object and full length video within a special object, both with the same title.
1. Example: "American Pharaoh"
2. Example: "ABBA Forever: A Celebration"
3. Example: "American Creed"
2. A one-off event or feature that* is associated with a show* but does not fall within any of the show's seasons. A show can have multiple specials.
1. Example: Downton Abbey's "Behind the Drama", or America's Test Kitchen's "Home for the Holidays"
2. Example: NOVA's "Electromagnetic Space", or NOVA's "Dolphin Mirror" (NOVA has many specials)
## How Specials display on PBS.org
A Special is indicated by a label located near the top of the Special (Figure 1.1). Learn more about the Special or view other Episodes by using the menu beneath the video (Figure 1.2).
## Dashboard
You can view all assets associated with your Special from the Specials page by using the arrows and plus signs next to each object. And you can access all objects from the Specials page by clicking the object links, Please refer to the following video to see how:
(*Click the *> Macro (inline-media-image)
* symbol in the bottom right corner of the video to enlarge*)
## How to create a Special
| **Field** | **Notes** | **Required for create?** |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Title | Title of the Special. 120 character limit, including spaces. | Yes |
| Slug | Auto-generated unique identifier that cannot be changed after initial save. | Yes (automatically generated from Title, and is editable only prior to initial save) |
| Short Description | 100 characters or less, including spaces. Used primarily when space is limited, such as on apps and small screens. | Yes |
| Long Description | 400 characters or less, including spaces. | Yes |
| PBS Content ID | Auto-generated unique identifier. | Yes (automatically generated; not editable) |
| TMS ID | > ⚠️ **Syncing Specials is still in progress, so you may find that there are no matches in TVSS. **
Unique Gracenote identifier that is matched to an associated ID in the [TV Schedules Service (TVSS) API](https://docs.pbs.org/space/tvsapi/3964930/TV+Schedules+Service+(TVSS)+API).
(1) **TMS ID fields:**
> Macro (nested-table)
(2) **Existing TMS ID:** The TMS ID that was manually entered and already existed in Media Manager. This only displays if there was an existing TMS ID in Media Manager.
(3)** TVSS Details:** Displays the show details that are pulled from TVSS when a successful match has been made between the TMS ID and TVSS.
 | No |
| Episode NOLA | Six-digit broadcast code that represents a show, season number, and episode number. | No |
| Premiere Date | Original on-air or online broadcast date. | Yes (pre-filled with current date; is editable) |
| Encore Date | On-air rebroadcast date. | Yes (pre-filled with current date; is editable) |
| Created | The date and time the special is created. | N/A |
| Updated | The date and time the special was last updated. | N/A |
### How to add notes
> Macro (excerpt-include)
### Create your special
- Click the **Show** that will include the special and click the **Specials tab** (Figure 1).
Figure 1
- Click **Create Special** (Figure 2).
Figure 2
- In the Title textbox, type a **title for your Special** **containing ****no more than 120 characters****, including spaces**. The slug auto-populates as you type the title (Figure 3.1).
- In the Short Description textbox, type a **short description containing ****no more than 100 characters****, including spaces **(Figure 3.2). This appears in search results when a user searches for your show.
- In the Long Description textbox, type a **long description containing ****no more than 400 characters****, including spaces** (Figure 3.3). This appears on your video asset page and should providers viewers with a little more information about your show.
- When finished, click **Save** (Figure 3.4).
> ❌ If you receive an error message (500) when saving your file, check the Title field to be sure your character count has not surpassed 120 characters. If you have copied and pasted your title from another source such as Microsoft Word, some special characters, such as apostrophes, quotes, and commas may count as multiple character spaces and put your title over 120 characters. Try manually typing your title into the Title textbox.
Figure 3
- The Special has been saved and all fields from the previous screen are pre-filled. You can modify some of the fields, such as Short and Long Descriptions.
- Fill out the **Episode NOLA** in Core Data tab (Figure 4.1). This is not required. The Episode NOLA is the six digit numeric code that identifies a specific episode within a program.
- The Premiere Date and Encore Date default to the date the Special was created. To modify the date, manually** type the date into the textbox or click the calendar icon** on the right side (Figure 4.2).
- Click **Save** (Figure 4.3).
Figure 4
- Click the **Assets tab** to add a video asset to your Special (Figure 5).
Figure 5
## How to add assets
**[Learn how to create a video asset](https://docs.pbs.org/space/MM/5343793/Assets#How-to-create-a-video-asset)**
## How to add additional data
- Click the** Additional Data tab** to provide additional information about your Special, such as:
- Links to purchase the Special on various platforms, donate to a station, or link to the producer site responsible for the Special.
- The collection to which the Special belongs.
- The language in which the video is presented.
> ⚠️ **Do not use the following link options:**
> ⚠️
> ⚠️ - **Buy DVD: This feature is no longer in use.**
> ⚠️ - **Producer Site: This link is no longer used on PBS platforms for the episode or special objects. It’s only used when populated on the show object. **
Figure 1
### URLs
- In the URLs section, click the **Type dropdown menu** and select the **type of link** you want to add to your Special (Figure 2.1).
- In the URL textbox, type the **full URL to the page** associated with the selection you made in the Type dropdown menu (Figure 2.2).
- Click **Add More** to add additional rows (Figure 2.3).
Figure 2
- To delete any of your selections, simply click the **trashcan icon** next to the selection you wish to delete (Figure 3). The selection is removed and cannot be recovered. If you deleted it by mistake, you must add it again.
Figure 3
### Collections
Scroll to the Collections section to add Collections to your Special. The number of available collections is listed at the top of the selectbox on the left.
- In the selectbox on the left side, click the** name of the collection** you want to add (Figure 1.1).
- The collections display in the selectbox on the right side of the page (Figure 1.2).
- To search existing collections, type **keywords** in the Filter box (Figure 1.3).
- Use the Add All (Figure 1.4) and Remove All (Figure 1.5) buttons at the bottom of each selectbox to move all existing Collections from one selectbox to the other.
Figure 4
### Miscellaneous
- Click the **Language dropdown menu** and click the **language** that reflects the primary language in which your Special is presented (Figure 5.1). The default language is English but can be changed to one of many available languages.
- When finished with all of your Additional Data selections, click **Save** (Figure 5.2).
Figure 1
- An alert displays, notifying you that your changes have been saved (Figure 2).
Figure 2
## How to delete a Special
- Click the** title of the** **Special **you want to delete (Figure 1).
Figure 1
- In the lower left corner of the screen, click the red **Delete Special button** (Figure 2).
Figure 2
- Click **Yes, I'm sure** (Figure 3.1).
- If you change your mind and don't want to delete the Special, click **No, take me back** (Figure 3.2).
Figure 3
- The Special has been removed from Media Manager (Figure 4).
Figure 4
## How to view Specials
You can view your list of Specials in three different ways:
| **Menu option** | **Description** |
| --- | --- |
| Last modified | The Special that was most recently modified displays at the top of the list |
| A-Z | Specials display alphabetically in ascending order |
| Z-A | Specials display alphabetically in descending order |
- When viewing your show, click the **Specials tab** to view your list of specials (Figure 1.1).
- Click the **Sort dropdown menu** on the right side of the page and click the **option** by which you want to view the list (Figure 1.2). The list changes dynamically each time you select a different option.
## How to move or reassign your Special
If you have added your Special to the wrong show or you need to change your Special type, [follow these instructions](https://docs.pbs.org/space/MM/5343842/How+to+Rearrange+or+Reassign+Content#How-to-edit-a-special).
## TMS ID Matching Logic for Specials/Episodes
The below diagram illustrates the logic used to attempt matching Specials and Episodes in TVSS and Media Manager.
*Click diagram to enlarge*
