I think its fine the way it is now. If someone I share with want a seperate account on my server for their kids, they have to ask. I wouldnt want anyone setting up sub-accounts on their own.
Infact, I would rather have limits on how people use their accounts. Limit concurrent sessions seems like a good start, to prevent people sharing their credentials.
I think its fine the way it is now. If someone I share with want a seperate account on my server for their kids, they have to ask. I wouldnt want anyone setting up sub-accounts on their own.
Infact, I would rather have limits on how people use their accounts. Limit concurrent sessions seems like a good start, to prevent people sharing their credentials.
Usage limits are fine if they are set up to be configurable by the account holder, if they are automatically enforced across all accounts then they severely reduce the functionality of Plex.
If you want your share to be accessed in the manner you describe then that use case is handled by a the previously described setting to disable managed accounts. Those of us who want to actually use managed accounts need to have a solution that includes management of and viewing of shares by those accounts. As an administrator of managed accounts I'd be happy to actually talk to the owner of the share and work out proper usage patterns or access requirements.
In the scenarios we have described people are not giving out their credentials, they are logging into devices in common areas within a household.
If you want a limit on concurrent sessions that seems like a new feature request.
someone else cannot share with a "managed" user directly. only the server owner can share with his managed users
As implemented this is a very limited use case. More a filtered view than a managed account.
I don't understand what you mean. The server admin has total control over those managed accounts.As implemented this is a very limited use case. More a filtered view than a managed account.
I don't understand what you mean. The server admin has total control over those managed accounts.
Yes, the server admin has total control over those managed accounts, however the only content that can be viewed by the account is that actually contained on the server. The way this was implemented, it's more of a filtered view of your own content.
There appears to be no way to filter down the content of a library that is shared with you; am I correct in that statement?
You are managing users of your server. You do not get to manage users of my server.
You seem to be thinking of it as sharing content, rather than how I think of it as sharing a server.
You are managing users of your server. You do not get to manage users of my server.
You seem to be thinking of it as sharing content, rather than how I think of it as sharing a server.
This comment has been bothering me since you wrote it, and I just realized why. Earlier in the thread you stated
that is why your managed users cannot use the channels you have installed on your server. because channels cannot be shared.
If the channels are installed on my server, and to properly conceptualize managed users one needs to approach it from the lens of sharing the server, not its content, how did you come about this scenario? It seems that you approach it from the sharing server perspective in some regards (management), and from sharing content in others (libraries) - but neither exclusively.
(And to be perfectly frank, kiyose and I discussed this over dinner last night- we think we understand the machinations and architecture that lead to this particular implementation, and understand that your implementation of "managed users" is fundamentally at odds with his request, and that it explains why what we see as an incremental improvement would require major rework from your perspective.)
1 Like
Easy or hard doesn't really matter I'm sure the Plex Devs can figure a way do this request if they want to, as I am sure you can if you had access to the code. I will admit that i tend to jump into conversations when people say things are "easy" as it drives me crazy.
Aside from all that. I personally do not feel that a shared user of my server should be able to essentially give out access to any one else. even if it is their own children/spouse/grandparent. why because my server like many other people server can only handle a certain amount of streams for various reason. I, as many people do, expect that when i give out access to one person, only one stream at a time from that persons account will ever happen. i don't expect that your kids are watching X after school, the spouse 1 is watching x someplace else, the spouse 2 is watching X at the airport, grandma is watching X in the attic.
i feel saying this is a cop out.
I'd be happy to actually talk to the owner of the share and work out proper usage patterns or access requirements
if this were implemented it should be just as easy for me to remove the ability for you give out access to my server as it is for you do give out access to my server.
if this were implemented it should be just as easy for me to remove the ability for you give out access to my server as it is for you do give out access to my server.
We are in complete agreement with you on that. We're simply lobbying for the platform to support our being able to give us that capability.
2 Likes
Easy or hard doesn't really matter I'm sure the Plex Devs can figure a way do this request if they want to, as I am sure you can if you had access to the code. I will admit that i tend to jump into conversations when people say things are "easy" as it drives me crazy.
Aside from all that. I personally do not feel that a shared user of my server should be able to essentially give out access to any one else. even if it is their own children/spouse/grandparent. why because my server like many other people server can only handle a certain amount of streams for various reason. I, as many people do, expect that when i give out access to one person, only one stream at a time from that persons account will ever happen. i don't expect that your kids are watching X after school, the spouse 1 is watching x someplace else, the spouse 2 is watching X at the airport, grandma is watching X in the attic.
i feel saying this is a cop out.
if this were implemented it should be just as easy for me to remove the ability for you give out access to my server as it is for you do give out access to my server.
I totally get that different people have different expectations over what is done with there content. I certainly agree with you that you should have control over access and I have proposed solutions to this issue before in this thread. I also think that everyone needs to recognize that their pattern of use is not the one true way and that both the usage models we have discovered should be supported. I would also presume that there are usage models that we have not discussed and we should remain open to supporting them as well.
There is such a thing as "too much options" from both a code maintainability as from a user perspective.We are in complete agreement with you on that. We're simply lobbying for the platform to support our being able to give us that capability.
Jaap
There is such a thing as "too much options" from both a code maintainability as from a user perspective.
Jaap
That's a fine statement in the abstract. In the specific case here I believe it is both easily understood by the user and straightforward to code. There is already precedent in the "Allow Sync" selection on the restrictions tab in the users share settings. That same concept can be applied to a "Allow Managed Users" selection.
1 Like
That is an assumption that I wouldn't make. Things might look simple, but until one of the devs (knowing the codebase) here actually indicates it is a simple thing I would assume the worst.That's a fine statement in the abstract. In the specific case here I believe it is both easily understood by the user and straightforward to code. There is already precedent in the "Allow Sync" selection on the restrictions tab in the users share settings. That same concept can be applied to a "Allow Managed Users" selection.
Sharing and syncing currently is a user-to-user concept: as a content owner I share with some other Plex user directly. It is simple but effective: user B only sees the content from user A that is directly shared with him. You guys propose hierarchy, which is quite complex in the details. When content owner A shares with B it also allows access to C, D and E which are part of his family. Since C and D are minors, it also means some parental control has to be implemented on outside content. C, D and E might be full-blown plex-accounts that are part of 3 or 4 homes, making this a messy business.
Jaap
Sharing and syncing currently is a user-to-user concept: as a content owner I share with some other Plex user directly. It is simple but effective: user B only sees the content from user A that is directly shared with him. You guys propose hierarchy, which is quite complex in the details. When content owner A shares with B it also allows access to C, D and E which are part of his family. Since C and D are minors, it also means some parental control has to be implemented on outside content. C, D and E might be full-blown plex-accounts that are part of 3 or 4 homes, making this a messy business.
Jaap, no, we are not, per se, proposing hierarchy. What we propose is that the "Managed Accounts" feature have sufficient functionality as to handle this use case. We've proposed a few options (one of which was hierarchy, but others that were not). The manner in which "Managed Accounts" were implemented resulted in a pretty weak offering that is fundamentally lacking use cases that many of us would need to be able to make use of them. (The fundamental of which is that many of us have very strong libraries in an area, and use shared libraries with friends such that we, together, have all the content that the group wants. I have only a few TV shows in my library, but my father has, literally, thousands of them. He uses my movie library pretty heavily, where my kids make use of his TV library. There are shows in his library that I'd prefer my kids not watch, but there's no manner of accomplishing that, save a kludge on my father's part, within the framework the developers have provided us.)
That is an assumption that I wouldn't make. Things might look simple, but until one of the devs (knowing the codebase) here actually indicates it is a simple thing I would assume the worst.
I prefer not to assume at all, and would appreciate it if you'd stop. Let's discuss the feature as a use case, and when the developers have a chance to come in and take a gander at it, they can weigh in on the implementation side. Fair enough? :)
I have a question as I just signed up to Plex Premium so I can add parental controls from Xbox 360 and Samsung Apps. Where can I get information on how to set it up? I have created an account and restricted the content, but when I access Plex I see everything. Never gives me the option to select the User.
What Am I missing?
thanks for your help
This is still and issue and there is still no point for me to use managed users feature. Any idea when this might be fixed?
1 Like
Fix what? You want to share out your friend’s content to your managed users, and are saying that this is a deal breaker since it’s not working as you want?
I’m sorry, but if you were on my friend’s list, and I found out you had shared your log in info to someone else, regardless of managed user or just handing them the info, I would kick you off the list. I agreed to share with YOU! Not your daughter, nephew, etc. I am not about to try making permissions for them, based on managed users on your end, simply because you decide MY media is now community property.
People are already trying to get around the Home User limits, by having their friends on their homes, so the friend can watch via their Xbox. People have been clamoring for more than 15 users for the Plex Home, because they feel the interface is “so much better” with a given client.
Now this thread is asking to have someone else’s media shared out to home users, perhaps without the original sharing admin even knowing this is happening.
Buy the media your friend is sharing with you and stop trying to steal it from him. He’s been kind enough to share with you in the first place, give him the consideration of allowing him to control his media.
“I’m sorry, but if you were on my friend’s list, and I found out you had shared your log in info to someone else, regardless of managed user or just handing them the info, I would kick you off the list. I agreed to share with YOU! Not your daughter, nephew, etc. I am not about to try making permissions for them, based on managed users on your end, simply because you decide MY media is now community property.”
And the proposals made allow for that, through an option on your end to disallow sharing to managed users on the other end, and if such an option were available, you could lobby that it be the default (and I would agree with that). Problem solved.
What you are implying here is that you don’t trust your ‘friends’, and you are saying so in an extremely rude manner at that. While your ‘use case’ may involve that, MY use case, with which I share material with the original poster kiyose who is indeed a friend of mine, does not. If i feel his kids are being a little heavy on my server or network, I can talk to him about it, as friends do.
It is really simple.
I share with a user, who is a friend. I want to have the option (OPTION, not requirement) to allow sharing to that user’s managed users. I talk with my friend about what his needs are and make that decision. He can then make the decision of which folders I have shared with him that his managed users (his family) can see. And by default, I would suggest that Plex have NONE of the folders shared - as with managed users in his own system, he has to make that decision for each.
If i feel he’s being a little abusive about it (based on my server and network loads and logs), I talk to him about it. Because he’s an actual friend of mine, not someone I would just “kick off the list”.
This proposal fully allows you to restrict access to what your friends do, and fully allows my friend to see my shared content at all times, while making sure his kids only see the stuff he wants his kids to see. No additional full logins needed. No additional email addresses needed. The alternative/workaround of having to have full accounts for all family members means I’M the one making decisions for his children, and that is not my role to take, even as his friend. While the current model also involves us talking to each other about it, I’d much rather say “I trust you” and let him take it from there. As friends do.
And yes, I would agree the default should be to have managed-user sharing off, keeping things as they are, and having to turn it on on a per share basis.
3 Likes
Just to add my $0.02, let me start by saying “Hell No!” do I want someone I shared content with be allowed to re-share that content with his/her managed users outside of my control. Not a chance in hell. If their kids want their own account, fine, set it up, and ask me to share with it, and I’ll let you know. I’ve already done this with a few family members with kids, and everyone is happy. But to give Shared accounts the ability to do this on their own is ludicrous at best. Plex is already extraordinarily weak in proper Server Controls in a client/server environment. This idea would be tantamount to anarchy with the way Plex currently has their servers coded for shares. No thanks!
And to repeat: what is proposed allows for that by having a flag, default off, to allow it on a per-user basis. That’s all we are asking for is the choice.
And it is not “ludicrous” at all. If you don’t want it, don’t turn it on, but don’t tell ME I should not have the right or ability to turn it on for myself and my friends.
And your very mention of the workaround (everybody gets a first-class account) is exactly the point of the original post: the feature set of “managed users” is very limited and therefore not as useful as it could be.
2 Likes
