Different Language for my users

General Discussions
1

Hello there,

what’s the deal:
I and all of my users are german. So default language for all should be german.
However, I (server owner) want to watch all my stuff in english audio + english subtitles.

But as soon as I change language-settings in “Account” OR “language” i ALSO change the global setting.

Is there a way, that I as admin can have a different default language as my users? Or is it still ONE language for all?

2

This is totally possible. I’m using the exact same configuration.

Supporting more than one language requires some more discipline and work when curating your media files.

  1. does and every one of your users have their own plex.tv user account? This can be either a completely independent account, that the users themselves create at plex.tv. Or it can be a “managed account” that you create in your Plex Home (only recommended for direct family members who live with you in the same household).

  2. There are at least 3 different language settings in Plex, which are all independent from each other. You must not confuse them:

  • the language in which metadata and posters are automatically downloaded, when Plex server has found a “match” for your media files in its database. This is defined in the properties of the individual libraries in Plex. There can be only one language per library (though you can override it on individual media items). You cannot make it so, that you will see English descriptions of your movies, but all your other users will see them in German. To achieve that you would need to create separate libraries with different language settings, but point them to the same media files.
  • The language of the user interface of the Plex app. This is defined in the settings of each app.
  • The preferred language for audio tracks and subtitles in video items. This is an individual setting which can be activated in the user account of each Plex user.
  1. The third of the above is only working automatically if:
  • your videos have an audio track in German and a second audio track in English inside of them. Each track must be tagged properly with its language.
  • if necessary and desired, each of your videos must have a separate subtitle in English and German. Again, the subtitles must be properly tagged with the language they’re in. There are different types of subtitles. Plex can distinguish 3 types and can enable them depending on the user settings. See Should a forced subtitle stream (in an MKV) always be the default subtitle stream? - #7 by OttoKerner for more details.

A thing that sometimes can confuse users if they are using a web browser to access Plex is this: the automatic translation that is in-built into many web browsers. Make sure to disable that for the domain app.plex.tv!

If the users in question are located within the same local network as the server, you need to be careful with the content of the server configuration field “List of IP addresses and networks that are allowed without auth”.
If you put your whole local network in there, each Plex client in your local network may behave as if it’s using the server admin’s account.

3

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