Plex Inc. has already built-in a possible middle layer which would solve this, MyPlex/plex.tv.
In PMS you say what you want all clients to see. When you save it gets sent to Plex.tv. When one of your users open up a Plex client and asks which servers are up, it has to send its credentials/tokens to MyPlex/Plex.tv. When the response gets sent back it could be augmented to send back the messages that is affiliated with that server.
Well, I guess it is possible to do something like that at least.
I like it and don't like it at the same time.
I don't see how this would handle me sending out real time messages that would appear to users currently using the system and watching something. Ideally I would love to be able to send a brief message like "System will be going down at 4pm" as a one time message. Any user logging in or watching something would get the message.
I'd also like to be able to send "System is going down in 15 minutes for 1 hour of maintenance, please logout/quit and check back later" or something similar. I'd like the option of a broadcast or repeated scrolling flag per message. This message would then KEEP scrolling across the users screen at the top until they quit. :)
So the first part would require changes to each and every client to be able to pull messages and then overlay the message on the screen.
Then there is the second part which is closer to what you just described where there needs to be a method to notify users that the server isn't up and why.
The reason I don't like it is that this would add yet one more reliance on the use of plex.tv which I myself would push to be downplayed across the board. I'd prefer all clients (if possible) to be able to work in the same subnet/house regardless of internet access.
While much more work (sort of) I'd love to have a "message console server" that could run on the same or different computer that manages all the messages. From the outside it would work just like Plex and use it's own port. For the technical among us we could then have our router point to any computer hosting the message server console.
The message console could also update the message status on plex.tv for those not wanting to run the message server on another computer other than the plex server.
It's more complex but if you want to implement this then it should be semi-robust and able to meet the different requirements people will have.
To reinforce this concept (I'm not sure if someone has mentioned this already), but for the Recommendations module for example, it would be great to see while someone is watching something, a little notification (kind of like what the Kogan Android TV does when you can't access the PVR, as there's no USB for eg.) that "you have received a new Recommendation from XXXX friend/XXXX user".
I know this would be difficult to implement, as you would need kernel access to different flavours of hardware: Also something along the lines of "the PMS is experiencing high transcoding traffic" or a suggestion of "PMS is crunching frames for other walls, a more efficient resolution has been selected for you". The second suggestion would be a long shot.
Also I just read cayars post. I also agree that if there's a manager to Plex, there should be some way to forecast to users, potential downtime. Additionally I forgot that the Android app does display a "Connected Server: 'XXXX', Cloud Sync" message.
Just came here to say I would really love this feature as well!Ā
It would be great to blast a maintenance message to my active users e.t.c. as well as some sort of "news" section I can manually update with info on cool new movies or tv shows e.t.c.
Basically just any way to communicate with my viewers would be great
+1 - I love the idea of keeping this in the realm of Plex and native within PMS.
I'm currently using this solution to keep my remote users informed. Ā I also manually post maintenance messages and the users can request content through this method.
Some type of user feedback would also be nice (like let me finish this movie, or let me finish this scene, etc.). The user feedback is low priority but if you're gonna take the time to develop it how much more difficult would it be to give the end users a reply text box?Ā
Skimmed through this thread (and been looking through the forums in general) and can't find any single Plex Dev comment on this idea (just a bunch of us who likes it in general). Has anyone seen received / seen any comments on this idea from the devs?
Skimmed through this thread (and been looking through the forums in general) and can't find any single Plex Dev comment on this idea (just a bunch of us who likes it in general). Has anyone seen received / seen any comments on this idea from the devs?
They generally stay out of this subforum. This is our subforum to bombard with ideas, that guides them in a sense. It is our place to show them what our top XX wishes are.
Instead of scheduled messages, just simply being able to log into Plex.tv and switching the server to āmaintenance modeā with a customizable message for estimated downtime. The owner of the server would have access, but all clients get the maintenance mode message.
This would be great! Iāve had to manage a Facebook group to be able to do this thus far and itās fairly regular that I get a phone call before someone remembers to check the FB Group.
@Randomacts said:
A MOTD would be awesome as well.
The whole thing could be done as a MOTD instead of an actual messaging system. Add an RSS feed to each client, and only show it if there is a message. I wouldnāt want someone getting a message half way through a movie, although I suppose thatās better than it getting cut off half way through
The ability to send a message to clients about the server going down for maintenance would be great. Heck, this could be handy for just about anything like making users aware of bugs, this way I donāt get flooded with text/emails about problems that I know exist and are being fixed.
Would love this would save me using whatsapp groups and getting into massive chats over issues and add requests causing some group members to leave the group do to multiple messages sending their phones haywire (to quote my dad) with messages irrelevant to them
