Plex as a complete family media solution
**Imagine this:**You like that? Lets go deeper then
**What if...?**[list]
[*]**What if...** **each family member had his own account**? Each user could add media to his computer locally, but this media could be sent to the home server and be made available for every family member from any connected plex media center?
[*]**What if...** the media center could **display a compilation** of all family member's media and gave you **average ratings** to items **combining** all your users's taste?
[*]**What if...** plex gathered not only all the media from your home, but also allowed you to **add media from friends** to your library and stream or download it to save locally?
[*]**What if...** you were able to select which movies, music and photos you wish to **sync to your smartphone/netbook**? If you could have your media on the plane, in your office or in the subway **without streaming**?
[*]**What if...** you could **share media as "read only"** with your father who lives on the other side of the world? And if he could see that media in his own plex media center? If he could **choose to save files**, whole artists, genres or sections localy with a "keep a local copy" option which **syncs changes** or additions you do it?
[*]**What if...** we lived in a world where your **hardware can brake** and you simply log into Plex with your user on a new device and it would **automatically retrieve all your media** and data from your plex media server just like you had it before?
[/list]
Now, enough imagening! :)
Old illustration describing this idea (created for songbird at the time so just imagine it with plex):
**Getting it Done**
Now comes a more theoretical part. This is intended much more for developers and curious users. If you already liked the idea so far, you might already think about giving us a thumbs up ;)
[list=1]
[*]**Give each user an account**
Each user has to have his own account and has to be able to call one plex media server as his "home". All his media is always synced with his "home" server, but the home server accepts more than one user. In a typical home this would mean 3-5 people using one "home server" which has all of their data. If a Plex Media Center is accessed, all data from all users is displayed together.
(this feature is also mentioned [here](http://forums.plexapp.com/index.php/topic/46197-popular-multi-user-mode/))
[*]**Divide plex into the "Plex Media Server", the "Plex Media Center" and the "Plex Media Player"**
The idea is to have 1TB of media at home and only 5GB you really need **today** on your smartphone.
For their laptop and smartphones, users need to have a Plex Media **Player**. This player is able to browse through the users plex media center data like the new browser and is able to stream all files. But it is also able to select files to be saved locally.
The user will be able to select playlists, photo collages, movie titles that they wish to also keep locally on their device. This way they can listen to their music on they phone even where there is no connection, or take HD movies with them on their laptops and even take whole photo albuns to friends on their iPads.
***Edit:** Maybe integrate plex with Songbird somehow?*
[*]**...and let them share, integrate and sync!**
Users need to be able to share their media with friends like plex already does today, but the same way users can choose which media to take with them on their smartphone, they need the option to do so with their friends media. Every time a user accesses media he needs the option to "save it" or "sync it" to his device. It doesn't matter if he is accessing his media server from his laptop or a remote media server from his own media server at home, he needs the option to choose folders, files, genres or channels to be kept in sync so the "streaming" is done before he needs the media.
***Edit:** Legal Implications here. Maybe limit this to 10 accounts per server?*
[*]**Expected Result**
All the power of streaming the media I need from any place combined with the mobility of having the most used files with us everywhere and in any situation, without loading times. Send your favorite playlists to your condo at the beach and have them ready and loaded when you arive there. Make granpa happy by giving him a plex server that keeps in sync with yours! He wont be able to break anything since you enabled "read only sharing", but he will be able to enjoy a modern home without having to rate and sort files!
Have 1TB of media at home, only 200GB on your laptop, only 5GB on your smartphone but **anything accessible from anywhere**. Live the true integrated and mobile Plex way of life![/list]
