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Stop the "nag" for end users (non-admin accounts)


fogpuppy

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fogpuppy

Hi,

 

I'm happy to buy a Emby Premier license ... in fact I have.  In my case, my media server, more often that not, has no internet connection.  Because of this, all of my "end users" (non-admin users) keep getting "Buy Emby Premier" nag.  Emby folks, it's one thing to nag the administrator accounts (I get that you want to generate revenue) but please stop nagging non-administrator accounts.  It's annoying and they can't do anything about it anyway and it just confuses them.

First, my critical request, can anyone tell me how to remove this from the Web UI ideally just for non-admin users (and yes I know this isn't officially supported)?  Any help or hints would be appreciated.

Second,  I know you guys are trying to control how many clients, etc. and I get (oddly I even encourage it so Emby has a healthy support ecosystem) but the way you go about it with requiring an internet connection is he one thing that make me annoyed at Emby.  We move to Emby because Flex really doesn't work disconnected.  Emby is waay better but it's not quite there because of this one issue.  Let me stress again, I am happy to buy a license, I want to be legal ... I'm not trying to scam you.

Third, please consider another way to control the number of "clients" on an Emby server that does NOT require an internet connection.  For example, how about a limit on the number of simultaneous streams from a server.  Limit it to something like 5 streams which is probably enough for most normal households.  Then allow users to buy a extended license if they need more streams.  then you can remove the stupid restriction from the client apps for streams.  If you also want to limit downloads and other stuff without a Premier license that's ok with me.  It's the nagging and streaming restriction that are annoying expecially since you don't limit some apps (web, Roku) but you limit others (iOS, ???). 

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When the client is connected to your server that has the Emby Premiere key installed you are seeing this message?

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fogpuppy

Yes.  Because the Server is NOT internet connected very often.  I think what is happening is the license cache has "timed out" so it doesn't know if the premier license is ok so.  Basically the fact that Emby's premier licensing requires internet is a giant pain for my usage.  I get that Emby was probably trying to be nice and let people use one license across multiple servers and clients but ... it would work just as well for MOST people if it was locked to a specific server instance for a duration of time.  Most people probably have 1 server ... yes I know some people ahve more but I suspect that's the corner case not the norm.

 

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Emby Server is designed to be run online and connected to the Internet but also to be able to survive and function through internet blackouts for limited time periods.  But it's not designed to be ran offline per say as it won't function properly fetching metadata, graphics etc for media, being able to link to online trailers, etc

In cases where the server is offline a lot (undesirable) and for consecutive days the "cache timeout" as you put it will factor in.

Is there a technical reason why your server is offline so much?

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fogpuppy

Yeah I understand why it's "designed" to be online and I KNOW it won't be able to fetch metadata or play online trailers and stuff.  But once I update it and fetch my metadata I want it to "just work".

In my case the media server is in a Kiosk like environment.  There is no internet is generally available and the system is updated approximately once a month (+/- a few weeks).  When it's being updated it has an internet connection so it then does all sorts of updates to media content, meta data, etc.   But the rest of the time the server acts as a hotspot and serves up content locally .....  This has prevented me form using the iOS apps and has made me fall back to the web interface.  

 

But the issue still stands ... It's still "wrong" to be nagging non-administrative "end users" to buy something they know noting about (and don't care about) and furthermore they can't take any action to fix.  To them it's just as Nag and it LOOKs like I'm using unlicensed software (which I'm not).  I see nagging me (the admin) but not my "customers" ....

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Point taken.  This is something we can look into concerning Premiere and admin level users.

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fogpuppy

It's also still really silly to limit the ability to stream more than a 1 minute as part of licensing in the apps.  I can see limiting some stuff (heck unlike some people I encourage you to have a premium model) but not that limitation.  It makes no sense when you don't put that limit on Web, DLNA, Roku or ... that's just a poor choice from a customer satisfaction perspective ...

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fogpuppy

ok any hints on how I might remote this now form my web interface via a "Hack" to the css or web pages?nd before you say it I know it won't be supported and updates will probably overwrite my changes but I can live with that.  What I can't live with is the daily complaints from the end users that I need to "buy" a license I've already bought.

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We appreciate the feedback and are constantly making changes to improve the experience so thank you.

I personally haven't looked at trying to remove that in the web pages, so I can't help you with that.  The only constructive thing I can say is maybe try to allow the Emby Server online one a week or every two weeks to validate itself enough that you won't get the message.

Situations like this are hard because you're intentionally using the product in a way it wasn't designed to function.

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fogpuppy

Again, you should never nag people who can't do anything about it.   The non-admin users are just pawns.  And saying "try to allow the Emby server to be be on line once a week..." Is so ironic.  Because it's what you're complaining about with my request.  Sure I'll just change my whole business process that designed to work in certain environment because you chose to nag people in an inappropriate way ... 

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I understand what you're saying but please also consider that you are using our product in a way it wasn't designed to be used, then you are asking us to change how it works and functions which can cause problems for those using the product as designed.

We simply do not get requests like this often because it''s a non-issue when using the product as designed.  We appreciate your feedback and we understand what you are saying.  We can certainly look at this based on your feedback.

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fogpuppy

I get that my usage is not one you anticipated but ....  your response is ridiculous ... What I'm proposing of not nagging end users would in no way affect anyone using the product "as it was designed to be used".   It would arguably be better both connected and disconnected because annoying non-admins does Not help anyone.....

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I'm sorry you feel my response is ridiculous when I tell you we will look at this.  But as I've stated it's a non issue when the software is used as designed so we would need to look at it and evaluate if this type of change is warranted or if we could do something else.

Personally I'm not sure this would be a good change (only show nag screen to admins) to make as it would defeat the purpose of the "nag screen".  All anyone would need to do is setup an admin account and another user account (normal user) for the admin to use so they would essentially never get the nag screen during normal use.  That would defeat the purpose of having it.

What we can do however is look at ways to maybe extend the check so that the clients know it's licensed and not show the nag screen to anyone on systems with the license key installed.

I'm not sure what else to say other than we understand your issue and unique situation and we'll look at it as I've said a few times already.

 

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