So, I finally have everything set up, and Jellyplex is up and ready to go! Instead of typing or explaining things a bunch, I figure I'll give a small intro here, and then a longer explanation that I can link to for what I imagine will be FAQs.
You can go to watch.jellyplex.live from any device, and use the sign in I made for you.
You can go to request.jellyplex.live and use the same sign in. Don't worry about requesting too much for now. If capacity is an issue, I can look into it when the time comes.
What you're doing? No. You're just watching some media that your friend has told you they own and is sharing with you. What about what I'm doing? Uh, no comment.
Idk, ask your mom, pastor, favorite book, or inner sense of justice.
Anywhere, really. But there is probably some content that wont play on web browsers for details I will explain later. So, I recommend using a dedicated client when possible. I can recommend the mobile app, tv apps (roku, firestick, chromecast, etc), and the official desktop client. For the desktop client on windows, you probably want the JellyfinMediaPlayer-1.12.0-windows-x64.exe link near the bottom of the page.
Please do! See points A and B for further clarification.
For the longer explanation, there's really just one topic to touch on. And that topic, my friends, is the t-slurword. You know, the one about trans? Yeah, that's right. Transcoding. Wait why do you look surprised??
Okay aghem bad jokes aside, transcoding is the one major limitation of running this on a low-spec device like a raspberry pi. To make a very complicated subject as simple as I can muster, there's a bunch of different ways one can encode a video file. Some of them are better at preserving different aspects, like color, audio, clarity, and some are more space efficient. Some are rather common and supported by most media players (x264 especially, followed by x265), but others require more specialty equiment to play. Most people who run Jellyfin servers transcode the media from the format it's saved in, to a format that your client can actually play. This is a very computationally expensive process, and, in my opinion, not necessary if you know what kinds of clients your users are using and know which corners to cut.
So, I've opted to disable transcoding entirely. I think I have everything set up such that any media that gets downloaded ends up in a format you should be able to watch, as long as you're willing to work with me a little. If I were alright with transcoding everything, you could all just use your preferred browser and be done with it. But, I think it'll be easier for everyone if I make you guys stick to clients that can actually play x265 too. The clients I mentioned above should all be able to do that, and are thus the route I recommend. You are welcome to look into alternatives as well, and I'm happy to troubleshoot with you to find something that works if you have any issues or concerns.
The current plan is to have it on 24/7, minus some sparratic downtimes for me to upgrade stuff and finish setting everything up.
You absolutely may, the goal is that I've made this easy enough to use that folks should be comfortable relying on it as much as they like.
It should be, yes. Unfortunately internet security is a spectrum, but I've done everything possible to make it safer than it needs to be for a small-scale service like the one I'm providing. For some basic questions, you dont need to be on a VPN to connect to Jellyplex. Your ISP doesn't know anything about what jellyplex.live is, and they dont care. Secondly, the only place your data is going is to my server. I store your credentials so that I can make sure you're allowed to connect to the server (as opposed to other random internet travelers who may stumble upon it). I also have usage data so I can make sure things aren't broken/help you debug. Either way, your data stays with me. So unless I'm literally Mr. Walt Disney incarnate or something, you're fine. Feel free to ask me more about these topics in VC sometime.
You should, honestly. Currently I have a copy of your password so that I could share it with you, and for your own sake you should take the precaution of changing it. I won't be able to see what you change it to, so you may make it whatever you wish, I just ask that you pick a good one. I'm not sure if you can change your username though, and honestly, I'd prefer you don't even if you could. It's just easier to keep track of who's requesting or streaming when the user names are first names.
Well well, I'm glad you asked. You can set a custom pfp in your user settings in jellyfin (watch.jellyplex.live).
It varies, but I would expect around an hour most of the time. If it takes more than a few hours, please reach out to me and I am happy to investigate.