Storage options#
| Server playlist | itsreel.tv | |
|---|---|---|
| Location | The Summary of a dedicated REEL-CONFIG playlist on PMS. | An optional hosted configuration document associated with your Plex server. |
| Publication authority | The authenticated Plex server owner. | The authenticated Plex server owner, checked through the hosted owner endpoint. |
| Viewer delivery | Reel grants playlist access to the users it identifies during publication. | Clients read the server's public configuration document. Owner-only data uses an authenticated endpoint. |
| Media storage | No media is placed in the configuration playlist. | No media files are uploaded as part of configuration storage. |
The playlist must be an empty, non-smart video playlist. Reel creates it when needed. A nonempty playlist with the same name, an incompatible type, or multiple candidates is a conflict, not something Reel can safely repurpose.
Hosted viewer reads do not require a Plex credential. Treat shared configuration values as public configuration, not a place for secrets. The owner PIN field is excluded from the public hosted document; owner reads and writes use the separate authenticated path.
What Publish does#
Owner edits accumulate in a draft. Review & publish shows the proposed changes before the write. Keep editing returns to the draft; Discard abandons it. Personal edits remain a separate operation.
The publisher verifies ownership, reads the existing configuration, writes the intended changes, and reads them back. It preserves unrelated playlist Summary text and independently managed configuration elements where the operation does not replace them. Hosted writes use a revision precondition to reject an update based on an out-of-date document.
A network timeout is not proof that the server rejected a write. Reel verifies the result where possible. If it cannot confirm the stored state, reload before trying to publish again. A message that readback failed needs different handling from a message that ownership could not be verified.
Show an owner edit, the Review & publish comparison, and the confirmed publication status.
When viewers receive changes#
Configuration is refreshed after the initial interface becomes available. While the application is running, periodic checks are scheduled approximately every five to five-and-a-half minutes. The periodic callback skips a check while a player is active or closing, so this is not a maximum delivery-time guarantee.
Reload server settings requests a fresh read for the current installation. Publishing does not push a simultaneous update to every open Roku. A stored configuration, successful viewer sharing, and a viewer's later refresh are separate stages.
For playlist storage, publication checks the current audience and attempts to grant uncovered users access. Users invited after an earlier publication may need a later republication to receive playlist access. Read the coverage result rather than assuming every invite is covered.
Changing storage source#
Use Configuration storage in Reel to change sources. The implementation coordinates the native and hosted state; manually deleting one copy is not a source-switch operation. In particular, a missing hosted document does not authorize a client to reactivate an older playlist configuration.
Older photo-album configurations can still be discovered as a migration source when no configuration playlist is found. That compatibility path is not the setup procedure for a new installation. Keep artwork-library setup separate from the shared-configuration carrier.
Unpublish all#
Unpublish all removes the server's published Reel policy. It does not delete your media, reorganize libraries, or reset PMS. After refresh, existing personal choices remain where permitted, and settings without a personal choice return to Reel defaults.
Future additions become unavailable. Devices that observe the withdrawal clear the associated personal choices. Unpublish is therefore not an undo command for one mistaken default, and re-adoption is not a restoration mechanism.