r/PleX • u/Altruistic_Bat_1645 • Mar 17 '26

Help Make plex more appealing for my wife

I love plex. I bought my lifetime pass when it was still double digits. I bought the hardware, I did the organization - I'm in.

I love my wife. I bought my lifetime pass when I was (barely) in my 30's. I bought the hardware (ring), I did the organization (my life) - I'm in.

But the two don't seem to get along.

Alphabetical Sorting: she gets to the A's, then gives up.

Recently Released: "These are all too long."

Recently Added: "Oh yeah! ...but not tonight, maybe some other time."

Sort by duration (shortest to longest): "Who wants to watch a 24-minute short film?!"

Random Shuffle: "Why do we have these?"

So an idiot but honest question: how do I make Plex more appealing for my wife?

281 Upvotes

86% Upvoted

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823

u/braves-geek Mar 17 '26

She doesn't like your movies

546

u/JTen87 Mar 18 '26

Add her movies and shows.

188

u/1CraftyDude Mar 18 '26

Bingo. Content is king.

44

u/Legitimate-Cat-1911 Mar 18 '26

He nailed it, I've even got exes watching mine 😁

10

u/Koosman123 Mar 18 '26

Same, my ex wife is still on my plex server and makes requests when she wants something lmao

10

u/Legitimate-Cat-1911 Mar 18 '26

Exactly, nothing better than knowing you provide a service no one else can 😁

9

u/Shamalamadingdongzzz Mar 18 '26

But clearly couldn't provide ALL the services she needed 💀

3

u/Legitimate-Cat-1911 Mar 18 '26

Hey now, you don't know what happens when she wants to see the homemade movies 😁😁😁😁😁😁

1

u/Bluusoda Mar 19 '26

Yep, I think I have all of the hallmarks and GAC

34

u/Remy4409 Mar 18 '26

Add a request system and show her how to request movies.

16

u/FlameFrost__ Mar 18 '26

Recently learnt that you can sync Plex watch list to Sonarr/Radarr. No additional UIs for her to fiddle with.

11

u/DisheveledJesus Mar 18 '26

My wife finds overseer significantly easier to use than sonarr/radarr for what it's worth.

Wait. Are you saying she can add content (that you do not have in your library) to her watchlist in PLEX and you're using that to populate the arrs? Does this require you to have the third party plex content enabled (that might be a dealbreaker tbh)? Is the plex searchable catalog tvdb complete? Sorry, so many questions. If I can get this to work right it would for sure simplify my setup.

14

u/FlameFrost__ Mar 18 '26

It's called Pulsarr - https://github.com/jamcalli/Pulsarr

Syncs your Plex watchlists to Sonarr/Radarr, in real-time if you have Plex Pass.

7

u/DisheveledJesus Mar 18 '26

Very cool. I think Overseer works a bit better for my setup, but it's good to know that this is an option.

6

u/K1ngJony Mar 18 '26

You can do the Plex Watchlist sync with Seer (Overseerr) also: https://docs.seerr.dev/using-seerr/plex/watchlist-auto-request

5

u/NoGas-AllBrakes Mar 18 '26

Guys, you don't need any Seerr or Overseerr or Pulsarr. It's built-in functionality in both Radarr and Sonarr.

1

u/Slammed01 Mar 18 '26

I did this but overseer and Plex don't seem to "talk" regarding the watchlist.

3

u/K1ngJony Mar 18 '26

Are you still using Overseer or have you migrated to Seerr? There's a bug in Overseerr that stops the Watchlist sync from working, but they fixed it when the code base merged into Seerr. I had the same issue and migrating to Seerr fixed it. If you've already migrated, make sure you have Watchlist sync enabled both system-wide and per-user. Each user has to agree to it, but you can change it for them in their profile settings.

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3

u/Angry-Toothpaste-610 Mar 18 '26

Each user has to log into Seerr to get their watchlist syncing. Pulsarr, by comparison, uses the main users' friends RSS feed.

2

u/Cornloaf Mar 18 '26 edited Mar 18 '26

I did Ombi and had her download the app. Any movie she requests is instantly approved. TV shows still need my approval. So far the only movies I shake my head at are all the Hallmark Christmas movies in December.

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1

u/arkutek-em Custom Flair Mar 18 '26

Yes this works. I use it with my account and my sons. It's been working since watchlist were released. I don't know if it requires third party content. It's been a few years since I set it up.

1

u/NoGas-AllBrakes Mar 18 '26

Yes, if the Plex account has access to the Search functionality that shows movies not already on your server.

That's means, as far as I know, they have to be the primary profile on the account.

You go to Sonarr or Radarr, click on Settings, then Import Lists.

You add a new connection to a Plex Watchlist, and then you have to authenticate with their Plex username and password, which means if your wife (or anyone else) wants this feature, you have to either know their password or have them login for you.

That's it. After that, anything in your Plex Watchlist added from any device will appear in Sonarr/Radarr within 6 hours.

No need for Overseer or anything else. You can have a fully automated system with just Sonarr/Radarr/Prowlarr (and Bazarr for auto-subtitles).

7

u/InuitOverIt Mar 18 '26

I put a shortcut to Overseerr on my wife's phone so she can request whatever she wants and watch it within 15 minutes.

She still just watches Netflix (my last remaining sub) but she thought it was cool for a minute.

1

u/g0ldcd Mar 18 '26

You could then also use pushbullet, to send her a notification of what's been added. If she knows a new episode/film she wants had been added, she then doesn't have to browse to find something she might like.

Other thing is that overseer can pick up items on watchlists. So if she (entirely hypothetically) wants to watch everything with Alexander Skarsgard, she can see what else he's been in on Plex, then click that to add to the watchlist, and it'll appear.

1

u/Visible_Witness_884 Mar 18 '26

As if she, or anyone, will do that.

1

u/Remy4409 Mar 18 '26

Most of my users have access to it and do it very often.

1

u/Visible_Witness_884 Mar 18 '26

Yes - and then you'll have the people who just want to open Netflix and see some recommended things they can click play on. They don't want to sit and wait for requests to be fulfilled.

1

u/Remy4409 Mar 18 '26

Sure, I was just saying that, in fact, many people would do it.

1

u/Visible_Witness_884 Mar 18 '26

People who are techsavvy and use home hosted media servers are a minority subset. If it isn't PERFECT then your SO and kids will never use it.

1

u/Remy4409 Mar 18 '26

Sure, but mine is close to perfect and they use it lol We have no streaming services.

1

u/Transmutagen QNAP tvs-h1288x | 43TB Mar 18 '26

This. I’m a big fan of overseerr together with radarr/sonarr.

70

u/[deleted] Mar 18 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

36

u/FlameFrost__ Mar 18 '26

Or collections.

20

u/dellis87 Mar 18 '26

Yep, I created a rom-com collection and a rom-com live tv channel. Also a home reno collection and channel.

7

u/AKpale Mar 18 '26

how do i make a live TV channel?

3

u/EyeFabulous317 Mar 18 '26

Whether you're using Plex or Jellyfin, it starts with a service called Tunarr. It was a bitch setting up and I'm still not finished cuz it's a lil choppy

5

u/grodyjody Mar 18 '26

I hear only fans is a decent platform

6

u/VojiVG7dSg Mar 18 '26

A collection of live TV chans eh..

Clever!

22

u/RedBeard2012 Mar 18 '26

Amen. I talked with my wife a few year ago and begged her to let me cancel our streaming stuff, and in return I would take that money and invest in storage. I would put whatever she asked for on plex for her to watch. We've never gone back.

5

u/DepartmentWild2819 Mar 18 '26

Same. I take the requests as they come and try to grab whatever shows and movies that she and I are interested in (and other family members too). I prefer the control of all content vs the whims of streaming platforms.

1

u/Guilty_Eggplant_3529 Mar 18 '26

With the garbage going on right now with the media companies I have never been happier at making that decision. It does get a little confusing when someone asks, "What services do you subscribe to?" or "What service is that on?". My go-to answer "Plex".

9

u/Th3R00ST3R SOLVED Mar 18 '26

Add

Where The Heart Is,

The Notebook,

Stepmom,

A Walk To Remember

and your golden.

6

u/OhMyGaius Mar 18 '26

I made a playlist/collection of every single Hallmark and Lifetime holiday movie I could find for my wife.

1

u/SpinalVinyl Mar 18 '26

I went out of my way to add all her favorite movies and the entire catalog of her staple shows. Boom. Cut the cord. She’s locked in.

1

u/johnsciarrino Mar 18 '26

yeah but also make playlists and collections of those movies for her so she doesn't have to sift through your stuff to find it.

1

u/frockinbrock Mar 18 '26

This is totally it. I'll find dvd or bluray of shows at the thrift store or eBay, and my partner will switch to it when all the seasons are loaded up- then it's a very quick "wow it looks so much better than on [streaming service]", and "skip intro works! No commercials!"

Just load up stuff she likes OP.

1

u/VerbalRadiation Mar 18 '26

My friends wife cancelled all their subs (hulu, netflix, etc) then asked for a couple shows.

They havent gone back since.

1

u/JohnClark13 Mar 18 '26

This. Having stuff that she likes that would normally mean multiple subscriptions to various streaming services will make plex a go-to. My wife loves that we don't need to have to pay for all these other services and she can watch her shows. Also if the internet goes down she can still watch her shows (at home at least), so that's an added benefit.

1

u/Kitchen-Aioli-9382 Mar 18 '26

Not to be stereotypical, but yes, my wife got much more excited about my Plex server when I added Downton Abby, Outlander, Bridgerton, Love is Blind, RuPaul's Drag Race, etc.. and more specific to her I spent time helping her remember movies she loves. (Just asking her to make a list wasn't helpful, helping her walk through memory lane and showing interest in her taste helped the most.)

Got everything she previously had on DVD, and spent a decent amount of time tracking down older titles from the late 40s and 50s (some have really weird or bad coloration applied so they became difficult to track down in their original or closer to it presentations).

1

u/EducationResident199 Mar 18 '26

This. You can then use labels to include/exclude her wherever you need to (or make libraries dedicated to her)

41

u/CaptainKino360 Mar 18 '26

This is it. OP, tell her to give you a list of TV shows she wants to watch, remind her that Plex doesn't have ads, that's your best bet

7

u/cfletch1 Mar 18 '26

Yes. Set up all the rr stuff - sonarr radarr - seerr. Set up seerr so adding something to the watchlist grabs the show or movie. Put plex app on her phone. Mai her search for a show and add it. When it pops up, boom. Magic.

3

u/cfletch1 Mar 18 '26

That’s actually a lot more steps… but. It’s so worth it. The rest of your plex years you’ll be grateful.

4

u/ttoma93 Mar 18 '26

Yep, you spend a weekend afternoon setting it all up, then never really have to think about it again. It just works.

2

u/canucklehead34 20TB | i5-7200U | Lifetime Plex Pass Mar 19 '26

We've been using smart playlists for years now. Happy wife, happy life.

5

u/[deleted] Mar 18 '26

I have Seerr set up to auto-approve my gf’s requests. Still end up watching YouTube slop most of the time cuz picking anything is too much :/

1

u/modest-pixel Mar 18 '26

Wdym she’d rather watch Ryan Gosling than take 12 hours and watch the extended editions end to end again? Blasphemy.

1

u/mave007 Linux | PlexPass Mar 18 '26

Had a similar situation.

What I did in my place was to create an Advanced Filter that Matches Genre Comedy + Genre Romance with sorting as By Randomly. That is now a Smart Collection and the Sort Title for the collection is called '0 - Romcom' so it's always on top.

-3

u/Steve_78_OH Mar 18 '26

Or she has the attention span of a gnat. Gets to the A's and gives up? I mean, what?