Plex Information

If you don’t already have a Plex.tv account, you’re going to need one.  If you’re already a Plex user, skip to the next section.

Don’t worry, even though Plex offers a paid ‘PlexPass’ account option, you don’t necessarily need one of those unless you plan on using advanced features or playback options. Here’s how you setup your own free Plex.tv account:

1. Visit the site: http://plex.tv with your PC, tablet or mobile device
2. Click on the orange ‘Sign Up’ button at the upper right of their home page.
3. On the Sign Up page, fill in the following information:
   • Username – choose one you’ll remember (It has to be unique among Plex users)
   • Email Address – you’ll need access to this mailbox in a minute for confirmation purposes
   • Password – choose one you’ll remember!
   • Password Confirmation – type it again!
   • Birthdate – used for password recovery purposes, so don’t fib!
   • Click the box “I agree to the Terms of Service” – review them if you wish!
   • Click “SIGN UP”!
4. Now check the eMail address mailbox you used when you sign up, and click on the ‘CONFIRM REGISTRATION’ button in the confirmation message to activate your Plex.tv account.
5. Now you will be logged into your Plex.tv account, although if you are not already a Plex user with your own media server, or if someone has not already shared a media server with you, you won’t see anything. Don’t be concerned – we’re about to fix that!

In order to access Genesis UMC’s Plex Media Server from your Plex.tv account, we will need to share it with you, and so you will have to request an invitation from us.  (like a ‘Friend Request’ on Facebook).  Once we share our media server with you – it will appear on your Plex account, and you will be able to see all of the media items that we’ve shared with our membership.  You only have to do this once!  Here is how you request an invitation:

1. Visit the following link:  http://genesis-umc.org/plex-invitation
2. Fill out the form there, and provide the following information:
   • Your First and Last Name
   • Your Email address (use the same one you used to sign up for your Plex.tv account)
   • Your Plex.tv Username (the unique username you chose for your Plex.tv account)
3. Press the “Please Invite Me!” button!
4. You should receive a confirmation message which indicates that we’ve received your request.
5. After we verify your identity and right to access our media, we’ll approve your request, and you will receive an Email from plex.tv with our invitation to use our server.  This might take 24-48 hours, as we have to do these ‘manually’.
6. Click the ‘Accept’ link in the invitation Email, and now we are connected!

Did you receive the invitation Email, and did you click on the confirmation link? If so, your Plex account is now linked to our Plex Media Server, and you can proceed. If not, please complete that step before trying to access our media server.

Using Plex is pretty intuitive, but the exact method varies based upon what device or application you are using to access our Plex Media Server. If you’re accessing our media server using a PC, the interface is much like using Youtube – you can see the sections on the left, and when you click on them, you see the media items on the right. To play an audio or video item, or display an image – look for the orange triangular ‘Play’ button.

Instructions for other playback methods, applications or devices can be found on plex.tv‘s website in their help documentation. Note that some of the mobile apps are not free (IOS/Android) – they are both about $5 each from the respective app stores, but in other cases, the app is free, as is the case with the Roku channel.

A Roku device is one of the most convenient ways to connect your TV at home with our media. One can be purchased for anywhere between $40-$80 depending upon what model you get, and some TV’s even have Roku or even Plex built right in! Plex also works with Chromecast, which is Google’s streaming media stick device.