Fixed-Default Sage Parental Controls Disabled Please Read

[PLUCKYHD]

In the next version and foward the default Sage Parental controls will be ignored in smm.

YOU MUST USE SMM USER RESTRICTIONS/PARENTAL CONTROLS TO HAVE ANY KIND OF CONTROL IN SMM

My Main reasons for doing this are as follows

• Sage/BMT is title based, where SMM is edition/collection based so sage might reconize it as a Rated r when it is actually on unrated edition in SMM.
• There where issues that were going to be complicated to get default parental restrictions to work correctly in SMM
• I think using the actual rating in SMM vs Sage default rating is a more accurate way to restrict in SMM
• I prefer SMM security of not showing the movies the client doesn't have access to (can be shown if unlocked)

I hope all are understanding on this change.

Please see this Stickie and linked wiki on how to setup SMM user restrictions.

UserRestrictions Stickie

Also not the sage default restrictions will still work in all other areas of sage outside of SMM.

cheers and thanks for the understanding on this issue

pluckyhd

[teq]

Plucky,

I understand where you are coming from - that there were some technical issues that prevented you from using the SageTV parental controls in SMM (and I experienced some of these myself with the SageTV parental controls not working together with the multi disc feature in SMM).

However, I belive it would be better if plug-ins used certain central system components provided by SageTV - and IMHO parental controls are such a central component - instead of each plug-in recreating it's own (redundant) functionality. If every plug-in reinvents some of the central system components, this could end up being quite confusing for the end user.

And the SageTV parental controls also have the advantage of providing a comfortable frontend to change the levels of parental controls.

So please don't take this as criticism, but as constructive feedback (i.e., it's just my 5 cents).

Cheers,
teq

[PLUCKYHD]

I agree with that but in the end I prefer my controls. Sagetv parental controls don't do anything to hide the movies current users don't have access too. If my kids can't watch the movie they don't need to see it and that is my preference yes but I am also the developer so I get to choose . The main reason I branched off and made my own was because many users wanted a way to block folders from users and there wasn't any way to do that in the default. In the end I don't see it as redundancy as I use sagetv for tv and mine for movies.

Could I make sagetv default parental controls work with SMM? absolutely but it would take a decent amount of time that right now I think is better spent on other areas of development.

Again some won't like this change but there would be many more that wouldn't like me getting rid of the parental controls I put in place there are allot of users that love guest/kids what have you see certain movies.

[teq]

Originally Posted by PLUCKYHD

I agree with that but in the end I prefer my controls. Sagetv parental controls don't do anything to hide the movies current users don't have access too. If my kids can't watch the movie they don't need to see it and that is my preference yes but I am also the developer so I get to choose

(...)

Well, yes of course - you're the one who put all the work into this project (without demanding anything for it), and I am very grateful for that.

So it's clear you want to set the overall direction your project is taking. However, you've asked people in the past which route to take on certain design decisions, so I was hoping you might consider this one as well...

Anyway, thanks, and keep up the great work.

Oh, and did I already ask you whether you may want to reconsider your decision regarding support of SageTV parental controls at some point in the future?

Cheers,
teq

[foleyma]

Hi,

I also appreciate the great work that has been done on SMM.

However, I think the disabling of the Sage parental controls is a step backwards. My restrictions requirements are pretty simple, i.e. if my kids want to watch a movie above a specified rating then I wanted them to come and ask me to enter the PIN. I didn't mind that they knew the movie was there or could read the desciption. I just didn't want them to watch it without my knowledge. After all, the ratings system is such that I don't mind them watching certain PG13 movies but others I don't think it is appropriate for them to see.

The SMM UseRestrictions are certainly comprehensive and I imagine that some would want that kind of flexibility/complexity. However, I would argue that most would have requirements similar to mine. In particular, IMHO hiding the description of the movies above the default level for a client is unnecessary as is having to set a default level for each client. In my case I have several HD-200s so unless I put locks on the doors having a different level for each client makes no sense.

Anyway, I really appreciate the good work on SMM but would implore you to reconsider the decision to disable the Sage parental controls. Or, if that is not possible could there at least be an option not to hide the description of the movies from the views that are above the default level and throw an error when trying to play them instead?

Regards,

Mark

[PLUCKYHD]

Being considered but don't count on it as the biggest issue lies in multi disc support and I am not very motivated to change how I do that.

[PLUCKYHD]

User contolrs now work in SMM so this thread has been unstickied new version now fully supports default restrictions. Use either or. However Remember SMM ratings won't always match the default DB.