Difference between revisions of "KB2/Getting started"

Revision as of 14:24, 25 October 2010

Where do I begin?

To try Second Life®:

Make sure your computer can run Second Life:
- Check that your computer meets the System Requirements.
- You can also check your computer via a "systest", in case you're running either Windows 2000, XP, 2003, Media Center oa Vista. To do so, please browse to: "Can you run it?". Each of your computer's components will be evaluated in seconds to see how well it meets the minimum and recommended requirements for Second Life as well as suggestions for what to upgrade on your computer if needed. Only your system's hardware and system software are evaluated. No personally identifiable information is collected.
Sign up for a Second Life account, if you haven't already done so. Basic accounts are free! Be sure to choose a name you can be proud of; the name you choose during registration is the name by which other Residents in Second Life will identify you.
Download and install the Second Life viewer.
- Run the Viewer as you would any application on your system.
- Log in with the name and password you chose, and start exploring!
The first time you log in, you start on one of many Welcome Islands.

If you get lost or confused while inworld, try asking someone for help. Many experienced Residents are happy to help new arrivals; everybody needs help at some time or another!

Information about Second Life is right here in the wiki: Take a look around! You can also display the (old) Knowledge Base any time by pressing F1 while inworld or typing secondlife.com/kb into your browser window.

If you don't find what you are looking for, let us know! Submit a Knowledge Base suggestion ticket (only if you have a Premiun Account, Basic Accounts cannot use that kind of ticket; but see in that link other ways for improvement this Knowledge Base) or visit the Documentation Team inworld during our weekly office hours. We'd love to have your feedback.

How do I get the Second Life Viewer?

It only takes a few easy steps to start using Second Life®. Follow these steps:

Make sure your system meets the Minimum System Requirements. Second Life will not run on systems that fail to meet these requirements.
Visit the New Membership page and create your Second Life account.
Visit the Download page and download the Second Life installer. It's best to save it somewhere easy, such as your desktop.
Run the installer program you downloaded, to install Second Life on your computer.
When the Second Life client software is installed, double-click the green Second Life icon to start the program.
At the login screen, enter your Second Life account first and last name and your account password, then click Log In!
If you wish to clean up, you can safely delete the installer that you downloaded above.

Support Tickets

What's a Ticket?

You can think of a support ticket as a special form that you fill out when you're having a problem inside the Second Life® virtual world, or with your Second Life account. If you fill it out correctly, one of our Support team members will read it and try to help you solve your problem in a reasonable amount of time.

Ticket Types

Different questions have different corresponding tickets that ask you for different information. For instance, if you're trying to resolve a credit card billing question, it won't make much sense for us to ask you what you want to name your new Private Region. The questions we do ask on each ticket type are often vital to getting your problem solved in as timely a manner as possible. Don't skip any fields unless you really can't answer them!

Note: If you have a Basic account, or don't yet have a Second Life account, use only the tickets for Basic and Guest accounts.

To see the various ticket types, go to the Support Portal and click New Ticket Submission. We can't link to this directly because it requires you to be logged in at the Support Portal first. The link looks like this:

Infohubs

An Infohub, also known as a Welcome Area, is a place where Residents congregate and socialize, and there are usually kiosks providing Second Life information. Infohubs can be fun places to hang out and learn about the world if you're new, although silly stuff happens on occasion.

Official Infohubs are owned by Linden Lab and mostly built by Residents, but some Residents run their own, unofficial social spaces which they also call Infohubs.

Infohubs are represented on the World Map with blue i's, like this:

To show them, make sure that Infohub on the right-hand legend is checked.

Destination Guide

What is the Second Life Destination Guide?

The Destination Guide section of SecondLife.com and the Second Life® Viewer highlights some of the best inworld locations and Resident creations. For new and existing Residents alike, this is the place to go to explore and discover what's most exciting in the Second Life world.

Venues and content featured in the Destination Guide are not paid placements. Currently, the best way for a Resident to promote their venue, event or business is through inworld Search or the Classifieds.

How do you determine which venues and content to feature in Destination Guide?

Destination Guide is a place to show off some of the most interesting, entertaining, and novel Resident-created content. It is for existing Residents, but some entries will also be surfaced on the Web site for those Residents exploring SecondLife.com for the first time. Linden Lab editors will be looking for content that we believe surfaces the best and most popular places within Second Life. We also welcome Resident suggestions for cool spots to feature.

Criteria favoring selection include:

Is the venue a high-quality implementation of the Second Life experience?
Does the venue appeal broadly to the Second Life community, including a new Resident that is still learning Second Life?
Is the venue exceptional or unique?
Is the venue being promoted outside Second Life and participating in the inSL logo program, if appropriate?
Does the venue have a real and active community of participants?
Does the suggestion submission include a compelling and visually interesting screenshot?
Does the submitted description text accurately describe the location?

Criteria weighing against selection include:

Has the venue or one like it been included before?
Has the venue ever been warned for failure to comply with any aspect of the Terms of Service?
Is the venue currently violating the Terms of Service through use of bots, campers, illegal gambling or mainland Adult content?
Does the submitted screenshot contain promotion text over the main image?
Does the submitted description text include incoherent or inaccurate text and/or a list of keywords?

Can Residents suggest their own venues for inclusion in the Destination Guide?

Yes! Please visit the Destination Guide Suggestion form. We value community input and encourage Residents to suggest their own venues.

What are the text and image editorial guidelines for Destination Guide submissions?

Image Specifications

Destination Guide aims to showcase the beauty and diversity of the Second Life experience. The quality and aesthetic composition of your image will help convince Residents to visit your suggested inworld location. Residents are encouraged to submit a well-composed screenshot that captures the creativity, community or aesthetic beauty of your venue. You will have an opportunity to add descriptive text separately under the Description field in the entry form, so do not layer or embed any text or logos within the photo itself.

In the Destination Guide submission form, you will be asked to include a link to a screenshot of your venue. Screenshots should be hosted on Flickr and should be in .jpeg format with the dimensions 657 width by 394 height. Please note that the Destination Guide user suggestion form will only accept images that meet this exact criteria. Please see this screencast video for a quick walk-through on how to get the proper image URL from Flickr for use in the form.

NOTE: As of Aug. 19, 2010, we are investigating reports that, under some circumstances, Flickr links might not be accepted by the Destination Guide form. If you are getting an error, please contact the Linden Lab editors directly via e-mail with your submission suggestion. Please include the info requested in the form (SLurl link, title, description) along with the image as an attachment.

Inworld Photography Resources

If you are unfamiliar with taking inworld photos, check out the following resources that offer tips and best practices:

Text Specifications

The form will also ask you for descriptive text with a limitation of 400 typed characters.

The voice and tone of Destination Guide uses "third person" voice, so please avoid use of "first person" language in your entries. For example, avoid words like I, we, our and my. Also, please refrain from use of overly-hyped or promotion-heavy language. Destination Guide entries should read as informative, rather than overtly promotional in nature. For example, lists of keywords are not acceptable as descriptive text for your entry.

Linden Lab reserves the right to edit material for length and clarity.

Are there any restrictions on submissions?

Parcel Restrictions

You may suggest a destination using the form if:

You personally own the parcel and it is at least 512 square meters in size.
The parcel is owned by a group that you are a member of, and is at least 512 square meters.
The parcel is in a private island that you are on the access list of, and is at least 512 square meters.
The parcel belongs to Governor Linden and is set to show in Search Places as a Hangout.
The parcel belongs to a friend, it is set to show in Search Places as a Hangout, and is at least 512 square meters.

Number of Submissions

Residents are limited to two suggestions per month.

Trademark, Copyright & Terms of Service Compliance

To be eligible for inclusion, suggested venues must comply with the Community Standards, Trademark Guidelines, and other provisions of the Terms of Service. The ultimate decision to include or not include any suggested venue or content in Destination Guide is Linden Lab's in its sole discretion.

Review the Community Standards
Review the Trademark Guidelines
Review the Terms of Service
Review our DMCA policy
Review our Linden_Lab_Official:Snapshot_and_machinima_policy

For any content that is suggested, Residents must have the necessary rights and permissions to use and they must authorize Linden Lab to use the content. Residents should not suggest content that is copyrighted or otherwise subject to another party's proprietary rights (including privacy, publicity, trademark, and trade secret rights) unless they own the rights or have the permission of the rights owner. We do not permit intellectual property infringement and will remove content from our Web site and services if properly notified that the content infringes another's intellectual property rights.

Journalists, publishers, filmmakers, and others interested in Second Life often contact Linden Lab for images of Second Life. Linden Lab may direct these parties to the Destination Guide for promotional shots.

I'm having problems with the form. What should I do?

Please see this screencast video for a quick walk-through on the form, including how to get the proper image URL from Flickr for use in the image field.

Residents can also e-mail our editors with their suggestions. For these submissions, please include a link to your Flickr-hosted photo that meets the above criteria and identify the following:

Venue title (limit: 40 characters)
Venue descriptions (limit: 400 characters)
SLurl link

Can I recommend a location for the Editors' Picks and Popular Places categories?

Selections for both Editors' Picks and Popular Places are made at the sole discretion of the Linden Lab editorial staff using the following criteria:

Editors' Picks
- Linden Lab editors will review all user-submitted suggestions to periodically select examples of locations that highlight some of the best architecture, activities, communities and/or or creative efforts in Second Life.
- Featured venues will be refreshed periodically by Linden Lab editors with the intent of rotating a limited number of venues in this category at any given time.
- Occasionally, editors will write extended profiles of locations on the Destination Guide Blog.
Popular Places
- Popular Places is a manually-edited list of venues that are frequently populated with real people, communities and conversations.
- This list does not reflect “real-time” traffic and activity of Second Life, nor does it aim to reflect the “most” popular places in Second Life.
- Featured venues will be refreshed periodically by Linden Lab editors with the intent of rotating a limited number of venues in this category at any given time.
- Every effort is made to include venues that adhere to Linden Lab’s policies on traffic bots and camping.

How often will you update the listings?

Regularly. We want to keep the Destination Guide fresh so visitors will return frequently to discover new ways to explore Second Life.

Will there be other places for Residents to discover cool content beyond Destination Guide?

In addition to Destination Guide, Residents should use the Search function within the Second Life client. We encourage all venue owners to review the guidelines at the Search FAQ for information on maximizing your presence using inworld Search.

There are also numerous third-party blogs and applications that do an excellent job of guiding Residents to the hottest spots in Second Life.

How do we contact Linden Lab editors?

For questions or update requests to existing entries, please contact the Linden Lab editors via e-mail. Please note that we are not able to respond to all inquiries about individual submission suggestions. However, we do welcome all comments, feedback and suggestions.