User:Natalya Debevec

All About Me

Nat...

Just call me Nat *smile*.....Second Life Mentor.

Getting started in Second Life

"Where am I?" Chances are you're in a place that looks a little different to the one you just left....take a look at the top of your screen and it'll tell you right there. The name of the sim and the co-ordinates. Click on that topbar where the name is and you will be able to find out even more about 'where you are'.

Staying on those buttons up there

This is a basic introduction to your UI (User Interface)

• File
  • One of the ways of logging back into Real Life (so long as you can remember your password) is to go to File/Quit (Shortcut = ctrl/Q)
  • You can also upload images here at the bargain price of L$10 per image. These images can be used in your profile or as textures if you enjoy building
• Edit
  • The most common command here is Preferences (Shortcut = ctrl/P). Have a good look at your preferences as making changes here can make a difference to your performance inworld.
• View
  • Lots of commands in this area and all of them useful. Take a look and also look at any shortcuts as this will speed up your Second Life to some degree.
  • Get to know your beacons and what they can show you too. You can isolate particle and sound sources through this command.
• World
  • Two of the most common ones when you are starting out your Second Life are 1) Create Landmark Here and 2) Set Home to Here. The first one will allow you to take landmarks of places you like unless the sim owner has decided to disallow it and this is fairly rare. The second command allows you to set a place to home so you can have somewhere you are comfortable to log into or go home to. Some place won't allow you to set home but you will only find that out by clicking. To go 'home' the easiest shortcut is ctrl/shift/H.
• Tools
  • This is interesting when you start to build and you want to learn more about those prims (primitive building blocks) that you have just created.
• Help
  • Best command to get to know here is the last one 'About Second Life'. If you are having difficulty inworld and ask for help you will probably be asked about your hardware and/or what client you are running. This is where to find that information.
  • You can also file an AR (Abuse Report) from this area. If you are being harassed in Second Life then this is the one to click on. Look at it carefully as there are a number of areas you will need to fill in. I'll include a link to a great video on how to do this effectively.
• Advanced
  • One of the most common curiosities in Second Life is the explosion of blue and red clouds from certain objects/areas. This probably means you have 'Show Updates' checked. So go uncheck it. It'll give your graphics card a break and your eyes a rest ;)

Guess what? Look at the bottom we have more buttons there ;))

So let's start looking at them from left to right.

• Local Chat
  • If you click on this button it will bring all the main chat up in a box. Very conveniant if there are any chat spammers around as it contains the chat to one area.
  • It will also show any IMs (Instant Messages) you are getting and responding to and also your Contacts list.
  • The button below Local Chat can either hide or show the chat bar.
• Communicate
  • Brings up all your conversations again but the little upturned arrow next to it can be useful. This can show you your Mute List of various unfortunates who have been unlucky enough to peeve you so much you have muted them into an unforgivable silence.
• Fly
  • Does exactly what it says on the button. Allows you to float and fly which can get you around faster. Use your page up and down to land as gracefully as you can. Crashing to the ground still happens on occasions and if avatars could blush then I have had my fair share of red faces.
• Snapshot
  • Takes snapshots for you of your surroundings or anything you train your camera on. If you don't like the initial shot then 'Refresh Snapshot'. This option appears on the Snapshot Preview box that appears on your screen. There are options within the Snapshot Preview box that you may not see until you click 'More'. These options are:
  • Size - Adjust the size of your snapshot. Current window is the default.
  • Show interface in snapshot - This will show anything you have on your screen. Any blue drop down boxes, chat, etc.
  • Show HUD objects in snapshot - This will show any HUDs (Heads Up Display).
  • Keep open after saving - Keeps the Snapshot Preview box open once your snapshot has been taken.
  • Freeze frame (fullscreen preview) - Gives you a full screen preview of the image you are taking so you can appreciate it without anything else getting in the way.
  • Auto-refresh - Keeping this unchecked means you have to manually refresh snapshots. Not a bad thing if you are new to all this.

• Search
  • All - Shows the top classified paid advertisements. You can also search for anything in this tab. People, places, events, etc.
  • Classifieds - Click browse and you will see paid advertisents for anything and everything. If you want something in particular just tyoe it in the search bar (next to Find) on this tab. There is also a drop-down Category box to narrow your results even further.
  • Events - A brilliant little tab. You can look for anything that is in progress or upcoming by keeping that little circle on the left checked or you can search a particular date by checking the circle next to Date (of course). There is a drop down box to enable you to choose which category you would like and you can choose between Live Music, Discussion, Education and more. Keeping the Show Mature box checked enables any mature content to be displayed. If you are looking for a particular item such as a rock band in Second Life just type their name in the Name/Desc search bar.
  • Showcase - Brilliant place to start as it highlights areas of interest within Second Life.
  • Land Sales - There are drop down bars detailing All Types (Mainland, Auction and Estate); PG and Mature. You can search by Price or Area.
  • Places - Search for places of interests and again the drop down box can help you to choose. Keeping the 'Include parcels with mature content' checked can open the search up. Places will be listed in order of relevency to the terms used.
  • People - Type in the name of an avatar you are trying to locate and this is where you will find them.
  • Groups - Residents like to belong to groups. If you are a profile reader like myself then you can either click on the groups in someone's profile to find out information on it or you can search for it in this tab.

• Build

When you start to create prims in Second Life this is the panel you need to learn about. The edit panel. Clicking on Build will bring this up and it's good fun to have a look at all the tabs on the edit panel and see what they can do.

• Map

Clicking on this will bring up the main Map of Second Life. A great way to start exploring. Just left click on it to move it around and if you see something interesting or want to see why there are lots of green dots in one area then choose 'Teleport'. You can adapt the map to some extent for your own use. Top left there are two buttons: Objects and Terrain. The first will show sims with anything that has been built, the second will show the land only. On the right hand side is a selection of items and you can check or uncheck the boxes next to them depending on if you want them to show on the map or not. There are also two drop down boxes:

• • Online Friends - If someone has granted you that privilege then this is where you can locate them anywhere in Second Life
  • Landmarks - Lists all the places you have visited.

Beneath these two drop down boxes is a search bar where you can type in a place name and search for it. You can then choose to Teleport there if you wish. At the bottom on the left hand side there is a selection of buttons :

• • Teleport - Click on this once you have found your destination of choice.
  • Show Destination - This will show the location you are searching for also.
  • Clear - Handy little button to click once you have arrived at a location you have searched for. It takes away that red column on your main screen. This red column appears to show the exact location you have searched.
  • Show My Location - Clicking on this will take the map to the exact area where you are standing.
  • Cope SLURL to clipboard - Great little button that allows you to paste the link of a place into chat or IM to allow people to teleport to your destination.
  • Zoom - This little slider moves the map in and out so you can see more or less of Second Life.

• Mini-Map

This will bring up a small map onto your main screen. This can be handy if you are trying to find the party on a sim as you can just move towards all the green dots.

• Inventory

The button that is important and ultimately frustrating to you. Your inventory contains all the items you acquire in Second Life and there are two ways this can go. The first is the depravation felt when you notice you have missing inventory or the utter anguish you feel when you realise you need to sort through and discard at least 27,000 of those items you have accumulated.