Different ways to do the same thing

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There are often "different ways to do the same thing" in Second Life, or in other words, various paths to one goal. For example, a newcomer may prefer using the mouse to clicking menu options, but when you know there are keyboard shortcuts — which "power users" generally prefer — you can graduate to those. Here are some quick examples and check out the "See also" links to more info at the bottom.

KBtip2.png Tip: The below video shows Mac shortcuts, but you can easily "translate" to PC shortcuts. See "PC and Mac shortcut key differences".
<videoflash type="youtube">NRrUxXplmuY|640|385</videoflash>

Right-clicking

A simple rule of thumb: right-click everywhere. You may discover quicker access to options you normally would have to travel further for. Here's a video that readily illustrates this:

<videoflash type="youtube">vV6fRuPpO2k|640|505</videoflash>
KBtip2.png Tip: If you're on an older Mac, as explained here, you should get a multi-button mouse, which will save you the pain of repeatedly Cmd ⌘-clicking.

Menus

Many menu items, especially broadly useful ones, have keyboard shortcuts listed next to them. These shortcuts differ depending on your operating system (Windows, Mac, Linux).

Keyboard shortcuts that are single letters (for example, G for Build > Options > Snap to Grid) only work if inworld — instead of the chat bar — has focus. Press Esc or simply click inworld, like near your avatar, to give inworld focus.

Sidebar

Most of the sidebar stuff can be accessed through the top bar and context menu:

  • Most of the sidebar tabs' menu equivalents are in the Me menu. For example, Me > My Profile does the same thing as clicking the My Profile sidebar tab.
  • Right-click your avatar to show some of the same sidebar tab options.

Movement controls

In the Viewer's user interface, there's the Move controls. All of these have keyboard equivalents, which is the more common usage. Advanced users can remap keys.

"Special" keys "Letter" keys (when chat bar doesn't have focus)
Walk forward ↑ W
Walk backward ↓ S
Turn left (strafe left in mouselook) ← A
Turn right (strafe left in mouselook) → D
Walk left Shift ⇧ ← Shift ⇧ A
Walk right Shift ⇧ → Shift ⇧ D
Run forward tap tap ↑ tap tap W
Run backward tap tap ↓ tap tap S
Run left Shift ⇧ tap tap ← Shift ⇧ tap tap A
Run right Shift ⇧ tap tap → Shift ⇧ tap tap D
Jump tap Page Up tap E
Fly (toggle) tap Home tap F
Fly up hold Page Up hold E
Fly down (or crouch, when on the ground) hold Page Down hold C

You can also mouse-steer your avatar by holding the left mouse button on your avatar (or your name tag) to choose a direction, then use the movement keys shown above.

You can "always run" (meaning you don't have to double-tap and hold a key to run) by choosing Advanced menu > Shortcuts > Always Run.

If you'd prefer to disable double-tap to run:

  1. Choose Me menu > Preferences.
  2. Click the Advanced tab.
  3. Uncheck Tap-tap hold to run.
  4. Click OK.

If you want the arrow keys to always move your avatar (in other words, the arrow keys won't move the I-beam cursor when it's in the chat bar and certain other places):

  1. Choose Me menu > Preferences.
  2. Click the Advanced tab.
  3. Check Arrow keys always move me.
  4. Click OK.

This video demonstrates the above options:

<videoflash type="youtube">ogRvqjSndIw|640|385</videoflash>

Camera controls

In the Viewer's user interface, there's the Camera controls. Like Move, all camera controls have keyboard equivalents. These shortcuts are more complicated than movement controls because they require pressing several keys (and/or the left mouse button) simultaneously, so there's a healthy proportion of Residents using one way or the other — or both.

"Special keys" keyboard shortcut "Letter keys" keyboard shortcut Mouse-inclusive equivalent
Change focus point and center it in the Viewer window n/a n/a Alt + left-click
Zoom camera in Alt+↑ Alt+W Alt + hold left mouse button and drag up
Zoom camera out Alt+↓ Alt+S Alt + hold left mouse button and drag down
Zoom in
(different than "Zoom camera" above, changes view angle, not distance) 		Ctrl+0 n/a n/a
Zoom default
(different than "Zoom camera" above, changes view angle, not distance) 		Ctrl+9 n/a n/a
Zoom out
(different than "Zoom camera" above, changes view angle, not distance) 		Ctrl+8 n/a n/a
Orbit up Alt+Ctr+↑ Alt+Ctrl+W Alt+Ctrl + hold left mouse button and drag up
Orbit down Alt+Ctrl+↓ Alt+Ctrl+S Alt+Ctrl + hold left mouse button and drag down
Orbit left Alt+Ctrl+← Alt+Ctrl+W Alt+Ctrl + hold left mouse button and drag left
Orbit right Alt+Ctrl+→ Alt+Ctrlk+S Alt+Ctrl + hold left mouse button and drag right
Pan up Alt+Ctrl+Shift ⇧+↑ Alt+Ctrl+Shift ⇧+W Alt+Ctrl+Shift ⇧ + hold left mouse button and drag down
Pan down Alt+Ctrl+Shift ⇧+↓ Alt+Ctrl+Shift ⇧+S Alt+Ctrl+Shift ⇧ + hold left mouse button and drag up
Pan left Alt+Ctrl+Shift ⇧+← Alt+Ctrl+Shift ⇧+A
(This conflicts with the shortcut for Debug Avatar Textures) 		Alt+Ctrl+Shift ⇧ + hold left mouse button and drag right
Pan right Alt+Ctrl+Shift ⇧+→ Alt+Ctrl+Shift ⇧+D
(This conflicts with the shortcut for enabling the Advanced menu) 		Alt+Ctrl+Shift ⇧ + + hold left mouse button and drag left

Another variant of the camera controls is found in Build menu > Focus Tool, where the keyboard shortcuts are different because of the following subtleties in build mode:

  • Only mouse-inclusive shortcuts will work because the build tools' fields have focus.
  • You don't need to hold down Alt.
  • If you prefer, you can simply click Zoom, Orbit, or Pan and not have to use any keys.

For example, to orbit up in build mode, instead of Alt+Ctrl+↑, you do Ctrl+↑ + hold left mouse button and drag up.

See also

These pages have more info about the above. Note some of it is outdated from Viewer 1.23 and needs to be updated for Viewer 2, so if you're feeling like making contributions, go ahead!

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