Tips For The Newcomer

From SLIS Second Life Wiki

Jump to: navigation, search

These tips were contributed by the members of the alliancesecondlife group. If you'd like to know more about this group and their listserv, please go to this link http://groups.google.com/group/alliancesecondlife?hl=en


Tips

  • Spend at least some time in Orientation. Upon orientation completion, you'll earn Lindens and at the very least learned to Chat and move in SL.
  • Read the giant book inside the Main Library on Info Island.
  • Have the camera controls and movement controls panels on your screen at all times.
  • The movement controls allow you to fly much higher than you can just by using the cursor.
  • Camera controls allow you to rotate the view so that you can see your avatar head on.
  • Always keep your Chat History open, especially if you are taking a class, attending an event, or a lot of avatars are chatting at the same time. You can increase the number of lines that are displayed and how long they "live."
  • Learn how to turn off avatar names. Attending a large class or seminar can be horrible if all you can see is everyone's name.
  • Attend the many free classes in-world. Use the in-world events Search or the Second Life Community Events page to find them.
  • Cut and paste your chat history into a Notecard. This is great for retaining class notes or meeting minutes.
  • Don't add a bunch of junk to your inventory. It just slows you down. Figure out what you have when you first come in-world and how to use that before you start grabbing freebies.
  • Clear your cache using Edit, Preferences, Network and Web options.
  • Offer and take friendship as much as possible in order to use the "teleport" function to their locations.
  • Have a friend teleport you to various locations and provide a tour.
  • Learn to use Instant Messaging. So that if you "lose" a guide you can IM them.
  • Train in short segments. An hour at a time seems to be about right. It can be overwhelming and frustrating for some users while others can come in-world and be at home. The theoretical hurdle time is 3.5 hours in-world to achieve a permanent presence (i.e., the time at which the SL noob won't quit in frustration).
  • If it seems dark in world, use Ctrl-Shift-Y to force sun (also available on the "world" menu).
  • If you can't seem to "see" properly, press ESC to return to reset view.
  • Sitting down will often stop an unwanted animation; but not always.
  • Find something to do: search for an event, class, or meeting and go there. Wandering aimlessly can be fun but also overwhelming.
  • Take a picture of yourself by using the screen print function on your PC to see how you look. And to save as a backup if you manage to lose "yourself" while editing your appearance.
Retrieved from "http://slisweb.sjsu.edu/sl/index.php/Tips_For_The_Newcomer"
Personal tools