New to Viewer 2? Some Frequently Asked Questions
Posted by Courtney Linden on Apr 2, 2010 8:04:26 AM
It takes time to get the hang of a new Viewer, especially one with all of the extra bells and whistles that came with this week's Viewer 2 launch. Both seasoned Residents as well as those new to Second Life have been exploring our new UI and quickly discovering all the places it works best, and those where it is less intuitive. Over on the Support side of Linden Lab, we've been seeing a variety of questions pop up over the past couple of days. Here's a little Q&A featuring some of the most common ones that might be helpful.
Q: Why does it keep logging me out? How do I make it stop?
A: By default, you're logged out if you are "away" for 30 minutes or more, but you can change this setting to 2, 5, or 10 minutes, or if you'd prefer, have the Viewer never log you out. Here's how:
1. Select the Me menu.
2. Choose Preferences from the dropdown menu.
3. Go to the General tab and set your preferred auto-logout time.
Q: These dance moves are totally uncool. How do I stop all animations?
A: Use the Advanced menu to stop animations:
1. Press Ctrl-Alt-D to expose the Advanced menu. (Command-Alt-D on the Mac; some Mac keyboards require Shift-Command-Alt-D.)
2. Click the Advanced menu.
3. Click Stop Animating Me at the top of the menu.
Q: How do I see my altitude?
A: Right-click the address bar and a menu will appear. Select Show Coordinates and you'll see the coordinates of your position, including your altitude.
Q: How can I see transparent items?
A: Here's a quick keyboard shortcut:
A: Here's another one that's now located in the Advanced menu:
1. Press Ctrl-Alt-D to open the Advanced menu.
2. Click the Performance Tools menu.
3. Choose from the Statistics Bar, the Lag Meter, and the Show Avatar Rendering Cost options.
Q: I can't teleport! What do I do?
A: The troubleshooting techniques are the same for the new Viewer. Here are a few useful ones to get you started:
A: Looks like lag! If all you see is a ghosty blob where your avatar should be, you're probably just experiencing some lag. Things may be rendering slowly on your end, but others may see you just fine. If this is a frequent issue, try using a wired high-speed Internet connection rather than WiFi. And if you can right-click yourself and select My Appearance, then going into Appearance Mode and back out again can assist you in rendering fully.
Q: I went shopping inworld and the package still hasn't arrived. Did Viewer 2 steal my hair?
A: We've been hearing reports of some Resident-to-Resident delivery failures. It should just be temporary, but if your item hasn't arrived within 15 minutes, you should probably contact the merchant—just in case.
Q: Is this as good as it gets?
A: Thanks to your thorough tire-kicking and reporting, we're compiling a list of bugs to squish and improvements to make. The awesomeness of Viewer 2 isn't over yet—lots of cool stuff is on its way! Our QA and Development teams are hard at work, and we'll keep you posted as they release more, better, and bug-free features.
Want to know more about Viewer 2? Take a look at some of our other useful resources:
Posted by Courtney Linden on Apr 2, 2010 8:04:26 AM
It takes time to get the hang of a new Viewer, especially one with all of the extra bells and whistles that came with this week's Viewer 2 launch. Both seasoned Residents as well as those new to Second Life have been exploring our new UI and quickly discovering all the places it works best, and those where it is less intuitive. Over on the Support side of Linden Lab, we've been seeing a variety of questions pop up over the past couple of days. Here's a little Q&A featuring some of the most common ones that might be helpful.
Q: Why does it keep logging me out? How do I make it stop?
A: By default, you're logged out if you are "away" for 30 minutes or more, but you can change this setting to 2, 5, or 10 minutes, or if you'd prefer, have the Viewer never log you out. Here's how:
1. Select the Me menu.
2. Choose Preferences from the dropdown menu.
3. Go to the General tab and set your preferred auto-logout time.
Q: These dance moves are totally uncool. How do I stop all animations?
A: Use the Advanced menu to stop animations:
1. Press Ctrl-Alt-D to expose the Advanced menu. (Command-Alt-D on the Mac; some Mac keyboards require Shift-Command-Alt-D.)
2. Click the Advanced menu.
3. Click Stop Animating Me at the top of the menu.
Q: How do I see my altitude?
A: Right-click the address bar and a menu will appear. Select Show Coordinates and you'll see the coordinates of your position, including your altitude.
Q: How can I see transparent items?
A: Here's a quick keyboard shortcut:
- On a PC: Control + Alt + T
- On a Mac: Control + Option + T
A: Here's another one that's now located in the Advanced menu:
1. Press Ctrl-Alt-D to open the Advanced menu.
2. Click the Performance Tools menu.
3. Choose from the Statistics Bar, the Lag Meter, and the Show Avatar Rendering Cost options.
Q: I can't teleport! What do I do?
A: The troubleshooting techniques are the same for the new Viewer. Here are a few useful ones to get you started:
- Find out if the Region you're trying to reach is down or is going down. Check status.secondlifegrid.net for details.
- Try flying up and then teleporting. If the Region you're currently in has restrictions preventing you from teleporting, that should do the trick.
- Reduce your Avatar Rendering Cost. Remove all attachments—especially all scripted ones—by right-clicking your avatar, and then choose Take Off > All Attachments. Then try teleporting again. You can reattach everything once you're at your desired destination.
A: Looks like lag! If all you see is a ghosty blob where your avatar should be, you're probably just experiencing some lag. Things may be rendering slowly on your end, but others may see you just fine. If this is a frequent issue, try using a wired high-speed Internet connection rather than WiFi. And if you can right-click yourself and select My Appearance, then going into Appearance Mode and back out again can assist you in rendering fully.
Q: I went shopping inworld and the package still hasn't arrived. Did Viewer 2 steal my hair?
A: We've been hearing reports of some Resident-to-Resident delivery failures. It should just be temporary, but if your item hasn't arrived within 15 minutes, you should probably contact the merchant—just in case.
Q: Is this as good as it gets?
A: Thanks to your thorough tire-kicking and reporting, we're compiling a list of bugs to squish and improvements to make. The awesomeness of Viewer 2 isn't over yet—lots of cool stuff is on its way! Our QA and Development teams are hard at work, and we'll keep you posted as they release more, better, and bug-free features.
Want to know more about Viewer 2? Take a look at some of our other useful resources: