When you start in Second Life you will soon be amazed by the amount and variation of items you can pick up with free or with those precious Lindens. But be prepared…once your inventory reaches 4 figures you will soon be pulling your virtual flexi hair out in frustration when you try to find those gorgeous jeans you bought last week.
So what every dedicated Slifer needs to do is put some time and effort into controlling that inventory before it breeds into a monster that takes over the world!
Firstly you need to understand your folders. In your inventory you will see two main folders – inventory and library and these are the same for everyone first signing up.
The library is the public section with the goodies given to everyone – once you use an item from here it will load into your inventory folder – which is your private section.
The folders with icons are the standard folders – these cannot be moved or deleted. However extras folders can be created within these as mush as you wish….which is the first key tip…
Folders, folders, folders
Just like in real life you organise your clothing into specific drawers and wardrobes – so you should with folders in your inventory.
You have a body parts folder – within this you can create extra folders – maybe for hair, skins, shapes, eyelashes, nails. The same applies to your Clothing folder – why not create one for shoes, hats –whatever you need to find your items fast.
You will find you need to apply this organisation to all folders – gestures, snapshots, notecards – ultimately it will seem a lot of work but not as much as looking through 150 photos to find that beautiful one of you dancing in your wings at Mayhem club!
Make folders for HUDs…furniture….vehicles – it will depend on your own inventory what you choose to have folders for. You will then find that you can move your items into these leaving it much faster to search once you know what your items are which is the second tip….
Rename and organise
All modifiable items can be renamed – so call them something you will recognise it by again – and think onwards about the amount you will gather. So don’t call them blue jeans – maybe blue jeans & butterfly will be better.
If you have non-modifiable items you need to rename just pop them in their own folder and rename that to something recognisable.
Of course the best thing to do is ensure you only have items you use…so tip number 3…..
Delete and trash
If you have an outfit you hate and are never going to use…..delete it – especially if it was a freebie. Once you delete an item it will move into your trash folder. At this point you can still find it and restore it to your inventory.
Items in the trash folder still count in your inventory and will slow its loading down – so once you are sure you want to permanently remove then empty your trash regularly by right clicking the folder.
Also once you have opened a box and have the folder of items out of it you usually take this empty box back to your inventory – make sure you delete these straight out again.
Once you have a fabulous tidy inventory you can find your items in a number of ways…oh yes its tip number 4.
Search and filter
You have a number of tools at the top of your inventory for finding items:
1) Search – type in red and this will show you all items with red in the title – this is where your skill at renaming helps.
2) Filters – looking for specifically a gesture…..use these filters to narrow down what you see
3) Sort options – you can change whether your inventory is sorted by name or by date depending on what you are searching for.
4) Recent items tab – if you just purchased something and can’t find it click on this to see your most recent items.
Now you have a clean well-organised wardrobe – but sometimes it does all go wrong…sad face. We have all experienced that moment of opening our inventory and screaming ‘OMG Linden ate my shoes!!’
The key rule is don’t panic – on nearly all occasions your inventory hasn’t disappeared - it just hasn’t loaded correctly. There is official help and guidance for this – so either go see your friendly London Greeter or check out the following page:
You may need to spend some serious quiet time on initially getting organised but just think – once you are done you can reward yourself….with a little shopping trip!
by Evie Falconer
