Saturday, March 2, 2013

2014 1stHELP: How to use groups in Second Life, Summary

Groups in Second Life,
Terms and uses
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  • Terms and what they mean
  • Why join a group?
  • How to find groups
  • To join or not to join
  • How to join
  • How to use the group profile window
  • Group chat and notices
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The instructions here are for standard SL viewers of the 3.3+ class. The instruction details may not always apply to other viewers
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Terms
Role.  A group assignment carrying specified powers within the group.
Ability (Role). A specified power
Owner.  The person who creates the group
Group profile.  Several pages that describe the group.  These pages can be changed by the owner and by others as authorized by the owner.  
Group Chat. Instant messages send to most group members online. 
Group notices. Notices (possibly with notecards, LMs, or other assets attached).  These are send to group members whether they are online or not, but may not reach all group members.
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Why would I (a beginner) join a group?
  • To meet and chat with people who the same interests as you
  • To get notices about events you are interested in
  • To exchange information or help with other group members.
  • To learn things the group will help you with
Why Not?
You are limited to 42 groups so if you join too freely, you will have to drop some later.
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Some specific ways groups are used
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Group Chat. As a member of a group you can usually start or join group chat.  Here is how to start a group: Right click your avatar -  click on My Groups -- Click on a group - click  Group Chats (bottom).   When a group chat starts, you will probably see the chat in a window.  To join the chat, type your comment in the text bar.

The group owners and others appointed by the owner can moderate group chat.  That means block someone from further comments for this particular chat session.   To do this,  a moderator clicks on the person's name in the list of participants and deselects Allow text chat for that person
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Group notices. You will normally get group notices about things the group leaders consider important.  You can probably go back to read recent notices if you need to.  To reread recent group notices or get an attachment, open the group profile, click on notices (near bottom), then click on date (above the list of notices) to get recent notices to top.  
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If you do not want to get group notices:
Group profile-General tab: (Scroll down)-Uncheck Receive group notices.
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Help to Newcomers.  As a beginner, you might join a group like Hobo Helpers to have ready access to help.  Some of the members of the Hobo Helpers are experienced in Second Life.  If you type a request for help in group chat, some experienced member is likely to be able to help you.
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Event notices. There are many musical performers in Second Life.  Almost all of them have fan clubs that they use to send out notices whenever they have performances.  When you attend a performance, you will probably get an invitation to join a group to get such notices.  If you enjoy the performance and you can join without cost, don't hesitate to join.  You can always leave later if you get too many groups.
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Special access to group facilities. A group may own land or the land owner may set land to give certain rights exclusively to group members.  You will need to learn much more about roles, abilities, and the like, if you own a group or become a leader in a group.
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How do I find groups I want to join?
Use search (upper right).  Type in a term that reflects something you are interested in.
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When the result window opens, click on the groups tab.  Check the profile for any group that seems interesting   
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Or click the places tab and go to some of the places.  Many places will have an associated group.
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Here are ways to look for groups that interest you
Find places there that interest you.  The destination guide will give you location links that will take you to the places listed there. Many places will have associated groups that will give you an offer to join when you arrive.
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Or find events of interest to you.  Some events are listed in Destination Guide.  Some events are listed in the daily schedules posted in this blog.  Some events will be listed in various Facebook groups with Second Life in the name.  Events will be listed in various blogs that report on Second Life activities. 
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You can go to the Second Life Events Calendar. You need to know that the calendar you reach on the web may only show PG rated events, so you may want to look also at the events calendar inworld.
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Also, look on the profiles of people around you.  The profile of someone will usually show the groups the person is in.  And if you see the group name in a special color, click on it.  Special color often means a link, so you may get to the group profile that way.
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How do I join a group?
Groups may be open or closed enrollment. If the group is open enrollment, you will see a Join button on the profile, probably to the upper right. If the group is closed enrollment, you will need an invitation from someone in the group. If you want to join a group like that, you can contact the group owner for help.


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How to use the group profile window
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Start: To get the group windows:
Right click on your avatar
Select My Groups 
To enlarge a picture, click on it
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Group list window
See update detail below
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Update Detail for Viewer 3.6.4
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Use the group list window to select a group to
  • open text chat,
  • activate the group,
  • get details, change them,
  • create a new group.
Activate the group
  •  If you are building on land set to or owned by a group, you probably want to activate that group. Then when you create or rez an object, the object is automatically set to your active group. protecting it from auto-return
  • To use some role powers you have in the group, you may have to activate the group
  • Powers such as creating or rezzing will not be available in a parcel unless the parcel setting allows that for group members.
  • Land and houses  (About Land)
Get/change group details
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 Group Details
General Tab
Use the general tab to
  • stop getting group notices 
  • set your active title
  • hide a group on your profile
  • open other group windows
You may need to set a certain active title to use powers associated with it.
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Group Details
Roles Tab
Member subtab
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Use the roles tab, member subtab to 
  • see details on a selected member
  • invite a new member 
  • eject a member
  • select other subtabs
Group Details
Roles Tab
Roles subtab
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Use the roles tab, member subtab to 
  • see who has a particular role
  • see how many in each role or in whole group (everyone)
  • create a new role
Group Details
Notices Tab
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Use the notices tab to 
  • send notices (with attachments) to the group
  • see previous, recent notices you may have missed
Notes
A group notice is supposed to go to all group members, but probably does not go to more than 500 in a large group. Don't depend just on group notices.  Use Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ for your important notices.  See:   Promotion from Virtual Worlds. Summary
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You can attach notecards, objects, landmarks, and other assets to a notice. I recommend against using anything but notecards. You can embed assets in notecards (if they are yours full perm). Finding other assets in a large inventory is not worth the effort, so they are probably lost.  Best make a notecard with informative title and embed all the assets you want to send ( objects, textures) in a single note card
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Cautions 
  • If the group has land deeded to it 
  • and there are charges from the land 
  • (e.g., for listing in search or posting in the SL calendar), 
  • everyone  who has a role that includes the ability to
  • "pay group liabilities and receive group dividends"
  • will pay part of those charges
*****
  • For more on these topics, circle Selby Evans in Google+ 
  • What do we do in Virtual Worlds? 
  • Kitely: low cost virtual worlds
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  • Google search this blog: Search bar, upper left--or:
  • Put site:virtualoutworlding.blogspot.com at the end of the search terms 
  • What is Second Life?
  • Annotated screen shots made with Jing
  • Creative Commons License, attribution only. 
  • Second Life, Linden, SLurl, and SL are trademarks of Linden Research Inc. 
  • This blog is not affiliated with Second Life or anything else. 
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  • Drop by my place in Second Life 
  • Location Link. Click to go or drag to the viewer screen: 
  • http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Cookie/136/100/22
  • Feel free to send me an IM, notecard, or friend request. 
  • Thinkerer Melville/Selby Evans

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