with New residents in mind..

The current UI imo has too many unnecesary buttons.

Things like EVENTS & LEADERS can be listed using the "FIND" button. Clicking the mini map brings up the big map..no need for a MAP button

a "commands" button might be useful. have a list of commands & what they do along with a search option.

maybe a GESTURES button to bring up the gesture window.

The Gestures interface IMO is harder then it should be. Why can't we just drag & drop what we want in our gestures straight from the inventory into the STEPS section of the Gestures window. (taking out the need for that little "library" window with in the new gestures window). We would however still need an easy way to access the "wait' (step) to add so maybe having that as a button to add into the STEPS window that again allows u the choice)


Ideas for newb help..

"HELP" button

Button on the UI that works kind of like find, have it categorized with a SEARCH ability, an be sure that there are tabs they can click to connect them to live help or to email linden labs in case their answer(s) can't be found in "help"

New tutorials "SL basics " the book..

Mentors, live helpers, instructors & other volunteers could help compile a "book" filled with notecards of FAQ's & other useful info for Newbs. This could be something that is automatically given in the inventory to a newb and/or otherwise easily attainable.


Also, a New resident RESOURCE center IN SL. a place they can get in depth and "hands on" knowledge of SL & how it works.

also maybe an updated SL "dictionary" to define things like "sim" "Lindens" "prims" "rez", etc..that a newb wouldn't be familiar with.

These should be reviewed with every major update to make sure the info is still accurate & current.

I keep the mini-map turned off, so I do need the MAP button.
Since toolbar "Help" menus have been a staple since the first days of GUI's, I think the best place is on the toolbar. Why have a redundant button at the bottom of the UI?
There's a book like this in Yadni's Junkyard I believe. When new users ask me for help, I point them to two places, the Junkyard and the USL Library, which contains lots of free help notecards and examples.
I'm sure LL would love to see users create a Resource Center with examples like this. That seems the intent of the USL Library... the center would surely see decent traffic.

One of the things that can be confusing at first is the UI. But, one of the things I love about SL is the fact that there are many different ways to do the same thing. It may be redundant, but having many ways to do the same things allows the freedom to do them the way most comfortable to each user. I would hate to see a lot of the buttons disappear simply because of that.

I have suggested the idea that the F1 key feature more information. F1 is already basic help, it could be expanded to include a glossary, scripting help, advanced building, whatever. The ability is already there, it just needs to be expanded.

Ok, interesting points.




That's fine but there is already other ways to get the map CTRL M for example or top of your SL window VIEW then map.



Keep it on the toolbar but I still say add it to a button as well. The Why is because I have been a mentor for over a year & have met many new residents who have difficulty finding the help that they need. A more obvious help button I think would help make it easier for them to acces the help they need. Also I have known lots of new comers who know nothing about the live help and/or how to access that.



Which is great but I think something "official" to replace current official SL tutorials (which imo could be better done) would be beneficial for new comers.



& some users have created such places with new comers in mind but imo an official resource center from SL would be nice and would be able to act as an official central point if you will to more easily get to other resources in SL.


Loki

You have brought about alot of good points. My thinking here however, was for people just coming into SL certain things are not so obvious & it would be nice to offer them easier more obvious way to get the help they need.

It seems to me that that removing clearly labeled buttons that are visible all the time does not make how to do things easier and more obvious, it makes doing those things less obvious and possibly more difficult. I am not a big fan of the oversized buttons, but they are nice and visible.

The Leader button could be replaced with something more useful.

The Gestures editor is quite awkward to use.

We have a web based help system - the very poorly name Support Wiki - that any SL member can use. It needs to have a link to it added on the Help menu .

I think one of the most useful changes one could make to the UI would be to make the Object Editor into a dockable property bar that would go across the top or bottom of the display and would not block your view all the time. The Grid Unit Size field could be inserted in there also.