Towards a LAZY method of finding things in inventory

Goodness I can't stand the thought putting everything in neat folders arranged in neat hierarchies, thousands of items all lining up waiting to be taken out and played with. It's the thought of their little patient smiles, hair brushed, shoes shiny, hanky in pocket - most of them doomed to disappointment because they will always be stuck there in inventory.

So re-reading the advice, my practice is based on trying to work out the laziest possible way of finding what you want to. It starts with the principle of bunging everything any how into the inventory, letting them get on with their lives as they want, and never filing anything.

I think the reason why this can work is because 'search' and 'rename' are actually BRILLIANT. Every time you use search, even after you only type 1 or 2 letters, it re-arranges all your neat files anyway. And each extra letter is a new arrangement - you can see it happening.

There's still a bit of work to be done. You need to avoid certain names like the plague. They are 'object', and 'snapshot'. Everything has some name already, and what you want is at least one word of its name which is memorable or descriptive. 'Sex' is a good one, which then brings everything to do with sex together. All hair doesnt need to be called 'hair' or filed under 'hair' - suppose you have some auburn hair. Just call it 'auburn' - you haven't got anything else called that, have you? 'Aub' will find it. or just the maybe the number '1' which you put on things you really like.

Outfits are great - if you have a 'red outfit' (say) then you'll remember it also includes that nice pair of black sunglasses you like when you can't remember what you called them. So you type 'red outfit' (probably stopping after 'red o' because that's enough) - raid it for the sunshades, put them on. You don't need to wear the rest of the outfit. When you take them off they'll go back there (and also go back to black and 'shades' which is the word you forgot). With 'Search', any item is actually in a lot of different places at the same time, and you only need to find it in one of them.

Also - accept that a fair proportion of the things you have you will never want, so don't sweat if they are difficult to find. If you ever do need them, you'll find them somehow. Some of your things will be in 'lost and found' - leave them there, maybe you'll remember the event when they got lost even if you forget any other parts of their name.

I feel I am only scratching at the surface of true laziness here. Any other tips to live efficiently enough without being neat and tidy?

(Though I wonder - do some people like being neat and tidy for its own sake? )

It's ok using search to find particular objects, but I like to keep things organised so I know what I have. You could use search to look for those shoes you love, but when those shoes are in a folder with all your other shoes, you are presented with options that you would probably have otherwise forgotten about.

no tips, just wanted to say hurrah for this! it's just how i operate, and it horrifies people, but it works beautifully. Search is great. It's how i use my pc too in rl - very rarely navigating anywhere, if i know what somethings called, i just let search do the work and find it for me.

Knowing the precise name of an item requires a good memory - which not being a youthful person is something which I lack, hence having a (relatively) organized inventory!

Whatever works for you Hal - go for it!

I try to take the lazy route right up until I get hit with "now WHAT was the name of that thing again?" every few weeks, and then it's time to tediously sort all the newer things into their proper places. It might be nice if stuff made from prims could get classified finer than "objects" so that the filter dialog could be more useful there, names aren't always enough.

As another 'unyouthful' person, well, middle aged. Er quite old really. Actually ancient now I come to think about it. Took me a long time to find a skin half as old as me. And then remember where I put it. Oh, I'm wearing it. Ah. I know what you mean! But vaguely remembering SOMETHING about the name seems easier... Starts with 'P' - yes, that helps. Got a 'z' in the middle - straight there.

I find it best to adopt a kind of compromise. When I get things, I try to file them in an appropriate folder *immediately* (not "when I get home", that could be hours away and I'll forget) and rename if necessary. Let's say I'm about 60% successful in that - as my teachers used to say in school: "could try harder".

On the other hand, I also use search a lot, probably more than navigating through the folders. If I want to take my darling amour to Innisfree for arm-in-arm walks and cuddling, it's quicker to type Ctrl+I,INNI<Return><Return> to get there than to navigate to "Landmarks"/"Romantic places" and search for it in the list. Saves valuable kissing time, it does.

On the other other hand, if we're off to Phat Cat's, and I need something classy and formal to wear that I haven't worn for a while, I'll open up my Clothing folder and see all my outfits listed, from which I can pick something appropriate.

All in all, horses for courses.

Rather than try to remember the name of the outfit you bought at Last Call, you tp to Last Call, look at all the posters, find the outfit photo and then do the search for it in your inventory. Alternately, instead of venturing into that scary inventory hell, just buy a new outfit and click on "Wear Outfit Now" when you hit Buy. Chances are you are buying a second (or third!) copy of the outfit, but you didn't have to force your inventory to download all 50k items while you searched and waited, did you?

Ha ha ha ha! Fantastic! That's exactly it - trying to recall one or two of the letter the item name contains! I'm glad I'm not the only one with a utilized, therefore leaking memory!

I am all for the easiest methods possible - if you think of anything else, let us all know Hal!

Oh the horrors of inventory management. Everyone finds their method.

It's the prolific explosion of "Object" and "Snapshot" that are the most frightening. You never WHAT you're going to rez if you try sorting through Objects.

Speaking of which, I think that'll be a good activity for me this morning... switch groups on my auto return land and start sorting and deleting.

Search is fab. I've also used the trick of searching for something I know is in the same folder as what I really want, to get to it quick.

searching for "worn" is a good way to get a list of the stuff you're wearing, and makes things easy to detach (like ear rings) or to remember which parts of which outfits you have on.

My RL job is Records Management. I'll give you the same advice I give all of my engineers. Do it as you go. Establish a folder structure that you understand. Organize things into categories that make sense for the way you work. SL has already done it for you with an established set of folders.

When you click on Inventory you should only see the original issued folders.

Under those folders establish your working folders.

Example: Under Objects I have these folders:
Buildings - Complete and ready to use buildings
Building Materials - Any named parts of a building for current or future projects. Floors, windows, doors etc.
Gadgets - Any devices used to do things in SL. Huds, terraformers, etc.
Vehicles - Any cars, trucks, motorcycles, helicopters, airplanes submarines and so on.

When I open any folder provided by LL there is nothing seen there except more folders. Once I click on a sub folder actual files and objects can be seen. I may put in sub-folders to divide vehicles into Land, Air and Sea. If I do I never have any files mixed with folders.

Back to my original statement. Do it as you go. Anytime time you buy something or create something. Put it in the correct folder right away. Don't let items accumlate outside of the given SL structure or your folders. Everything goes into a folder somewhere as soon as you get it. DO NOT Create a General or Miscellaneous Folder...

You will find your objects faster, waste less time and enjoy your extra time. These same rules can be applied to your personal life as well. Email, tax records, home records, appointments and tasks. There is an old saying that applies here... If you do not take the time to do it right the first time you will never have time to do it over.