Ok, I feel so stupid...I am new to Second Life

and I just signed up for an account. I went to the orientation island automatically after the program installed. I took off all my clothes and then even though I selected create new skirt/shirt, etc.. it wouldn't let me. So, I logged out and now I can't even figure out how to get into the world/orientation island. I feel like an absolute idiot...where do I go to enter the virtual world?

Thanks!

Don't feel bad, there is a huge learning curve here.

I'm not sure if you can get back into Orientation island. I'm inworld right now, if you get back in IM me and maybe i can help you a little bit. I have to leave the house soon but, at least I can give you a quick head start so you aren't naked

NO WAIT! Duh, I'll IM YOU!

Just post here that you got back in!

Ok, so Orientation Island may be a lost cause...how do I get inworld? I logged into secondlife.com and am looking at a very practical page with a bunch of information about my account status...certainly not in a virtual world. Thanks for offering to help. I don't want to make a bad impression on my first day by running around naked.

Do you have the software page loaded up that that has the login page? All you hae to do is put in your name and password and it should log you right in. Not this website, not the forums.

hi Katharine

You need to log in again. You've downloaded SL, so double click the icon on your desktop and sign in. You'll arrive back in the OI where you were last. I'd suggest you have a look through the clothing folder in the Library part of your inventory - it's at the bottom. There are lots of new avatars there, and you should be able to put together a look that suits you until you become more familiar with the world. There may be someone with a Second Life Mentor title at OI, and they will help you too. We belong to a group who spend some time helping others at OI's and Help Islands.

Good luck, and perhaps we will meet up in world. Feel free to Im me anytime. xx

You aren't stupid. You're the typical new user, and Orientation Island isn't necessarily friendly to new users.

My advice is this: Log in again, put on some clothes, and then use "Search" to find an interesting place to go. Search through Events, Search through Places, just find something interesting and go there. That should at least take you out of the chaos of Orientation Island.

My advice on finding a quiet place to create new clothes is this: Go to Search, choose the Places tab, and put in some arbitrary Search term (I used to use 'quiet'). You will get a list of places, arranged in order of Traffic (a loose measure, though often inaccurate, of how popular a place is). Click on the Traffic column to arrange the list in reverse order by Traffic (giving you 0 Traffic places first). A place with 0 Traffic is unlikely to have any other avatars wandering around. You ought to be able to try in clothes in relative peace.

Thanks! I think the problem is I was looking for a way in online and not on my desktop. Let me see...

It can be confusing, Second life puts two shortcuts on your desktop, one to the web page and one to the virtual world.. You need to click on the virtual world one. That will get you back into the real second life. It sounds like you clicked on the web page one.. Don't feel bad, I did the same thing back when I first started.

Feel free to IM me when you get in, I can show you some places to get some nice free clothing, skin, hair, etc.. Good luck!

Thank you all very much!

Hi, Katharine!

You want to double click the desktop shortcut that opens the SL viewer software, not the one that goes to the SL website. When you click the right one, you will see a mostly black background, with an SL landscape on it. At the bottom you will see a place to enter your avatar name and password. Do that, and hit the Connect button. You should wind up back on Orientation Island.

Next, open your Inventory. It is the button at the bottom right of your screen. In the Inventory window, you'll see two main folders, Inventory and Library. The Library folder contains all your "initial issue" clothes and other items. Open that folder, then the Clothing folder.

In Clothing, you'll see a lot of folders with names like "Gamer Girl", or "Professional Woman" or "Cardboard BoxBot". These are complete avatars and outfits. Pick one, and drag it onto your avatar. That should solve the immediate problem of "no clothes".

Good luck! You'll probably have this sorted by the time I get in world this evening, but if not, feel free to IM me.

Couple of things. You've already figured out that you need to use the viewer to access Second life, not your web browser, and the Secondlife website and Secondlife are two different things.

Next - my advice is to stay on Orientation Island as long as you need to to get comfortable with the controls. Don't bother trying to Search and find interesting places. Your Search doesn't work until you get to the mainland. I was on OI the other night and tried. Once you feel ok about the controls, chatting, accessing your inventory, etc, go back to the central area in OI where all the tutorials start and click the Help Island Sign, or the Exit to Second Life sign. Both take you to Help Island. Play there for a little bit. learn to rez a cube, look at the freebie store - I recommend the free biplane, lol. It will teach you to get stuff out of vendors, even if you are getting the stuff for free. Important for later shopping trips . Once you are ready to move on, click the green Exit sign and it will teleport you to a Welcome Area on the main grid. Welcome to Second Life! now run for your life! Welcome areas are some of the most unwelcome places in SL, so I suggest getting the heck out of there ASAP.

Now Search works, so pull up Search, find something interesting and go for it. I'd find a relatively quiet infohub to set as your home. I like Hanson, myself. It's nice and quiet, so I can hang out and figure out what the plan for the evening is without being griefed or drowned in chat or anything.

Hi Katherine - welcome to Second Life and the forums.

I hope you have got back in world by now and are finding your way around Orientation and Help Islands.

I'll drop you a New Residents Starter Kit when I get in world later on - lots of useful information in that. Find somewhere quite to read it all - like Trout suggested.

Ask questions here on this forum - there is always someone here who can help - and enjoy your Second Life.