SLurls, check it out

http://reuben.typepad.com/reuben_steigers_weblog/2006/02/hurl_a_slurl.html

Looks pretty cool, I think I can use this..

edit: another URL .. http://slurl.com/about.php

I just like the saying, to hurl a SLurl.

I endorse this product, and hope that it gets developed so it can be embedded in web pages.

Clicking on the orange "Teleport Now" button on the SLurl webpage doesn't bring Second Life to the forefront for me. I have to switch to SL manually and see that it's opened the Map. Does it for anyone?

I have never been so keyed up. Any second now, they'll begin to run.

Neat. I'm making a web site and I'm going to use this if i can figure it out. Khamon, expect some confused IM's from me

Wasn't there something in the works about having our profiles improved with the addition of a web page that would be available to us or something?

It already can. If I was a leet coder I'd rig it to let me set targets, and transmit the coords back into the grid.

They'll be able to see the linked location on the map along with an associated adver^h^h^h^h^h description. If they choose to login and don't have SL installed, it'll still take them to the download page.

The point is that you'll be able to show pics and descriptions, even whole web pages of related information in iframes, liked to browsable map locations in order to hook people into wanting to download SL, build an av, and start at your shop, park, club, rental office or whatever.

WHEEE! I might need to pick your brains more about this, sounds fabby though!

I can see the enormous nasty pink mall just to the north of me! The one that I was trying to plant trees in front of so I'd never have to see it again! GO AWAY, MALL!

Indeed. It's pretty cool, and nicely implemented to make it extremely simple to add and format your own links. And if you'll forgive the blatant plug in the example, here's some ideas on how to use it:

Using a simple image in the iframe

Using a website in the iframe

Using a streaming video in the iframe

Manual construction of a SLurl tag is tedious (I've made several lately). Anyone want to pool together some $L for a coder to put together a web-based form that generates a SLurl tag?

More info on the fields required for a such a form can be found here.

I'll throw in $L1000 on the stipulation that the code be made available freely with no license or under an Open Source license.

Heh. I thought of that too. I was gonna have a bash in PHP this weekend. If I'm feeling particularly adventurous I'll hook it up to a cms and make it something people can manage and store their SLURL links through it if they choose to sign up.

Edit: On second thoughts, if I just wait a day or two, Cris will probably save me the bother

Torley, that's the way its always behaved for me. This is just redirecting to a secondlife:// link, and for me, here's how the behavior works:

(1) If you are connected to Second Life, the map is popped and the destination shown without bringing focus to the Second Life window.

(2) If Second Life is not open, it opens Second Life and brings focus to it with the log in screen.

The behavior on much of the way the map with P2P teleporting could be improved significantly, IMHO...but its a great start.

Regards,

-Flip

Hmm, if I hang around for a bit will I get a bigger bounty?

Ah, well, whatever.

http://www.geocities.com/ordinal.malaprop/slurl-builder.html

It's not terribly pretty at the moment, but it gives you a SLurl and escapes everything so you don't have to do it, more importantly.

(edit: doesn't validate the parameters either, it could do that as well I suppose, maybe later)

Nice work! Your check is in the mail

Ah, thank you! I was just going to IM you saying "um, thanks, but why did you pay me that?"

I may not be remembering correctly, but at one time, I remember clicking on secondlife:// links and that would pop SL to the forefront. Maybe this was back in 1.5? Does anyone else recall the same?

I would think this is desired behavior, since it saves you an extra click and travel to the window. Unless there's a good reason against?

I'm a bit of a technophobe... and I'm confused. Will there be a web site to house all theses slurls? Will the slurl icon show up on the map inworld? Or will they just show up on the map on the main page of the website? What do we do with these things?

Also, I'm, working on a website, can I plop the website into this new fangled slurl?

I feel so out of it. And on a related note, what do you think about this new "music television" everybody is talking about? I don't think it'll last.

I don't think it'll show up inworld or on the main website. As to whether there will be a site to house them? Probably. I was considering working on a social bookmarking type site for SLurls that allows tagging etc, with RSS links you could embed into your own site. Basically del.icio.us for SLurls. It would also become a handy and huge categorised directory to everything in SL, happily. And if I thought of it, so did a dozen others less lazy than me.

Your website you can either plop into the SLurl, or I would imagine probably be used the other way round as an extention of your website. You can add your SLURLs to each of your products, your builds, favorite attractions or whatever, as a visual link to where to buy it with details etc. Which can be bookmarked, of course.

If you look at my post further up I constructed some demo ones to give an idea what you could do with them (sites in SLurls, streaming media/flash etc). Maybe you could use it as an SL Blog, where each entry displays on the SLurl page in the map position for where you're talking about. I can think of quite a few creative ways to use it. But will it catch on? Who knows?

The browser address links that log you into SL are all very well, but you might not wanna go straight to SL right now this minute. I usually do all my browsing at work to find out what I wanna see when I get home.

I'd love to think I can just bookmark the SLurls to stuff I know I want to look at in SL, knowing I have an inworld link and info and picture of the products or places I want to see. I'd much rather do this than save a link to some generic website, webshop page or whatever, personally. So I'd like to see people make use of them.

I think they could very well come into their own when we get the inworld browser - imagine a Heads Up Display that serves as a directory and visual reference to everything in SL! (Edit: just thought; this is making an assumption that I've never actually tried in practice - if you're in SL and you click and external link to a place in SL, does it tp you or not?). I imagine various alternatives to Find and Classifieds will pop up using it as the interface. I think SLurls could and should be used against event listings, too!

It's one of those things that is kinda cool but ultimately pointless, though people are bound to do neat things with it.

Thanks Kris, I'm bookmarking this thread. DON'T YOU THINK YOU SHOULD COME BACK? Maybe SL will behave for you now.

I just finished creating one and I find it very cool. The SLurl generator is quick and easy and even a web idiot like me could figure it out. Excellent avertising ploy.

I'm looking forward to the day to easily blog from in world. Its a good first step.

Oh and thank you Kris for your posts on it. Very good information to keep in mind.

Of course it does. The Linden devs are professional visionaries that would hardly implement such a brilliant tool without including this feature. You oughta be horse whipped for suggesting that they'd simply overlook an obviously useful item. On what do you base this thinly veiled accusation of appalling negligence on their part?

Thank you Kris for posting and explaining how all this works. Much appreciated.

Well, I'm a software tester by profession. I've learned not to take anything for granted as far as developers are concerned.

I figured it prolly would, but it was also feasible it could only invoked the client to log in at a location from initialization. Which would suck for all my slurl ideas



Well, it was more how I'd like to see it used. Whether anyone actually will or not remains to be seen!