Build Entrances.

Just a tip, put the property beacon at the foot of your entrance. I come across many builds in SL that place it in the middle of the parcel and leave people flying around in a laggy cirle trying to find the entrance inside. Might be losing business.

Being that we all fly, why dont more people put an alternate entrance in the roof?

now that you mention it, I should put a hole in my shop's roof. I do have balconies, etc, tho. But my shop isn't that large.

What I don't understand is why I can't get in through the roof in the first place. Make your roof phantom, man! What're you trying to do, keep out the rain?

Good idea, and put enough room around the beacon so that if you don't hit it perfect you won't crash into an awning or something.

Think landing platform with an obvious opening.

Its funny, in SL I typically build without a roof and have the entrance through the roof. It only makes sense in a world where the default mode of transportation is to fly!

Sometimes its fun to be able to walk around on the roof, they are often a better vantage point for sunrises and sunsets. But, I dont mind a solid roof if the main entrance is easy to find. A design that incorporates an open atrium or courtyard that can be used as an entrance is also cool.

Beau makes a great point about the landmark location, many are haphazard and could be better placed. To change your landmark, go to the spot and use the "world" menu at the top and select "create landmark here". Anyone can create a landmark, if the land owner allows it. This is handy if you stumble on to a cool place and want to remember how to return to it later. You can pass this landmark to others as the need arises, via inventory drag and drop to the avatar or profile.

For event landmarks to show up properly, you will want to set a new "landing point". Most new plots or recently subdivided land will need a landing point set, as the default location is 0,0. To set a landing point, go to the spot that you want it to be located and open the "about land", go to "options" and click on the "set landing point" button. Land owners and group officers can set a landing point.

I usually try to build my designs such that they are most conducive to easy movement and camera views in SL. I mean, doorways are soooooo R/L! We dont have those limitations in SL, let's design to best accommodate the upwardly mobile AV!


- Newfie

I do make a a traditional entrances but I always also put easy access on the roof also.

On a related note, I wish SL gave us the ability to turn on rendering of structures before the textures for it download. I know the client knows it's there because I crash into invisible buildings all the time. Render them in some default way (possibly configurable) that might be best if it was mostly transparent but just enough to see.

HP

This can be tricky if your intent is to link your building, unless things have change recently, if you linked your phantom roof to the rest of your building, the entire building would become phantom. Not fun if your building is more than one story, because then you fall through the floor.

If anyone knows a way around this (besides not linking the roof), I'd love to learn about it.

.

On that note, Make your walls and furniture phantom too. I don't mean ALL of it, but furniture tha might black the path of as poor, laggy client. (like me)

The entrance to *PREEN*

Couldn't you just fly over that, to the door?

- Sam

Damn it!!! I was wondering why I keep getting bothered by pesky customers!

aimee's novel new sales approach is to only sell to those who have completed her rites of challenge. Im pretty sure this would make her stuff wildly popular, actually.

"Stop! Who would shop at *Preen* must answer me these questions three, 'ere the other side he see.

What is your name?

What would you like to buy?

What is the capital of Assyria?"

I have a large opening in the roof that blends with the entrance to my store, but I don't keep the roof phantom because I'm often up there building something. It makes a nice big flat platform.

I agree with all the other suggestions though. I built my shop for function rather than form, based on my own annoying experiences trying to get into other shops. I wish it looked better, but I'll settle for easy access.

wait, I dont know what I want to buy...ahhHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Ass-mastah?

On entrances: Echoing the original post, nothing will make me give up on a store faster than not finding my way inside easily. More doors, bigger doors, and open roofs, please! BIG glowing, flickering day-glo arrows pointing "ENTER HERE!"

Hanging your front porch out over a cliff might look cool, but it's not the most intuitive way to get folks inside. We may not use the steps in front, but they help us see where the door is.

Actually, I'm beginning to like outdoor kiosks. I can shop while flying and never have to worry about walls rezzing on the end of my nose.

I dub the new store : Shrine to Dwellnor....

If you look way up in the corner of the pic, you'll see David Bowie laughing...

You can crash through a boarded up part of the ceiling in the XLS build in Cottonwood- though I suppose it isn't really obvious.

That's a good point. A phantom roof doesn't do much good unless it looks phantom. Otherwise it's a matter of luck or clumsiness finding you can go through it.

It's not phantom. You have to hit it with 30kgm/s to break it.

As someone who builds "for a living" in SL, entrances are probably one of the major stumbling blocks of any budding architect.

People try to pigeonhole and force movement in their structures when it isn't really needed.. Why make a 2x3m doorway when a 5x10 entrance would be ten times easier to enter/exit? Why have a fully enclosed roof when most folks fly? Why not have "docking pads" for folks to land on your other floors?

People need to think out of the box.

LF

I forgot to mention- the build also has a "landing pad" hanging over a giant cliff, and a bigass door ;P