Newbie

I am new to SL. It started out I could see myself up against a column. I could not figure out how to move around. I am on Orientation Island and do not know how to get off of it.

Now it looks like I am above an island, I can not see myself. I can move the view around so I can see the whole island. What am I doing wrong? Why can't I see myself? How do I move?

The arrow keys are for moving. Camera view is handled by holding control+alt and using the mouse to rotate. Down page brings it back. Welcome to SL

Why can't I see myself? I can only move around in a circle. I can't figure out how to go forward

Have you tried logging out and then back in again to see if things change?

Hey, welcome to Second Life. The arrow buttons on your keyboard will make your avatar move in different directions. Left arrow = rotate avatar to the left, right arrow = rotate avatar to the right, up arrow = move forward, down arrow = move backwards. If you just started out in Orientation Island your clothing and avatar may not have fully downloaded yet. It can be very laggy in starting locations because a lot of people start out there. Make sure you are not in mouselook. You can enter and disable mouselook by pressing the M key on the keyboard when the chat dialog box is closed. Press the enter key to open the chat dialog box. Press Esc to close the chat dialog box. To leave Orientation Island click on the search button, and type in a word that interests you. When a list of locations appears click on one, and then find the teleport button and push it.

The idea is to complete the orientation first, then got off the island. There's a section on how to move around. I don't mean that to be sarcastic, as I understand that it can be frustrating, but, seriously, it's a good idea to spend 30 minutes figuring out some basics before you dump yourself in the middle of a laggymainland infohub with 40 other new people who haven't completed the orientation either, bumping into you shouting, "WHAT DO I DO? WHAT DO I DO?"

...just sayin

You are probably in Mouselook Mode. If you have a wheel Mouse, scroll the Wheel down, this should Pull your View back into Standard mode.

Angel.

I know I am not in mouselook, but I can't see my avatar

Ok, Having eliminated the Elementary, Go to the "Edit" menu at the top of your screen, Pull down the Menu, and at the Bottom of the List is "Preferences" Open that Window, and begin examining the Tabs there. I believe there Is one that allows one to make ones Avatar Invisible during play (Invisible to you, not other players). I May be wrong about it being under Preferences, it May also rest in the "Debug" Menu. I Know i've seen it, but i've never used it Myself.

Angel.

This actually sounds like a network issue. Can you describe your computer, the type and speed of your Internet connection?

You're probably right. I was a dis-embodied hair piece earlier today....nothing betwen my prim hair and my prim shoes.

hehe

(and my bank account was empty)