How do I avoid so many copies.

Can somebody please explain the best way to avoid having many copies of things I edit.

Say I make something with a few prims. I take a copy just in case the sim crashes or something. Now I have two. Or, I take the original. I have just one.
I want to edit some more so I rez, now I have two. After a few edits or errors I have several. I can rename 1.0, 1.1 etc but this is a hassle.
When I save to inventory I still have two but I don't want to delete it, anyway...I end up with many. I don't know, or trust, how this all works.
It's an inventory nightmare in there!
How do you do it? Is there a successful method to just have one copy?

If I'm working on scripts/texturing and such, (not linking/unlinking parts), I find wearing the item helps, instead of rezzing it on the ground.

i use the 1.0 ,1.1 ect renaming as i build its best to have many copys in SL....
then when im done ill delete the early versions but keep the last 2 or 3,
you can get one free alt still? you can use his inv. as a backup copy for now
untill LibSL comes out with the prim backup program they been working on.
then we could keep copys of our own stuff on our on hard drive,
and just drop a copy in a script and have it rebuilt in world when we need it.
i know someday the lindens are gona lose all our creations... ive lost many
no copy items that lindens will not replace or even remburse me for ....
they have bakups ya but they will not restore for anyone unless its a complete
sim that crashed and even then if you had put out no copy items they be gone forever.
-LW

It's no different than doing incremental saves in any other program. Some programs automate the process, and number the versions for you; some don't, so you have to do it yourself by hand. It's really no big deal.

If numbering by hand is too much of a hassle for you, then don't do it. You can save them all with the same name. Simply sort by date, and delete the older versions every so often.

I'd suggest working from within a single sub folder (not your root objects folder) to make sorting easier. To do that, just take the object into inventory, place it in your folder of choice, and then drag it back out to the ground from that folder. When you take another copy, it should automatically end up back in the same folder (assuming you haven't changed the root prim).

I'm trying to make lots of different things, jumping from one to the other. I'm not well organised. I go back and edit things a lot too. Cause they can be better.
I find myself opening a 'sale box' and editing a note inside, but I don't want to rename it every time. I don't want to 'find' the older items and delete them.

Changing the root prim happens to me all the time. I might change some details and have to unlink to move a prim then re-link. No, the edit linked object doesn't often work. It seems to spring back when moved or resized. So I have to "take" then rename manually. Very often.

Maybe I just want a 'save' or 'save all' and a 'save as' button and a 'remove/take' button on the edit window. So I could quickly hit 'save' then 'take' and I'm done.

Sorry, I guess I AM complaining but I'm increasingly getting frustrated, what with lag and database issues and never ending fixes.

Sorry to hear of your frustration, Kornscope. Believe me, there are plenty of things about SL that erk me as well. The saving thing isn't one of them, but there are other things.

Anyway, we can wish all we want for features we don't have, and we can make requests for LL to implement them, but as long as we don't have them, all we can do is adjust our own work habits compensate. I know you probably realize this already, but maybe it will help just to hear someone else say it.

*Adjusting attitude*
Thanks Chosen, I will work harder on working 'within' SL's limitations.