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Viewer 2.5 with Web Profiles Has Arrived


Q Linden

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Today we launched Viewer 2.5, now out of Beta. The most significant update is a new, web-based profile system, which allows profiles to be viewed and edited both on the web and in the Viewer. For example, here's mine. Please note this is just a starting point for the web-based profiles; we’ll be doing a lot of work to refine the usability and make them richer over time.

In response to your feedback from the early beta versions of Viewer 2.5, we've added some privacy settings that will allow you to control just how public your profile is. Once you’ve logged in, click on “Privacy Settings” in the upper right corner of your profile. Group settings set in the Viewer will be overridden by these group privacy settings.

  • "Everyone" means that the information is available to the whole Internet and can be picked up by search engines.
  • "Second Life" means that the information is available to all Second Life Residents who are logged into the website or inworld. This is the default for all existing Residents using Viewer 2.5.
  • "Friends" means that only your Second Life friends can see the information on the web and inworld.

This is why we have a beta process--to address concerns and improve your user experience. We will continue to iterate as we get more feedback. Thank you for all your help and comments. Please attend the Viewer 2 User Group meetings if you would like to share your thoughts and feedback directly with me and the Snowstorm team.

Viewer 2.5 also has some other new features. The one I like best is that you can now have your Favorite landmarks also appear on the login screen, so that you can log directly into your favorite locations. Torley made a video about this, so check it out! We've also improved some texturing performance and fixed another batch of bugs. Watching the internal data, we've already seen a noticeable improvement in stability and performance--on par with Viewer 1.23.

Download Viewer 2.5, try it out, and keep the feedback coming! And, if you Twitter, please use the hashtag #slviewer2.

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461 Comments


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Reaching out is one thing, but not testing it completely in regard to privacy is another.  Also, not covering up the entire screen with a profile would be nice.  I turned off cookies and disabled javascripts.  I'd rather not see anyone's profile than to let myself and my IP address be exposed across the web.  We are slowly giving up our privacy in case you haven't noticed!

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And this is why I'm still using 1.23. I don't trust TPVs as a rule, even before the Emerald debacle (FYI, I told you so, lots of you). And 2.x? It's like a bad haircut you regret getting -- someone's got to stop trying to make it look pretty and save some face first. Even if it means shaving it off entirely and rebuilding from the bottom (not likely to happen, especially given all the time and money and manpower invested in 2.x, but the principle holds true).

Every time there's been a new 2.x viewer release I've given it a try with an alt (I'm an admin/builder/owner/organizer for too much on my primary account to risk botching anything). And I'm very sorry to say that I've not seen any usability improvement worth my conversion from the 1.23 viewer. The sidebar was the worst thing they ever did. The whole UI ceased having an intuitive layout (sorry, using a client should not be like an easter egg hunt where some of the eggs are just empty pieces of plastic), and most people never see group notices or IMs anymore. It hobbled communication to a huge degree. Selling out to Failbook is not the fix for that. Why are there TPVs that utilize 1.x coding and features? Because it works.

I have to agree with people who've commented before me -- I don't think anyone in development of the viewer really spends any time in-world as an active user. And they aren't going to figure it out from trying to sift through all these comments, either! The company I work for IRL (sorry, I have no Failbook page to link to for you to learn what it is!) does an annual survey to get useful feedback from all of the employees. And you know what? It's done by a third party which compiles the feedback anonymously, handing back a list of ratings and key complaints on various topics. Wouldn't you know... the company actually reads those reports AND acts on them? As a result, the company's surpassed other companies in the same industry. Why? Because the employees are the structural base of the pyramid -- there are more of them than CEOs and business managers, and they are the ones who know the real scoop about running the business.

So quit with that Resident Survey mockery that's just one question and only gives you a Failbook number of characters to make your comment with. Give us a way to give you feedback -- and actually make use of it. Don't just humor our words here, our pointless Twits or our epic failings on Failbook. When you are selling a product, the most effective way to do so is to know your product. Whomever's holding the reins... clearly does not.

I'm also not really interested in debating my opinions with anyone or getting into a flamewar. I write this with the expectation it will likely not be read -- at least not by any Lindens.

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If the whole goal of this was to make SL residents web-searchable, you would have been better off putting a dedicated link in the normal profile window and letting us create accounts for our avatars on our own. If only the old profile system had a way for us to put a link to any website, such that residents could view the site within our profile, or optionally open it in an external browser.

Oh wait.

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With each new advance, SL is looking more and more to a website and looking less and less to a virtual world.

PS. I don't know if that phrase is correct in English, but I think you understand the idea.

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I tried it but was reluctant to install the official viewer and now I see that my account isopen for one day and I can not close it. Sign in to another account and see that myavatar is in SL, someone can give me a solution?.
The account is still open I'm staying out of SL and no one has robbed me, and askedand is what we call a ghost avatar, linden is someone who can take my avatar in SL,so I can re-enter ?.

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thanks q and friends for listening to your customers, like amanda told us you wanna do now, one day before you posted this.

 

everyone i know in sl really wanted these web profiles, which are much slower, uglyer and have less functionality.

so much about reducing "lag" (i call it lag when i have to wait so long before i can see anything)

try sending a stranger a notecard in oldstyle viewers.

open peoplesearch, type the name and hit enter. bam there it is, less than a sec.  you have the whole profile there, instantly. now just drag and drop the item on the profile. done...

easy, wasnt it?

anyway, good job!

of course, like allways in the past, no matter how negative the feedback you get will be, it´s done, and done to stay...

 

sad...

 

i guess making the web profiles within the viewer optional was too customer friendly to be done by LL?

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Hmm I cant see my own profile or anyone  in the in-world viewer - sorry not happy at all.  I have uninstalled 2.5 and reinstalled but still get the msg cant write file to disc near the end of install and then the option to retry. abort intallation or ignore - tried all three - and still no joy on the profiles for me or anyone else also the web based profile is just a pic - I have now uninstalled 2.5 and returned to 2.4  - also the profile window (in-world) that comes up in 2.5 is too big - blocking most of the viewer - I wont want to always reajust it anyway - even if i could see the information!!!!

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And this is why I'm still using 1.23. I don't trust TPVs as a rule, even before the Emerald debacle (FYI, I told you so, lots of you). And 2.x? It's like a bad haircut you regret getting -- someone's got to stop trying to make it look pretty and save some face first. Even if it means shaving it off entirely and rebuilding from the bottom (not likely to happen, especially given all the time and money and manpower invested in 2.x, but the principle holds true).

Every time there's been a new 2.x viewer release I've given it a try with an alt (I'm an admin/builder/owner/organizer for too much on my primary account to risk botching anything). And I'm very sorry to say that I've not seen any usability improvement worth my conversion from the 1.23 viewer. The sidebar was the worst thing they ever did. The whole UI ceased having an intuitive layout (sorry, using a client should not be like an easter egg hunt where some of the eggs are just empty pieces of plastic), and most people never see group notices or IMs anymore. It hobbled communication to a huge degree. Selling out to Failbook is not the fix for that. Why are there TPVs that utilize 1.x coding and features? Because it works.

I have to agree with people who've commented before me -- I don't think anyone in development of the viewer really spends any time in-world as an active user. And they aren't going to figure it out from trying to sift through all these comments, either! The company I work for IRL (sorry, I have no Failbook page to link to for you to learn what it is!) does an annual survey to get useful feedback from all of the employees. And you know what? It's done by a third party which compiles the feedback anonymously, handing back a list of ratings and key complaints on various topics. Wouldn't you know... the company actually reads those reports AND acts on them? As a result, the company's surpassed other companies in the same industry. Why? Because the employees are the structural base of the pyramid -- there are more of them than CEOs and business managers, and they are the ones who know the real scoop about running the business.

So quit with that Resident Survey mockery that's just one question and only gives you a Failbook number of characters to make your comment with. Give us a way to give you feedback -- and actually make use of it. Don't just humor our words here, our pointless Twits or our epic failings on Failbook. When you are selling a product, the most effective way to do so is to know your product. Whomever's holding the reins... clearly does not.

I'm also not really interested in debating my opinions with anyone or getting into a flamewar. I write this with the expectation it will likely not be read -- at least not by any Lindens.

It might not get read by any Lindens (or make any difference), but it's a fabulous post that perfectly illustrates the way many existing SL residents feel. I am certainly one of them.

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THANK YOU LL, FOR SOMETHING MAJORITY OF US DID NEVER WANT!

Like:

-webbased profiles, which need very long to load

-a broken search

-links to twitter and Facebook

-a terrible UI

Im sooo glad that we have you, should we have dudes leading which would really care for us, we would die immidiatly by the sudden warm and embracing feeling! So we have you, remind us that we are still in SL, despite of all your doings to chase us away^^

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Seamless integration with consistency, please!  Make it EASY to find things, to move around from place to place within SL's web pages.  When I logon to my dashboard, then go to the Marketplace or to the Knowledgebase or forums or NOW to the new profile place - I have to search and search or even logoff and back on in order to get back to my dashboard.  IMHO there should always be a link, on every page within the SL web experience, to get to my dashboard.  And consolidate all the profile places, please!
.
I'm one of the folks who loves to view other people's profiles in-world (so I know whether or not they want to talk to me, or if there's any point to do so, or if they created something I like - how do I contact them or find their store?) but now I just get a blank screen that covers all my carefully cammed SL scenery. Someone wrote that you need to have media & cookies & etc. activated now to read the profiles, but I don't want those intrusive and invasive things in my SL experience.
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Would it be possible to make the default source for viewing profiles in-world, and for those who want it, they can change their profile to be 'view from web'?  Also, can't there just be two places for viewing or changing profiles:  1) your dashoard, and 2) inworld.  Then, like with a laptop coming 'home' to the office, if you change it in one place you push a button or something to 'sync' the two?
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I've only been in SL about 6 months and have five mainland properties which I'm thoroughly immersed in terraforming and landscaping and so I still find SL worth the monthly fees.  But once I'm done with fixing up my properties and the new wears off - will I still want to stay in SL?  The way things look now, I think not.
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Just found something extremely annoying:

The new profile system has got one big big problem, if you disable the availability of your profile in V1.x based viewers, the profile will not show up any more in the V2 search, and there is no way to reenable this in V2.

So you have to log in on a V1.x based viewer and reenable to have your profile in the search there.

If LL had banned V1 already, there would be no possibility to put your profile back into search at all.

Maybe it's not a good idea to improve eveything in V2 beyond useability, LL......

Jeannie

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dear residents, after seeing all what has happend in the last month with SL and LL, I would like to suggest to stop and postings here in blog and elswhere towards LL, because

THEY GIVE A FRIGGIN SH.. ABOUT WHAT THIER CLIENTS WANT. The use us all to find the bugs in thier product, thats all. THEY NEVER TAKE ANY CARE ABOUT US IN AN OTHER WAY AS USING US TO GET THIER WAGES PAID BY US.

For the rest we are just obstacles for them, which they try to overrun and to ignore, so, why do we all waste our time and engery here, its senseless. They will not listen and they will never take care.

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Yeppers, typical internet company, try to attract new people but at the expense of the existing users. I don't want my profile searchable from google considering that then someone can redzone your IP or get it any number of ways considering content is http served from many places other than LL servers. It makes someone who is not mainstream society more vulnerable to hate crimes especially if someone can see what groups people are in from a web search.

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What exactly is the point of web profiles? This is a serious question.. what's the point of it? Nobody that I know (besides the people I play Second Life with) give a crap about my character on Second Life. There is no need to ever search for anyone while you are outside the game. There is no way to customize your online profile in any way (colors, layout, etc.).

The online profiles show less information than the old profiles. It no longer shows how old the resident is, it only shows their rezday. It also does not show if the person is offline or online.

When you click view profile on someone elses avatar or while searching in game, it lags the game for a moment and the sound effect is lagged out. The My Profile tab is now completely worthless. It just your profile picture with a link to the online profile along with an empty grey area. I suggest you either give the option to disable online profiles or do away with the my profile tab because as it stands it seems like just an extra unnecessary click to editing your profile.

The only advantages are the ugly classified area at the bottom of the profile that is worthless for most people. It also lets you tweet and like from your profile so you can advertise for Linden Lab for free. I guess the pervs will be happy that you can enlarge the profile pics (this is the only real advantage LOL). Also if you click tweet or like in the in-world browser it asks you if you want to allow the pop up which seems pointless as well.

Linden Lab, I suggest you either add more features to the web profiles to make them seem more worthwhile in addition to tweaking the interface so that the online profiles can coexist more effectively, or give us the option to use the standard in world profiles instead because honestly they were much more convenient and better in just about every way.

Thanks,

Trevor

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