Tips to organize inventory

[rOrii Wylder]

Hi 😃

I'm looking for some advice/tips to organize my inventory -it is 32K not big comparent to my friend who has 250K lol- because I don't know where to start with. Should I sort by brand? By pants, shirts, etc? Or any idea you have would be great.

Cheers,

rOrii 😊

[Charalyne Blackwood]

I have a clothing folder, with subfolders for bottoms, tops, footwear, swimwear, lingerie. Some have more subfolders within for types of item (footwear is divided to sneakers, heels, boots, sandals). Making whole outfits is a fast way to change between them.

[Kate Ayashi]

I watched a video online and then asked a few friends how they do theirs. This applies generally to both Outfits, Clothing, and Inventory (as I see them in Firestorm).

This is mine in a nutshell ...

I have broken down Inventory into broad categories named with square braces and caps, like [BUILDINGS], [LANDSCAPE], [FURNITURE], [DECOR], [TERRAIN], [LIGHTING], etc. In some of these, like [BUILDINGS], I have sub subfolders also in braces to separate out clearly different products. In that case, it might be [BUILDINGS] and then inside [residential], [commercial], [scifi], [fantasy], [small], and the like. That way I can find my Trompe or Scarlet Creative houses quickly in the [residential], and my little beach hut or garden shed in their own folders [small].

Same goes for the other major categories, though I usually do fewer [subfolders]. All this lets me find a rug [DECOR] or a sofa or bed [FURNITURE] in a fast way. It's still sometimes hard sorting down through a hundred landscape items, but at least i know where to look.

This method also goes for Clothing and Outfits. Clothing top level might look like [ACCESSORIES], [BOTTOMS], [TOPS], [DRESSES], [FORMAL], [LINGERIE], [JEWELLERY], [SHOES] etc. Subcategories may apply so [BOTTOMS] might have [skirts], [jeans], [pants], and [shorts]. Outfits the same. Top level includes [CASUAL], [DRESSES], SWIM], [WORKOUT/EXERCISE], and so on.

Additionally here's another tip I got from YouTube. Outfits.

I have one "base" outfit of me. Naked. Hairless. All the skins and BOMs etc. Other "Outfit" folders (and the favourites panel) will have Hair and Accessories, but then the subfolders of outfits only have the clothing for that outfit and sometimes options HUDs, but not anything to do with my body. That way I can simply right click "Remove from outfit" and take off my clothes, and "Add to outfit" to simply put a new full outfit on.

The folders of my outfit names, btw, are also "coded" and always the same format. A letter code (i.e., D for dress) then like this: D - Knee length tight backless wool / colour / name / brand. If not a specific colour and I have a HUD in folder? I uses the term "colours" instead of, say, "pink". I sometimes have to shorten the brand name but most are easily recognizable; e.g., DD = Dead Doll, HH = Hilly Haalan, CK = Candy Kitten, SEN = Seniha, etc.A friedn showed me that one. I thought they were nuts then really adopted it since I can immediately know what the outfit is without opening the folder. I also have a generic top level outfit called [***TOPS***] that has links to just tops so when I have an outfit of jeans and heels added, for example, I can open that one out and pick out a specific top to Add. Same with Jewellery, and Accessories like scarves and glasses.

Also, all the items in the Outfits folder are LINKS to the real thing, and not the actual item. That way I can't make a mistake and delete and outfit with the real items in it.

Hope that helps. Happy to show you in world.

PS. Final power tip? If you have Maitreya there are cheap "foot shapes" that you can find. Add those to your Favourite Items pane in Firestorm and you can easily change from high heels to sandals in about 3 seconds without needing to open the Maitreya HUD. My screen is HUDless.

Edited March 17, 2022 by Kate Ayashi

[colleen Criss]

 

[Rowan Amore]

I asked a similar question.  You may find helpful hints there...

 

[Sorciaa]

i gave up

 

[Rowan Amore]

1 minute ago, Sorciaa said:

i gave up

 

Me too.  😕

[Cinnamon Mistwood]

I just use the sorting the Marketplace has with a few extra subfolders. Also... hair is a body part, not an accessory. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Nalates Urriah]

There is a joke about SL being an inventory management game... Is Second Life a Game?

One thing to take away from the story is that things will change. Over the years I have changed how I organize my inventory. The most recent change after 13+ years is adding dates to stuff... ALL my stuff. Much of the older clothing stuff is not going to be worn... ever. I have better stuff now. So, dating it allows me to consider when to mass delete it.

Dresses
      2015
      2016
      2017
      ... etc

Edited March 17, 2022 by Nalates Urriah

[Lysistrata Szapira]

I also organize my inventory by date.  I do periodic purges, so I will return to the older folders to see if I'm ready to delete stuff. That way I can easily know what the newest stuff is since it's in folders labeled 2022.

The only exception to that policy is for folders for favorite brands. For example, in hair I have Truth, Doux, Magika, etc. folders that aren't broken down by date because I still wear those hairs frequently.  I made a folder labeled "goofy hair" as well because it comes in handy for theme contests and what not.  My clothing folder also has a sub folder for favorites, broken down by store name. In those store name folders, I've labeled all the sub types (tops, bottoms, dresses, etc.), but I don't have them broken down by date because even older Ison stuff is still awesome stuff. 

I just recently started adding an asterisk to folder names for items I have actually paid for vs freebies I've picked up.  This will help me later on when I'm on a purge binge because I'm more likely to keep purchased items as opposed to freebies. 

[Aiyumei]

8 hours ago, Sorciaa said:

i gave up

 

I have coffee mug with that gif! 

On the topic of Inventory organization, one approach would be as others already pointed out, categorize your stuff based on certain criteria in folders. Certain types of clothes, accessories, etc, I do that for my make up, tattoos, furniture and decor. For clothing, accessories and hairstyles I chose different approach that is outside of the viewer.

Before I continue I have to say that this method is not suitable for those who dabble in the BDSM lifestyle and wardrobe control of others as it uses the #RLV folder.

I use product called CTS Wardrobe: https://marketplace.secondlife.com/p/CTS-Wardrobe-Organize-your-outfits-with-style-A-visual-inventory-organizer/935078

The way it works is basically you input screens of your outfits, or texture UUID as most outfit often have included ad in the package and save them in what can be described as web interface that also acts like a database to the items you store inside.
Why I mentioned the #RLV folder is because the wardrobe has the neat function to allow you to wear and remove your outfits from the webpage, allowing you not only to organize your wardrobe, but also wear them(provided you save them the way you want). In order for it to work thou, you have to throw your items in the #RLV folder, you can still organize your items under it in different folders, but you will have to specify the correct name and location of the outfit(folder, sub-folder, sub-sub-folder, etc). What I find awesome about it is that you can tag your stuff as well with tags and categories like Creator, Labels and remarks to which you can filter afterwards. The guys also have discord channel and have put up plenty of guides out there to help out.

I'm close to have saved 1500 outfits in mine and although I use it mainly as database to store my stuff, navigating around it and find whatever I need in no time. The downside of it... if you have already pretty big wardrobe of clothes and etc, it's a NIGHTMARE to transfer all of that to the wardrobe as you will have to import each outfit manually.

[Anna Nova]

CTS Wardrobe helps a lot, but sometimes I think it's all I do in SL, buy clothes insert into CTS Wardrobe, repeat...

[Setsuki Takeda]

16 hours ago, Kate Ayashi said:

PS. Final power tip? If you have Maitreya there are cheap "foot shapes" that you can find. Add those to your Favourite Items pane in Firestorm and you can easily change from high heels to sandals in about 3 seconds without needing to open the Maitreya HUD. My screen is HUDless.

I use RLV folders with links in them for outfit pieces and every pair of shoes contains a Maitreya foot position script to change to the one that matches those shoes. I only wish I could figure out a way to return to flat when I take them off  so if the next outfit has no shoes I won't be walking on tiptoes without cycling through a "naked" body, putting a flat script into everything that doesn't have another, or using lingerie as a transition. 

[rOrii Wylder]

Thank YOU so much for all the suggestions, I am definatly going to try them

 

❤️

 

[rOrii Wylder]

On 3/17/2022 at 4:48 PM, Kate Ayashi said:

I watched a video online and then asked a few friends how they do theirs. This applies generally to both Outfits, Clothing, and Inventory (as I see them in Firestorm).

This is mine in a nutshell ...

I have broken down Inventory into broad categories named with square braces and caps, like [BUILDINGS], [LANDSCAPE], [FURNITURE], [DECOR], [TERRAIN], [LIGHTING], etc. In some of these, like [BUILDINGS], I have sub subfolders also in braces to separate out clearly different products. In that case, it might be [BUILDINGS] and then inside [residential], [commercial], [scifi], [fantasy], [small], and the like. That way I can find my Trompe or Scarlet Creative houses quickly in the [residential], and my little beach hut or garden shed in their own folders [small].

Same goes for the other major categories, though I usually do fewer [subfolders]. All this lets me find a rug [DECOR] or a sofa or bed [FURNITURE] in a fast way. It's still sometimes hard sorting down through a hundred landscape items, but at least i know where to look.

This method also goes for Clothing and Outfits. Clothing top level might look like [ACCESSORIES], [BOTTOMS], [TOPS], [DRESSES], [FORMAL], [LINGERIE], [JEWELLERY], [SHOES] etc. Subcategories may apply so [BOTTOMS] might have [skirts], [jeans], [pants], and [shorts]. Outfits the same. Top level includes [CASUAL], [DRESSES], SWIM], [WORKOUT/EXERCISE], and so on.

Additionally here's another tip I got from YouTube. Outfits.

I have one "base" outfit of me. Naked. Hairless. All the skins and BOMs etc. Other "Outfit" folders (and the favourites panel) will have Hair and Accessories, but then the subfolders of outfits only have the clothing for that outfit and sometimes options HUDs, but not anything to do with my body. That way I can simply right click "Remove from outfit" and take off my clothes, and "Add to outfit" to simply put a new full outfit on.

The folders of my outfit names, btw, are also "coded" and always the same format. A letter code (i.e., D for dress) then like this: D - Knee length tight backless wool / colour / name / brand. If not a specific colour and I have a HUD in folder? I uses the term "colours" instead of, say, "pink". I sometimes have to shorten the brand name but most are easily recognizable; e.g., DD = Dead Doll, HH = Hilly Haalan, CK = Candy Kitten, SEN = Seniha, etc.A friedn showed me that one. I thought they were nuts then really adopted it since I can immediately know what the outfit is without opening the folder. I also have a generic top level outfit called [***TOPS***] that has links to just tops so when I have an outfit of jeans and heels added, for example, I can open that one out and pick out a specific top to Add. Same with Jewellery, and Accessories like scarves and glasses.

Also, all the items in the Outfits folder are LINKS to the real thing, and not the actual item. That way I can't make a mistake and delete and outfit with the real items in it.

Hope that helps. Happy to show you in world.

PS. Final power tip? If you have Maitreya there are cheap "foot shapes" that you can find. Add those to your Favourite Items pane in Firestorm and you can easily change from high heels to sandals in about 3 seconds without needing to open the Maitreya HUD. My screen is HUDless.

 

Thank you very much, this is a great idea!!!

Again thanks ❤️

 

[SpiritSparrow Skydancer]

On 3/17/2022 at 3:29 PM, rOrii Wylder said:

Hi 😃

I'm looking for some advice/tips to organize my inventory -it is 32K not big comparent to my friend who has 250K lol- because I don't know where to start with. Should I sort by brand? By pants, shirts, etc? Or any idea you have would be great.

Cheers,

rOrii 😊

there is no rule. You must do what is easy for you....

Sorting by brand is how I try to do it... after almost 15 years, I really gave up trying.

[Jordyn McGregor]

On 3/18/2022 at 9:57 AM, Sorciaa said:

i gave up

 

I have temporarily given up...only due to my computer having this delightful issue of switching itself off without warning, so until I buy myself a new PC (which I shall be doing after I move next month), I have been continuing to shop, and twitching, as my objects folder gets bigger and bigger and I open stuff but do not organise it away into its rightful place.

You have NO IDEA how this is HELL for a retentive Virgo like me!

Edited March 19, 2022 by Jordan Whitt

[Persephone Emerald]

There are plenty of ways you could organize your inventory, but first think about how *You" will actually use it. Make use of the built-in system folders by adding some reasonable sub-folders into them. Add a folder at the bottom for Demos, one for Gift Cards, and maybe one for Events and Hunts. Gift Cards may need to be used within a short period of time, so putting them in one place that's easy to find helps to make sure you don't forget to use them. Demos don't need to be kept very long, so be sure to delete them once you've bought the item and only keep those you might decide to buy later. 

Objects and Clothing tend to be my most heavily populated folders, so these need subfolders that really make sense. Try to keep the packages for clothing inside the folder for that item or outfit. Delete the scripts, notecards, LMs, and sizes you don't need from the folder. If you lose or modify something, your original will still be inside the package it came in. If you change the mesh body or head you wear, other sizes or different appliers will be in that original package too. I started by sorting clothes into Dresses, Tops, Pants, Shoes, Lingerie, Swimwear, Jewelry, Accessories, and Roleplay. I now have more folders to divide some of these even further as Mesh or System, Fall/Winter or Spring/Summer. My Objects are sorted into categories such as Animals, Buildings, Furniture & Décor, Outdoor, Hold or Wear Objects and Vehicles. There are further subfolders within these.

I make notes in the names of my folders to let me know what color or sizes the clothing item comes in. M * means Maitreya. B * means both Belleza Freya and Isis. F * means Belleza Freya. I don't make notes for bodies I don't wear. HUD means the item has a texture HUD. High, Med or Flat means the shape of the shoe or boot. I put the name of the store last, because this is less important to me than what the item is and which body it will fit. I put a * at the front of folder names for items I like best, which puts them at the top in their folder.

Once you start collecting gifts from events and hunts, it's a good idea to make separate folders for these items that include either the name of the event/hunt or the theme of the items and the year you got them. For instance, I know "Twisted Specter", will have ghost-themed items mostly in grey tones, while "Xmas gifts 2016 - 2021" will have a huge amount of gifts from various stores that I still haven't sorted completely. Within each of these kinds of folders - when I get around to sorting them - I make subfolders for Clothing & Accessories, Buildings and Furnishings, Avatar Parts (such as hair & skin), Animations & Poses, and Miscellaneous. I sort the items from the event or hunt into these subfolders, then move those folders into their appropriate system folder in my main inventory. 

Finally, delete old items you don't want anymore. Many LMs will be dead. You can right click LMs and select About Landmark to see if it still exists without actually teleporting there. Sort to see just Landmarks and use Move to Default Location to move others to your Landmarks folder or delete them. Most stores can be found from Search or by finding the owner's profile and searching their Profile Picks, so you don't really need all the store LMs you'll have.  You can also use your Teleport History to find stores and other places you've been to. 

Sort for Scripts to delete all those scripts for opening packages or sending you invites to join the store group. Sort for Notecards to delete all those Thank you cards, Contact cards or other information that you already know.

 - If it's not obvious already, I'm also a Virgo. I like to have a system for organizing my inventory, even though it's always a Work in Progress.

[Sorciaa]

9 hours ago, Jordan Whitt said:

I have temporarily given up...only due to my computer having this delightful issue of switching itself off without warning, so until I buy myself a new PC (which I shall be doing after I move next month), I have been continuing to shop, and twitching, as my objects folder gets bigger and bigger and I open stuff but do not organise it away into its rightful place.

You have NO IDEA how this is HELL for a retentive Virgo like me!

I am kinda in the same boat, if all goes as planned i will be moving next Saturday and the new PC will be a week or so after that

[Maitimo]

On 3/17/2022 at 7:29 PM, rOrii Wylder said:

Hi 😃

I'm looking for some advice/tips to organize my inventory -it is 32K not big comparent to my friend who has 250K lol- because I don't know where to start with. Should I sort by brand? By pants, shirts, etc? Or any idea you have would be great.

Cheers,

rOrii 😊

I sort by type (for example Clothing > Tops > Tanktops) and then within that bottom folder I sort alphabetically by brand. The only irritating thing about it is having to delete all the special characters from the beginning of the folder names, so they get sorted in proper alphabetical order. 

It mostly works the same for non-clothing items too, for example Objects > Home & Garden > Furniture > Kitchen... and then again sorted alphabetically by brand.

[KathrynLisbeth]

NEST THOSE FOLDERS!   Flat inventories are a BAD THING!   Causes Borkages and support tickets. 

Number your category folders to force the search sort order.   Start with 10, 20, 30,  and so on,  then can go back and insert 21, 22, 23.

When numbering to force sort order,  consider having worn things that are NOT part of a saved appearance outfit come first.   So you can get to your Coffee, Cookies, and Rocket Launcher faster, and leave the actual getting dressed to the saved appearance window.  

Keep things that are attachment type toys separate from things that function rezzed to ground.   

Separate your using copy of clothing (and other things) separate from the original packaging. 

If alternating between multiple mesh body types,  consider separating wardrobe based on body type, then clothing type  (generally this applies to attachment clothing more that layer/BoM clothing).   Is less important with rigged clothing and accessories,  but very useful with edited to fit unrigged things.   But follows the approach of "I done decided what body and head to use,  now I gotta find the clothes that fit!"   

For things that have more complex configurations:  Mesh body,  Mesh head,  Adult bits.   Configure it and keep a ready to go configured backup in a thing specific backup folder.

For System / BoM  Layers that are used to do Body Texturing:

Build your folder tree & number those folders, to allow you to go down the list in a consistent fashion in regards to wearing the layers.  Thus makes sure that skin texture/tattoo layer is actually under the eyeshadow texture/tattoo layer, and so on.   Winds up being a bit more useful because you are winding up managing two lists of layers, too.   Tattoo and Universal because the diffusion of function across the multiple bake channels. 

An example List function types is Body Skin,  Head Skin,  Skin modifiers to 'fix' a skin,  Scars,  Ink,  Body &/or Face Hair,  Makeup,  More Makeup,  then Hairbase/Scalp Hair.   I find adding the Hairbase/Scalp hair tattoo last to be the most useful,  due to alternating hairstyles.  

Remember, while the replace link tool is useful,  the new replacement is on top of the stack of layers.   So replacing a headskin tattoo means now that it is on top of all the other head based (makeup,  scar,  ink, beard)  layers in said appearance. 

So having a generally consistent mechanism in place to add the layers based on the actual function is in the longer term, easier.    Since is less time fiddling with the edit appearance function to reorder layers and resave outfits. 

Workaround that can help when using the replace link tool for Layers:

Break replace links into 2 steps:  so can mass replace and eventually get the relative position order.

An example of this:    After replacing a face skin tattoo...

1) Since you can't replace an item with itself,  Replace each layer of with a 'nota makeup' layer of same type.   So you would replace lipstick tattoo, with a nota lipstick tattoo, etc.   Keep the same sequence.   This then places  'a thing' at 'the number'  in the stack, in the order you want.

2) Then Redo that.   This time replace the nota tattoo with the 'real tattoo.  Again Keeping the Sequence.   

Results in the 'Old things'  now getting back into proper 'relative' order. 

Edited March 21, 2022 by KathrynLisbeth

[Persephone Emerald]

16 hours ago, KathrynLisbeth said:

NEST THOSE FOLDERS!   Flat inventories are a BAD THING!   Causes Borkages and support tickets. 

Number your category folders to force the search sort order.   Start with 10, 20, 30,  and so on,  then can go back and insert 21, 22, 23.

When numbering to force sort order,  consider having worn things that are NOT part of a saved appearance outfit come first.   So you can get to your Coffee, Cookies, and Rocket Launcher faster, and leave the actual getting dressed to the saved appearance window.  

Keep things that are attachment type toys separate from things that function rezzed to ground.   

Separate your using copy of clothing (and other things) separate from the original packaging. 

If alternating between multiple mesh body types,  consider separating wardrobe based on body type, then clothing type  (generally this applies to attachment clothing more that layer/BoM clothing).   Is less important with rigged clothing and accessories,  but very useful with edited to fit unrigged things.   But follows the approach of "I done decided what body and head to use,  now I gotta find the clothes that fit!"   

For things that have more complex configurations:  Mesh body,  Mesh head,  Adult bits.   Configure it and keep a ready to go configured backup in a thing specific backup folder.

For System / BoM  Layers that are used to do Body Texturing:

Build your folder tree & number those folders, to allow you to go down the list in a consistent fashion in regards to wearing the layers.  Thus makes sure that skin texture/tattoo layer is actually under the eyeshadow texture/tattoo layer, and so on.   Winds up being a bit more useful because you are winding up managing two lists of layers, too.   Tattoo and Universal because the diffusion of function across the multiple bake channels. 

An example List function types is Body Skin,  Head Skin,  Skin modifiers to 'fix' a skin,  Scars,  Ink,  Body &/or Face Hair,  Makeup,  More Makeup,  then Hairbase/Scalp Hair.   I find adding the Hairbase/Scalp hair tattoo last to be the most useful,  due to alternating hairstyles.  

Remember, while the replace link tool is useful,  the new replacement is on top of the stack of layers.   So replacing a headskin tattoo means now that it is on top of all the other head based (makeup,  scar,  ink, beard)  layers in said appearance. 

So having a generally consistent mechanism in place to add the layers based on the actual function is in the longer term, easier.    Since is less time fiddling with the edit appearance function to reorder layers and resave outfits. 

Workaround that can help when using the replace link tool for Layers:

Break replace links into 2 steps:  so can mass replace and eventually get the relative position order.

An example of this:    After replacing a face skin tattoo...

1) Since you can't replace an item with itself,  Replace each layer of with a 'nota makeup' layer of same type.   So you would replace lipstick tattoo, with a nota lipstick tattoo, etc.   Keep the same sequence.   This then places  'a thing' at 'the number'  in the stack, in the order you want.

2) Then Redo that.   This time replace the nota tattoo with the 'real tattoo.  Again Keeping the Sequence.   

Results in the 'Old things'  now getting back into proper 'relative' order. 

Omg, someone who's inventory sorting advice is even more complicated than mine. Tell me, you must be another Virgo, right?  🤣

[Madelaine McMasters]

I've posted this example of my inventory sorting technique before.

It hasn't changed.

[HelenaNavy92]

Recently I sort the clothes I like by brand. Other things are in folders like Skins and shapes, Hair, Jewels, Make up, Tattoo and lately I added a folder named Add-ons which is with things like pasties, skin imperfections etc. Sorting my inventory is so boring just like sorting my rl wardrobe. 

Also that folder named Objects - is totally full. How can I mark more objects and delete them? Sometimes I find things that are unpacked and I don't wanna loose them. Also I have so many old things that I will never use again but don't wanna delete them. I guess this will be another folder.😁

Edited March 29, 2022 by HelenaNavy92

[Nalates Urriah]

7 hours ago, HelenaNavy92 said:

Recently I sort the clothes I like by brand. Other things are in folders like Skins and shapes, Hair, Jewels, Make up, Tattoo and lately I added a folder named Add-ons which is with things like pasties, skin imperfections etc. Sorting my inventory is so boring just like sorting my rl wardrobe. 

Also that folder named Objects - is totally full. How can I mark more objects and delete them? Sometimes I find things that are unpacked and I don't wanna loose them. Also I have so many old things that I will never use again but don't wanna delete them. I guess this will be another folder.😁

It is possible to rez a cube and pack unused stuff into the Contents tab of the prim. Then stash the prim somewhere in inventory.

This reduces the size and download time of inventory. The contents list of a prim is never downloaded until you edit the prim and open the Contents tab.