Second Life Tutorial – The Basics

Published: 9/19/10, Updated: 10/02/10

This tutorial was written for use with SL Viewer 2.

A Chinese Pub in Second Life

A lot of people sign up for Second Life (SL), but then quit after a couple hours of trying to figure out how to move the avatar and use the site.

At first glance, SL does look very complicated, but really; it's not.

I'm going to assume at this point, that you've signed up, downloaded the SL Client, and have completed the in-world Tutorial when you log in for the very first time.

Here is a list of the Basic controls that you'll need to know to get started in Second Life. (If it helps, print this page for quick reference.)

Moving Your Avatar

To Move your Avatar : Use the Arrow Keys

To Fly : Hold down the “E” key for a few seconds, then release

To Gain Altitude when Flying : Hold down the “E” key

To Land when Flying : Hold down the “C” key

To Jump : Tap the “E” key once

To sit on a chair or other object : Right click and Select “Sit” (To stand up, click “Stand Up” at the bottom of the screen)

To Look Around

To change the Camera View : Hold down “Ctrl+Alt” and use your mouse to click on the screen wherever you want to look and drag the camera to that location. Use the scroll wheel on your mouse to Zoom in and Out. - (This takes a little time to get used to, so don't give up! Practice makes perfect.)

To reset your Camera view : Hit Escape.

To Friend Someone

To send someone a Friend Request that is by you: Right click on the person's name, and select “Add Friend”
To send someone a Friend Request that isn't by you : Type their Second Life name into the Search Bar at the top right of the screen, hit Enter. A box should pop-up. Click on their name, and then on "Profile". A sidebar will pop-out. Click on "Add Friend" at the bottom. To close the sidebar, click on the ">>" tab.

To Block Someone

Is someone harassing you? You can Block them by Right clicking on their name, and select “Block”.
If they aren't standing by you : Type their Second Life name into the Search Bar at the top right of the screen, hit Enter. A box should pop-up. Click on their name, and then on "Profile". A sidebar will pop-out. Click on the down arrow at the bottom, and then on "Block".

To Fill Out Your Profile

Right click on your name, select "My Profile". A sidebar will pop-out from the right side of your screen. At the bottom, click on "Edit Profile". Fill in your information and click "Save Changes" at the bottom. To close the sidebar, click on the ">>" tab.

To Change the Shape of Your Avatar

Right click on your name, select "Edit My Shape". A sidebar will pop-out from the right side of your screen.You can click any body part listed, i.e. "Body", "Head", "Eyes", etc and use the sliders to change the shape. when you are done, click on the "Save" button at the top under the words "My Appearance". To close the sidebar, click on the ">>" tab.

Is it too dark and you can't see?

A Second Life day is only 3 hrs long and the night is only 1 hour long. So, if it gets dark, and you can't see, click on "World" at the top of the screen, then "Sun", then "Midday". Now you can see again!

Communication

Sending someone an Instant Message differs depending on if you want to chat with someone that is or isn't on your friends list; and finding them to chat takes just a little bit of searching.

To communicate with someone that isn't on your Friend's List:

To send someone an Instant Message that is around by you: Right click on the person's name, and select “Send IM”.

To send someone an Instant Message that isn't around by you : Type their Second Life name into the Search Bar at the top right of the screen, hit Enter. A box should pop-up. Click on their name, and then on "IM".

To communicate with someone that is on your Friend's List:

To send someone an Instant Message that is standing by you: Right click on the person's name, and select “Send IM”.

To send someone an Instant Message that isn't standing by you: Click on the "<<" tab on the right side of your screen. A sidebar will pop-out. Click on the tab that has the icon of two people on it, then click on the "My Friends" tab. Click on the friend's name that you want to communicate with, then click the "IM" button at the bottom of the screen. To close the sidebar, click on the ">>" tab.

To Chat Publicly to Anyone:

To chat out openly in Public, just type what you want to say into the bar at the bottom left of the screen and hit Enter. Anyone within 20 steps (meters) of you will hear what you are saying.