Category: SL Viewer

Viewer 3 has had a release slipped out. Version 3.2.4.246439, dated December 8th, brings with it the long-awaited (for those not using a recent TPV or either the Beta or Development versions) updated snapshot floater, allowing you to send snapshots directly to your web profiles feed.

I’d actually missed this release, if it did surface around the 8th, which is a little ironic, as I’ve been trying to keep a weather eye on Viewer 3 updates, but admittedly have had my attention elsewhere in the run-up to Christmas and also trying to put a few upcoming blog posts in order as well.

Another change that should make Tateru a little happier 🙂 – is that the installer now simply calls the Viewer the “SecondLifeViewer” (on Windows at least, I can’t speak for other O/s versions of the Viewer) and installs into a folder of that name – the version number is now gone. I can’t speak for the issues on disconnects or those of grpahics issues, but I am assuming it has the OpenGL fixes included (which would, I believe, roughly fit the release date).

Sadly, the click-to-walk still results in mouse steering being, as we say in England, arse-backwards.

I’ve not looked too deeply at the release for other updates, but those using it should have been prompted to update if running an older version; although (again with Windows release at least), because of the install location name change, you need to uninstall the prior version yourself afterwards.

 

Spelling checkers are something TPV users tend to take for granted; or if you’re a Guardian reader, quite possibly for grunted (sorry, a little English humour….). We’ve been able to bask in the glory of having our misspellings highlighted ready for us to correct (or in some instances, had them auto-corrected, depending on the sophistication of the checker code itself). Those using the official Viewer, however, haven’t been so lucky.

But that is about to change. Enter Storm 83. A year plus old, barely watched or voted upon, and now a coming soon feature. So as Oz comments on the JIRA, “Everyone thank Kitty for volunteering to contribute this feature!” Kitty being Kitty Barnett, who is the assignee for the project, and who has been a prolific contributor to TPV code, including RLV/a.

It’s not clear exactly how the feature will be integrated – different TPVs have added it in various tabs within Preferences. However, if we take Kitty’s own Catznip Viewer as a lead (given it is based on Viewer 3), one might hazard a guess and say that rather than being hidden away inside Preferences, as is the case with come TPVs, the Spell Check option will get a tab of its own.

With Catznip the spelling checker is very straightforward: simply tick the check box to enable. American English is the default, but other options are available from a drop-down menu. Spelling errors are then underlined in red in chat, and right-clicking on them will display a nice little menu listing alternatives as well as an option to add the word to a custom dictionary, should you prefer. One suspects the Viewer 3 functionality will be similar.

I’ve no idea whether the dictionary will include the ability to download other language dictionaries, a-la the likes of Phoenix and (shortly) Firestorm. I’ll hopefully take a closer look once the code reaches a Development Viewer or enters the Beta code base.

 

More people are trying-out the new FUI (apparently “Flexible User Interface”, and not “phooey” as someone jokingly insisted!) in Viewer 3.2, and some interesting JIRA are starting to appear.

If you’ve made the hop, you might want to consider taking a look at some of these and adding your support to any you agree with (remember to WATCH rather than VOTE – or do both to be on the safe side!):

• VWR-20738: add ability to organise buttons in Customise Toolbars floater
• VWR-27209: a Navigation bar only option to top bar of UI
• VWR-27222: add Estate & Statistics Bar buttons and include multi-use separator in Customise Toolbars
• VWR-27318 / VWR-27330: provide the option to use either the toolbars or the Sidebar
• VWR-27358: allow the Chat Bar and an “IM Bar” to be docked, as if a button-like element, to the bottom bar area
• VWR-27388: make any menu option draggable to the button bar
• VWR-27448: recover the ability to dock windows at the edge of the screen and have them behave like tabs
• VWR-27455: make the button bars on Viewer 3.2 dockable to top/bottom or right/left (depending on the edge) and not only on the middle
• VWR-27457: create a “Quick Preferences” button for rapid access to frequently used preferences
• VWR-27463: add Picks, Places, and Destinations to menus
• VWR-27599: some floater window sizes and positions are sometimes reset to default after a crash, and all are on viewer update

While the following are not strictly Viewer 3.2 related, some may feel they still apply:

• VWR-26688: allow notifications to be positioned to a different area of the screen

Note that I don’t pretend that this is an exhaustive list, nor have I included any JIRA for 3.2.0 through 3.2.2 marked as “fix pending”. Finally, JIRA listed above should not in any way be taken as a personal endorsement on my part – they’re simply what came up in search & while perusing the results!

Update 17th November

• Adding EXP-1449 left click drag to control avatar not working, when “single click on land” action set to “move to clicked point”.

Quick note: A couple of other blogs have linked to this piece as a review of the new UI. If you are looking for a review, you can find mine here. This article only references the fact the new Viewer is released, and doesn’t carry any specifics.

Well, well.

After blogging yesterday that Viewer 3.2 had reached Beta – lo and behold, and with no fanfare whatsoever, it’s released!

Apparently there was a blog post about it that Tateru spotted on Monday, but it appears to have vanished into the sub-etha.

Version 3.2.0 (244443), dated Nov 3rd, doesn’t have the latest revisions that the Beta release has – there is no Destination Guide open by default, and there are no translation options on the Chat Preferences, nor does Inventory have the Direct Delivery revision (not surprising, given yesterday’s announcement). The new attach points (Neck and Centre) have yet to appear – although they are in the Beta, so expect them & translate, etc., shortly.

However, everything else I covered in my First Looks piece on the new UI is there – including the direct-to-marketplace shopping button top right of the screen which is liable to annoy many who have in-world shops.

I’m not sure when on Monday the switch-over occurred; I’ve been checking the download page daily of late (sometimes more than twice), and when I downloaded the latest Beta, the release Viewer was still 3.1.2.

Short Random Thoughts on the UI

Given we have a button-based UI, I’m not going to suggest anything radical, but here are some thoughts:

• Make the Chat  bar optionally “sticky” so that if positioned over the bottombutton area, it displays a-la V1, without the floater surround (i.e. so the “nearby chat” floater title and X to close vanish). This would:
  • Reduce screen space used by the bar
  • Allow a further V1-like feel to the Viewer, helping those moving over from V1 feel more at home
• Add more button options for greater flexibility, for example:
  • Environment settings to access the Environment Settings floater (and add sun positions as buttons on the floater)
  • Quick Preferences button, a-la Phoenix / Firestorm, that provides access to frequently used options such as the Draw distance, Particles count, Height offset, Physics and LOD sliders, etc, and WindLight presets

Button floaters were an idea that crossed my mind as well, but I’m not convinced they’d be a benefit.I hope the code is such that TPVs adopting the UI can add their own buttons easily enough.

I’m a little surprised that the improved camera controls / floater still hasn’t appeared and can’t help wondering what LL are doing with it.

Would also be nice at some point to see some form of client-side AO option included in the Viewer. TPVs have these as standard, they don’t impact on the sales of AOs (as people still need the walks, etc.). On that subject, LL, isn’t it about time the default waddle was reworked into something of a “unisex” walk?

Anyway, random thoughts aside, if you’ve not given the new UI a test, I recommend you do, even if you’re not a regular official Viewer user – it’s worth a look-see, and even if buttons aren’t to everyone’s liking, they at least allow a greater flexibility of approach to screen layout – and even allow a sort-of pseudo Viewer 1.x layout.

Updates: 9th November

Two excellent JIRAs on the UI have been raised, and they are certainly worth Watching (which, as we all know, is the new Voting – although putting in a vote as well won’t do any harm!)

• VWR-27388 – make all menu options draggable to the button areas – thanks to Pat Perth
• VWR-27455 – make button groups repositionable within the button areas (i.e. move to left/right or top/bottom edge of placement areas – thanks to Gwyneth Llewelyn
• I’ve also raised a JIRA for the addition of a “Quick Preferences” button to access specific sliders: VWR-27457.

Also on the 9th, LL’s blog post on the Viewer reappeared, together with a number of links:

• Getting Started with the New Second Life Viewer
• Customizing the New Second Life Viewer
• Additional Features in the New Second Life Viewer

This post also included information on my.secondlife.com Direct Messaging, which I covered last month.