So there I was, minding my own business, reading the official Second Life blog page. Something did not feel quite right and initially I didn’t quite grasp what it was. The colour scheme was the same, there were no shocking new blog posts and then I noticed a section that must be fairly new; “Latest Photos Inworld“.
The widget that contains the photos is a clickable and there are a couple of places you can click. Those places are on a picture itself or by clicking “View All“. The only real difference is that by clicking on a picture, that picture becomes the centre of the next screen, whereas when you click “View All“, the first picture in the series will be the centre.
Hopefully you can see the above image. One picture in the centre and a series of pictures at the bottom. There are a few things you can do from here.
If you want to move to the next or previous picture in the series, near the middle there are right and left cursor icons, which can be clicked. The same icons appear to the left and right of the images at the bottom too, this will move the series along at the bottom only, if you see a picture at the bottom you like the look of, then just click on it and that will then appear at the centre of the screen. I hope that makes sense!
There are some other clickable buttons too, one of which looks like it may have potential and the other two, which are pretty redundant with the way Linden Lab are currently using this widget.
The potentially useful looking button is the thumbs up button. The other two aren’t really useful at the moment, I mean I really can’t see Xiola Linden publishing a Second Life snapshot that people think is worth reporting by way of the flag. The thumbs up button does what you’d expected, if you like a picture and you’re logged into the Second Life website, then your vote counts and you will see a change in the number next to the thumb.
This has potential to be used for the photo competitions Second Life run from time to time. No matter how it gets used, it’s a nice feature that shows some good photos of Second Life. Now if you’re wondering where Linden Lab are getting these photos from, they are Second Life Pic of the Day images, which regularly appear on the Second Life blog.
So you may be wondering how these people end up being selected as Second Life Pic of the Day? Well the only way I know is to join the Second Life Official Group on Flickr and submit your photos to that group. Please take care to note the rules of this group though, the rules include the following :
By submitting your photos or other materials (the “Submissions”) to the Second Life Official Flickr feed of Linden Research, Inc. (the “Company”), you acknowledge and agree to the following terms:
You agree to participate in the Company’s Photo of the Day program (the “Program”). As a participant of the Program, you hereby grant to the Company a perpetual, worldwide, irrevocable, and cost-free right and license to use, distribute, or sublicense (through multiple levels), and otherwise exploit in any manner whatsoever, all or any portion of your Submissions, for the purposes of marketing, promotion, and/or outreach for and about the Second Life virtual world.
This group is not for advertising. Advertisements will be removed.
Nudity is not allowed.
Spamming this group is not allowed.
The rules are easily found on the group page and should be read in full, if you’re happy with them then you may want to join the group, there are plenty of pictures in that group that are well worth viewing. Those who aren’t happy with the rules can still view the pictures in the group!
I’ll be interested to see where Linden Lab take this widget, it works quite well at the moment.
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