Hi all. Callen Linden here. A few months back, we launched the Dashboard Beta and asked for your feedback. Your response was enthusiastic and very constructive. We've implemented a number of your suggestions and more are slated for future releases.The dashboard was the tip of the iceberg. I'm delighted to say that the rest of the Second Life web site is launching today. We've given our web properties a top-to-bottom overhaul to make your Second Life experiences easier (and more fun) than ever. As always, we'd love your feedback on the redesign.
The magic of Second Life...
The first thing you'll notice is the new look. You got a glimpse of it with the new home page back in December, and now we've extended it to the rest of our web properties. Our aim was to create a visual style that would highlight the magic of Second Life and showcase your artistry. The images that light up the site were selected to reveal the extraordinary range of experiences and emotion that Second Life offers.Not just a pretty face...
As lovely as it is, the changes are not merely a visual face lift. We sent surveys, held office hours, read your comments on blogs and forums, talked to our support folks and the old timers at Linden Lab. We heard that community, exploration, land and shopping are what Second Life is all about for you, so we mirrored that in our new main menu. We know that Second Life is an amazing palette for creativity and building, so we collected resources for designers, coders, merchants and promoters to help you hit the ground running. We heard you say that while shopping on the web is convenient, shopping in world is wonderful because it is an emotional, social and visual feast, so we made sure to highlight both. We learned that many new users think Orientation Island is all there is to Second Life (!!), so we created a web-based world map and linked it tothe Showcase. And we know that what makes Second Life stick are the relationships you form, so we collected our community resources together to help you connect with other like-minded people.
But perhaps the most important part is what you can't see. To respond to your ideas and suggestions, we are re-architecting our back-end systems so we can improve our current features and performance, and provide an ever-expanding set of tools for discovery, sharing, creativity and customization.
Here's the skinny...
* The Dashboard is the first step on a path to richer web-based social tools for Second Life. On it, we've collected the most popular Second Life web features for easy access to the tools and resources you need to manage your Second Life. In future releases, we'll provide better tools for communication, social networking, customization, personalization and management.
* For new users, we've improved the path into Second Life. Registration has been completely redesigned with a streamlined flow and better messaging for new users. Coming soon, you'll see further improvements in the new user experience with better basic training in world, a new approach to designing starting locations, and of course, the redesign of Viewer 2.0.
* For international visitors, we've made it easier to find non-English language registration options and browse community gateways by language preference. We've also been working on the plumbing to make it easier to offer all of our web properties in more languages, and providing toll free support numbers for non-English language speakers.
* The new web-based Second Life Map harnesses the power of Search and the Showcase to bring a real-world feel to exploring the virtual world. We think it gives new and old Residents alike a great tool for discovering Second Life, making it easier for you to find (and teleport to) the store, concert, club or peaceful beach that suits your mood. The new Map is just one of the milestones on our roadmap for improving Search and Classifieds, and connecting you with the great content and communities of Second Life.
* We've also completely redesigned the Land Store experience to make it easier to use and understand. As part of this redesign we are pleased to announce the launch of Themed Private Regions, where you can purchase a private region in move-in condition. We are starting with Linden designs for a Baronial Castle, Moonbase, Conference Center, and Theater. In the future, the Themed Private Regions option will provide an excellent opportunity for creators to have their content available for sale in our land store. For more information visit our FAQ.
* Shop 'til you drop! Now, from the main menu and throughout the site, we promote the spectacular diversity of stores offering everything from shoes to submarines. As the world's largest virtual goods marketplace, we've now extended our platform to the web, giving Residents new shopping opportunities; and merchants additional visibility with links from secondlife.com.
Thanks!
Sincere thanks to all who contributed to the dashboard beta by providing constructive feedback. Let's continue the conversation after you take a look at the new site. We want to hear what you think, what you need, and what you imagine.
Finally, if you do nothing else, check out the Machinima video in the "What is Second Life?" section of the site. I've seen it 100 times, and it still gets me every time!
Posted by Callen Linden on secondlife.com on Aug 26, 2009
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