Online Monitor by Vengeance Studio

Un-packing

If you obtained the Online Monitor in un-packaged form it will be in a folder named Online Monitor, with the instruction notecard and a landmark for the Vengeance Studio Gadget Store. The gadget store delivers it in un-packaged form, so you don't have to un-pack it. XStreetSL and OnRez deliver the packaged version, and you must un-pack it.

To un-pack the Online Monitor, rez the package in-world by dragging it from your inventory to the ground, and then touch the package to open it. You'll then be given the option to copy the contents to your inventory. Once you've done so you can delete the package that is rezzed in-world by right-clicking it and selecting "More" and then "Delete" from the pie menu. You'll still have a copy in your inventory.

Setup

When you first rez the Online Monitor it will be set up to monitor the online status of its creator, Anya Ristow. To monitor someone else, you must change the name of the monitored avatar. There are other things you can change, and we'll get to those in a moment, but first change the name.

Edit the Online Monitor by right-clicking it and selecting Edit from the pie menu. Select the Content tab. You may have to press the More button before you can see the Content tab.

You should find two scripts and a notecard named setup in the Online Monitor's content. Edit the notecard by double-clicking it. Find where Anya's name is and replace it with the name of the avatar you wish to monitor, and then press the Save button at the bottom of the notecard. The Online Monitor will re-read the notecard and you should then be monitoring someone else!

Profile Pictures

The profile picture of the subject avatar will probably be displayed on face of the Online Monitor, but there are a few reasons why this might not happen:

1. The Online Monitor finds the profile picture using Linden Lab's web-based search. It needs the avatar's key to make this search, and to find the key it uses another external database. That database is not 100% complete, particularly for newer avatars. If the Online Monitor can not find the key it will tell you so, and you'll have to obtain the key yourself. A tool has been provided to do just that. Find in the same folder as the Online Monitor the object called Avatar Key Finder. Rez it in-world and have the subject avatar touch it, or send the key finder to them and ask them to touch it and tell you the key that it reports. Once you have the key, use that instead of the name in the setup notecard, like this:

NAME 5a28080a-b44a-432b-83ba-19dabe2e1a59

instead of this:

NAME Anya Ristow

You probably won't have to do that. The key database has most avatars in it. You can find more information about that database here.

2. Some avatars don't have a profile picture. When you view their profile you'll just see a white box where their picture would normally be. The Online Monitor will tell you if it there is no profile picture. You can leave the picture white or you can apply any image your wish. If you have an image in your inventory, just drag it to the largest panel on the face of the Online Monitor.

3. Some avatars have chosen to hide their profile from Linden Lab's web-based search. The Online Monitor will tell you if the avatar you're trying to monitor has elected to hide their profile. You can either leave the profile picture white or provide one of your own.

4. Sometimes one of these external databases is simply unavailable. If that happens, the Online Monitor will tell you to try again later.

Note also that if the avatar's profile picture is new, it won't show in the web search for up to a day. The Online Monitor will either show the old picture or it won't show any picture at all. You will have to wait for the web database to be updated, or you can provide your own image. To get the Online Monitor to try again the next day to find the profile picture, touch it to get the menu and press the Reset button.

Please see this page for more information about creating profile pictures.

Name Tag

place name texture here

Once you've got a profile image set, you'll next want to set a name tag image to replace the text "place name texture here." The name tag texture can be automatically created for you, but you must upload it and apply it to the Online Monitor. Uploading it will cost L$10 (paid to Linden Lab, not to Vengeance Studio).

If you've got the avatar name set in the setup notecard, touch the Online Monitor. It will display a link in text chat that you can click on to have your name tag image generated. Clicking the link will bring up a web page that looks like this, with your subject avatar's name in place of Anya's name. If the page displays in Second Life's internal web browser, press the Open in My Web Browser button to open your external web browser.

Right-click one of the name images and save it by selecting Save image as... from the popup menu. Give it a useful name and remember where you saved it. The larger image will look better. The smaller image will load faster in-world.

Upload the image in Second Life by selecting Upload Image from the File menu. Locate your image, select it and press the Open button. Preview the image to make sure you've selected the right one, and then press the Upload button. It will cost L$10 to upload an image. Now locate it in your Second Life inventory and drag it over top of the text that says "place name texture here".

Your Online Monitor should now show the avatar name in the top panel.

name texture in place

Notification - Instant Messaging, Email and Text Messaging

Now you have to decide if you want to be contacted by IM, email or cell phone text message when the online status of the monitored avatar changes. You don't have to be contacted at all, and when you first set up the Online Monitor it will not contact you. To be contacted, you must edit the setup notecard to include one or more means of contacting you.

The setup notecard contains instructions for setting up notification by IM and email. Just fill in the recipient avatar names or email addresses in the appropriate places. You can have the Online Monitor send as many notifications as you like, but keep in mind that sending email takes twenty seconds for each message, and sending IMs takes two seconds, and while the monitor is sending messages it is not monitoring online status changes. So it's best to keep the list of recipients short.

Note that the Online Monitor tries not to send you instant messages while you are not signed in, so even if you've set your communications preferences in Second Life to forward instant messages to email, you will not be notified of online status changes by email unless you set up an email notification address.

Sending messages to your cell phone is just as easy as sending email. In fact, it's done through email. Just use the email address of your cell phone! If you didn't know your cell phone had an email address, or if you don't know what the address is, please read this page. Just be aware that you might have to pay for text messages to your cell phone, so it may be expensive to monitor someone who signs in and out a lot.

Important notes about email addresses:

Please note that any notecard you place in the Online Monitor that is not called setup will be passed to any visitor that touches the monitor, so it's important that you not rename the setup notecard. If you do, the monitor will happily give out any contact information you've written in the renamed setup notecard! Actually, this is only a problem if you also have a notecard named setup, because the monitor does not operate without a setup notecard, but if you were thinking about creating a second copy of the setup notecard within the monitor's contents, for backup or other purposes, don't do it.

Also note that notification email passes through Linden Lab's servers (they're the ones that operate Second Life). If you've taken precaution not to give them your "real" email address, take the same precaution with any address you use with the Online Monitor. It's highly unlikely they'll snoop or that their outgoing email is being monitored, but it's up to you how careful you want to be with your email address. Note that there is no way for Vengeance Studio to get your email address, but you only have my word on that. Be careful about what scripted objects you give your real-life contact information to.

Web Page

If you'd like visitors to be presented with a web page of your choosing when they touch the Online Monitor, specify the web address in the setup notecard. The notecard contains instructions.

Press the Panels button on the main menu to change the configuration of the Online Monitor. There are three configurations: a three-panel version that shows the name, profile picture and online status, a two-panel version with profile picture and online status, and a four-panel version that shows name, profile picture, online status and an additional image of your choice. To use that fourth panel, just drag an image from your inventory to the panel under the profile picture. That panel is twice as wide as it is tall, so use an appropriately-scaled image.

Size

You can resize the Online Monitor like you would any other object, but a better way to change its size is to press the Size button on the main menu. You'll be presented with resizing options that will keep all the panels proportioned correctly for profile picture display. Any sizing changes you make through the menu will maintain the profile panel at an aspect ratio of 4:3 and the fourth panel aspect ratio 2:1. The name tag and online status panels will also maintain their aspect ratio.

Timing

The Online Monitor is not able to give you instantaneous notification of a online status changes. To do so would put a burden on the Second Life servers, so typically there is a short delay between the time your monitored avatar signs in or out and the time the monitor shows the new status and sends notifications.

When you first set up your Online Monitor the timing of status checks is set to twenty seconds, so on average there will be a ten second delay between a sign in/out and a status change. This timing is appropriate for most uses, but if you require more accuracy you can change the timing by pressing the Timing button on the main menu and setting an appropriately short time interval. Similarly, if you don't need fast response, or if your Second Life region is already highly burdened, or if you will be running many monitors, you may want to increase the timing interval.

Test

There are two tests you can run to see if you've set up the monitor correctly and that it's working correctly. Press the Test button on the main menu and then select Notify to send a test message to all IM and email addresses listed in the setup notecard, or select Touch to test the delivery of any notecards, landmarks or other objects you've placed in the monitor and to test the web page visitors will be presented with when they touch the monitor. Note that the owner normally does not receive those items but visitors that touch the monitor do receive them. Test this delivery through the Test menu. You will be informed of any permissions problems that prevent delivery. You must have Copy and Transfer permission on the items you wish to give to people who touch the monitor.

Text Msg

Pressing the Text Msg button on the main menu simply displays a web page with instructions for setting up text messaging to your cell phone. It's the same page linked above in this document.

Update

To check for available updates to the Online Monitor, press the Update button on the main menu. If there's an update available, it'll be sent to you.

Trouble-Shooting FAQ

1. Online Status shows Initializing... and doesn't change

Something went wrong while reading the setup notecard. Read the chat text that the monitor displays to see if it contains any errors. Most likely there is a name or a key that can not be found. Check that all names and keys provided in the setup notecard are correct.

2. Online Status occasionally (or continuously) shows Unknown

This happens when the monitor checks the online status and does not get an answer. This should not happen often, but can happen under conditions of high lag. If you see it often, increase your timing interval. Touch the monitor to get the menu and then press the Timing button and select a longer timing interval.

3. Email or Text message notifications aren't being received

Make sure the addresses are correct, and if they are, that the messages are not being rejected by a spam filter.

4. Why aren't IM notifications being forwarded to email when I'm not online?

The Online Monitor intentionally tries not to send you updates when you aren't online. To receive notifications while you are not online, provide an email address in the setup notecard inside the monitor. Please see the Notification instructions above.

5. My Online Monitor does nothing when I touch it or edit the setup notecard

Is the monitor located in a no-script zone? Check the icons in the Second Life menu bar for the "no scripts" icon. If you have group access that grants you scripting rights in the parcel, make sure you are wearing the right group tag. If everything appears to be in order and the Online Monitor still seems to not be running, try resetting it by editing it (right-click it and select Edit) and selecting Reset all scripts in selection from the Second Life Tools menu.

6. People who touch the monitor aren't receiving items I placed in it

Test delivery by touching the monitor and using the Test feature on the main menu. It will tell you which items it has available for delivery, and it will tell you if there are any permissions problems with items you've placed in the monitor.