Tutorial: Inventory Management
Truth be told, it is very likely that one of the biggest obstacles to a healthy, happy SL is a bloated and unorganized inventory. Yep, that’s right…YOUR INVENTORY! You can always escape your ex, but you can NEVER escape your inventory! You know you’ve neglected it. You know you play the guessing game when you’re looking for something but have no idea where it is. Wait…why don’t you know where it is? I mean…shouldn’t YOU, of all people, know where something is in your inventory?
One of my plurk friends was looking for a little bit of help in the inventory department, and I found out that there’s an interest in this sort of thing. So, I offered to post a blog showing how I do it. I’m not sure if it will be helpful or not; I’m certainly no expert, and my methods could be viewed as weird. Whatever. I’m not claiming to be the authority on inventory management. I’m merely offering a basic guide, if you’re interested.
OVERVIEW
The basic structure of my inventory consists of broad topic system folders containing more narrow sub-folders, which contain even more specialized sub-folders. So, there really is a folder for EVERYTHING. But because I’m a blogger, my system may be viewed as unconventional. I have a bloated inventory because I like to hold on to older clothing items and accessories while also accumulating new items everyday. And occasionally, I’ll go through old folders and delete items I never plan to wear again, but I don’t do this as often as I should. I keep my older items up top in the system folders. My newer items stay down below my trash in my Specialized Folders (this helps me keep the blogged and unblogged items separate from each other). However, about every 3 months I’ll do a BIG TRANSITION, purging old items from the system folders and moving newer (already blogged) items up to take their place. But, before moving the newer items up to the system folders, I remove all unnecessary LMs, notecards and scripts to save as much space as possible.
ANIMATIONS
Animations are easy. Under the Animations system folder, I have sub-folders for AOs, HUDs (not sure why, lol), Miscellaneous, Poseballs, and Poses. I have very few AOs, so I just dump them in that folder. The HUDs folder contains anything from emote HUDs to cool gadgets like FilterCam and all my posestands and photostudios. I pretty much have a Miscellaneous sub-folder under each system folder because not everything is so easily classified. The Poseballs folder contains all my couples’ poseballs, classified in sub-folders by store name. The same goes for my Poses folder, which houses all my pose animations, again by store name.
BODY PARTS
Body Parts are pretty easy, too. I have sub-folders for Eyes, Hair, Miscellaneous, Skins, and Shapes. Eyes are classified by color, with a separate folder for lashes. Hair and Skins, yet again, are classified by store name (are you catching on?). I know alot of people find it helpful to organize Hair by hairstyle (i.e. updos, long, short, etc.) I’ve found that I do a better job remembering the names of the hair, so that really isn’t necessary for me. Although, it could work quite well for you! Anyway, the Miscellaneous sub-folder basically houses prim and system nails. And the Shapes folder contains all my “Stacie” shapes, with sub-folders broken down by skin names.
CALLING CARDS
If you look carefully, you’ll notice that my Calling Cards folder is empty. You see…I don’t NEED them. I have a friends list, and some say that calling cards put an unnecessary strain on your bandwidth. So, I just delete them and never look back. Simple as that.
CLOTHING
My Clothing system folder is a bit difficult to understand, I’m sure. I have sub-folders for Accessories, Casual, Designers, Lingerie, and Shoes. Here’s the explanation of each:
- Accessories: Accessories are broken down into several sub-folders (Arm Cuffs/Muffs, Bags, Belts, Glasses, Gloves, Hair Accessories, Hats, Jewelry, Miscellaneous, and Scarves). Most of these accessories folders don’t have sub-folders for each designer, although Jewelry most definitely does.
- Casual: The Casual sub-folder has many folders inside of it (Bikinis, Coats and Jackets, Costumes, Jeans, Pants, Shorts, Skirts, Socks and Leggings, and Tops). Each sub-folder is further broken down by store name, with the Tops sub-folder being subdivided into Blouses, Hoodies, Sweaters, Tanks, Tees, and Vests. The Socks and Leggings sub-folder is also broken down into Socks, Leggings, and Pantyhose, making it pretty easy for me to locate a specific item by type rather than by trying to remember the weird name the designer gave it.
- Designers: The Designers sub-folder contains dresses and entire outfits classified by designer name.
- Lingerie: Lingerie is broken down into Pajamas, Sexy (don’t ask, lol), and Undies, being further classified by store name.
- Shoes: Yet again, pretty self-explanatory. The Shoes sub-folder is broken down by designer, because it’s usually pretty easy for me to remember the names of the shoes and what each one looks like.
GESTURES
Let’s just pretend that I don’t even have a Gestures folder, k?
LANDMARKS
I rarely keep Landmarks. Just about everything I need can be found by using Search, and rather than clogging up my inventory with unused LMs, I largely depend on Search. However, there are always exceptions. For some of those obscure shops which seem to hide from me in Search, I keep a single LM in my Landmarks folder. I also keep a spare LM of my home parcel…you know, just in case LL messes up one day and decides to randomly change my home location to Free Sex Island or something (yes, I’m very paranoid that this will happen!).
LOST and FOUND
My Lost and Found folder seems to be the most troublesome folder, aside from the Objects folder. Anytime items are returned to me, they go to my Lost and Found folder. Which means, my Lost and Found folder is basically where items go to die. I rarely check it, unless I’m looking for something which appears to be missing. But, I am resolved to do a better job of keeping it cleaned out because it really should be EMPTY.
NOTECARDS
Notecards are something to be monitored closely. If you’re not careful, you could start a giant collection of out-of-control notecards. I have a few sub-folders under the Notecards system folder which are used for saving old notecards which I don’t want to throw away yet. Stupid sentimental stuff. Other than that, everything goes.
OBJECTS
My Objects folder is a regular nightmare. You’ll see that I have folders for EVERYTHING (Animals, Building, Fishing Stuff, Food, Furniture, Gift Boxes, Miscellaneous, Toys, and Unpacked and Unsorted). Most of these are pretty self-explanatory, with the Building and Furniture folder housing the majority of the mess. As you can see above, the Furniture folder is broken down into sub-folders classifying each type of furniture I own. This makes things really easy to find. And, of course, the Unpacked and Unsorted folder contains all sorts of junk I haven’t sorted through yet (damn you DSN!).
PHOTO ALBUMS
The Photo Albums folder contains all the random snapshots I have deemed worthy of staying in my inventory. They’re usually classified into sub-folders named after the people who gave them to me. There’s also a “To Buy” sub-folder containing pictures of items on my shopping list. And, of course, these get deleted after I’ve bought said items.
SCRIPTS
I’m not a builder, so I don’t have much use for Scripts, although I do have a few. They’re simply organized by type.
SOUNDS
I don’t have any Sounds, but if I did, they would damn sure be organized into sub-folders, lol.
TEXTURES
The Textures folder can get tricky. As I mentioned before, I try to keep all snapshots stored away in the Photo Albums folder. But, organizing the textures folder is pretty easy. I simply classify everything by type of texture or store name (i.e. Distressed Textures, Torley’s Textures, etc.).
SPECIALIZED FOLDERS
Below the Trash folder, you’ll notice I have made specialized folders for my own personal use. Specifically, my Blog folder, which contains newer clothing items and stuff to be blogged. I also have a Gift Cards folder, a Home folder (which contains all my new home furnishing purchases), a Review Packages folder (broken down by store name), and a ROLE Magazine Fashion Spreads folder (which houses all my monthly work product). These are all a matter of personal preference, and I keep them down at the bottom for quick reference.
RANDOM TIPS
- When starting a new hunt, create a new folder (i.e., “Skipping Stones Hunt”) and keep all of the hunt items in that folder. Then, after unpacking everything and placing it in the folder, you can easily sort through what you like and don’t like. Delete the crap you don’t want, and file away the rest.
- Regularly empty your trash folder, but take a peek in there first. You don’t want to accidentally delete something you NEED.
- When lucky chair stalking, plop down in a chair or on the floor and sort inventory while you wait. Or take the time once a week to sort your inventory until everything is where it should be. It’s much easier to maintain that way.
- If you’re unsure about deleting older items, box it up. It takes up so much less space!
That’s about all I can think to write. I hope even a tiny bit of it was helpful. Feel free to leave comments with more tips!
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EXCELLENT post Stacie! This is one concept I explain to every noob I talk to. “Inventory ogranization is your best friend”
One more idea I find helpful. When creating an outfit from mixing n matching several pieces from different sources, I copy the items into a folder with a name I make up, e.g. Weekend shopping outfit. That way I don’t have to remember which items I like together.
this was amazingly useful and inspiring, thank you for taking the time to write it! you are so organized. whoa. I’m wondering what’s your inventory count heh.
Organizing my inventory is a never-ending, ongoing process that I spend a good chunk of my time doing just about every time I log in. Just as I have it nearly completely sorted, there’s a sale, or a hunt, or I get behind in some other way and I have another pile of stuff to sift through. I’ve also been through multiple levels of sifting through the sorted stuff – tossing out or packing up stuff I rarely or never use and further organizing the inventory.
That said, although I have heard of people using folders by store name, it never made much sense to me to do so. When you go to your real life closet, do you go “I want to wear some Levi’s with some Gap and then maybe some Aeropostale.” No.. you look for a certain color and certain style. At least I think most of us do.
I have everything sorted in such a way. My poses, for example, are sorted at the top level by “Skirt friendly” and “Hands in skirt” – sounds nuts, but when I’m doing an ad for a dress, I don’t want my hands going through the skirt, right? And that rules out more than half my poses. Next each of those two folders has “Standing”, “Kneeling”, “Sitting”, and “Laying” poses. In those, I have “Facing forward”, “Facing sideways” and “Facing backward”. Then when I need to shoot a specific look, click click click and I have the perfect pose.
Clothing is done by style, then by color. For example, if I want to find a pink formal ballgown, I just go to “Formal gowns” “Pink” – No trying to guess who made that pretty dress I have in mind if only I could remember. The breakdown of items in clothing is more or less like yours, but I don’t usually start my day going, “I want to wear some BareRose today”. It makes it really easy to coordinate, too. If I have a white sweater and want pink pants to go with, I don’t have to remember the designer, or even the name – it’s already there for me, just try on the pink pants until you find the perfect ones.
Anyway, that’s just how I do it, I’m not much of a brand name snob. ^_^ I’m lucky to remember who made what two days after I’ve bought it.
great post Stacie – I have mine set out very much like this and its so easy to find things
Maegen Parvenu just because you set your inventory out a different way that works for you doesnt mean Stacie (or anyone else who does it this way) is a brand snob. You may not have meant it but your comment is rude.
I think there is a lot of brand snobbery in SL. It just always rubs me the wrong way when I see it. Especially when it comes to organizing, it doesn’t make much sense to do it that way. You’ll get a couple of folders of your favorite stores which become bloated and therefore not sorted very well at all – sure you have a pile of tops from Armidi, but which is which? – and you have a few, or maybe a bunch, of folders from off-brands you barely know which contain only one or two items, which you’ll rarely or never touch because you don’t recognize their name at a glance and you know there’s going to be less selection in those folders.
Support your favorite artists, of course. But what does that have to do with finding the perfect top for the look I need?
If being a brand snob is having inventory organized by brands, I am one!
… and finding the perfect top by brand is sooooooo much easier! But that’s me.
Great post, Stacie! <3
I don’t know if it’s a matter of “brand snobbery” but I also fail to see the usefulness of organizing brand. Brand certainly comes into play when you’re buying something new, but it doesn’t seem practical for organizing what you already own. We dress ourselves to the occasion (or in the case of modeling, etc., color)… Do brands each have very distinctive looks, and I just never realized? I may very well have… I’m just a guy, and not terribly fashion-conscious even for a guy.
At any rate, we will all organize how we want to organize, and that’s all that matters. But if the goal is to manage your inventory most efficiently, then I think it’s worth it to consider exactly how important brand is.
i think youve just made me want to sort my 60k of MESS. Iv not done it properly since jioing….
The most important lesson I have learned (and sadly I had to learn it the hard way) is to have a folder called !Unsorted. The ! makes it go right underneath the Trash and near the objects folder.
Whenever I get something new it goes into my !Unsorted straight away. Once you have moved the first new thing of the day into !Unsorted the rest are easy because all the new items will show up in the “Recent” tab and you can also see the !Unsorted folder in the Recent tab (once you have moved one thing there today).
Like you I also make a folder for each hunt – but I make it inside !Unsorted.
Having everything new in one !Unsorted folder means that the rest of inventory is in some sense of order and things don’t get lost.
Really, I don’t know why LL don’t make all new items go into a single folder as the default action – it would be very helpful to new and old residents alike.
Thanks so much, Stacie! Hopefully, I’ll get some time to put your suggestions into action.
I have the beginnings of an organization, and it seems very similar. And, Magen, call me a brand snob if you will, but I very often sort by brand. Some things, like Jeans and Lingerie, get lumped into one folder regardless of brand. But, for me, my mind remembers items by brand and by style.
I know that if I’m looking for something a little goth, a little funky and totally cool, I’m going to open my Sn@tch folder. If I need a classic piece that has every layer imaginable, I’m going to my MichaMi folder.
But, that’s just the way MY mind works.
Thanks, again, Stacie!
xoxo
two words: post rocks
I must say you have inspired me!! I just spent 6 hours dusting out my inventory and made a place for everything..
I Must say i DON’T think it is brand snobbery…When i buy things i tend to remember where i got certain things, and i find it very useful to have things sorted by brand..I know some brands i wear more then others so i tend to group them together for easy access, i don’t want to have to go searching through 15 folders to find 2 pieces that i want to wear from the same store,
anywhoo just thought i would throw my two cents in
Wonderful post and yeah, what is the point of a calling card. LOL
This was a very helpful post. My inventory is always upside down. I feel like I spend hours looking for items. Thank you very much for taking the time to share this!
Stacie -
I just found your blog today for the first time, and besides enjoying your outfits and reviews I really appreciate your inventory tutorial! I have been trying to get more organised but this is a huge help.
I enjoy DSN but it makes inventory control a lot more work!
And thanks to Faerie for a super useful tip using the !Unsorted/Recent items to keep the new stuff separate.
One of my big problems is getting mixed up with new stuff, old sorted stuff and old unsorted stuff, which wastes a lot of time.
If you see me hanging around a Lucky Chair with a vacant look you will know I am getting all this organised!
So thank you a million times Stacie!
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[...] For more inventory management tips you may want to check: “Inventpry Management tips” on Second Life Wiki “Inventory Management 101” on SL Nowt “Tutorial: Inventory Management” on Sheek [...]
Hello all,
First off I love this post, and I organize every time I log into SL
Lizzie Lexington: I think calling cards are useful when you delete a contact. You can look up the calling card, if you remember the resident’s name, and then add them, or IM them again if you wish.
I organize by renaming the new folders I get with something at the end of the designer’s title. I usually put the type of item, such as dress, sofa, etc. and then I’ll put the color of the item, if that fits. Sometimes I will rename with “color change” or something like that if you can change it by clicking on it. After I rename my folders or items, I will then go into the search bar, under the main inventory tab, and just search for that specific designer, or that specific thing I renamed the folder, and they will all show up, when I search for it. Then I just click, and drag everything into the corresponding folder. It works for me, but my inventory is pretty unorganized. I can go a step further and start making sub categories because I think that will help me more.
Another thing I do every day is delete delete delete lol. I am consistantly deleting notecards, old outdated items that I truly dislike, landmarks, thank you notes from the creator, repetitive scripts and did I mention Landmarks?! lol
Thank you for your work on this post.