Web browsing inside SL, redux
The recent 1.11.1 version of Second Life shifted from the older settings.ini file to a new, XML-based configuration file called settings.xml. It’s great to see progress toward an end-user-modifiable XUI-based interface, but it does play havoc with clever hacks like displaying arbitrary web pages in the F1 help browser.
Changing the setting in the new XML file isn’t difficult, though. On Windows, you need to edit the following file:
C:\Documents and Settings\Username\Application Data\
SecondLife\user_settings\settings.xml
Add the following line to the file:
<HtmlHelpHomePage
value="http://sl.nanoshock.net/gateway/"/>
You might also want to try the following URL for a more browser-within-a-browser feel:
http://b1.bitty.com/b2browser/?contenttype=website&
contentvalue=http%3A%2F%2Fsecondlife%2Ecom
%2Fapp%2Fhelp%2Findex%2Ehtml
This URL makes use of Scott Matthews’ fabulous Bitty Browser, a Javascript-based browser within the browser that offers some nice search and navigation capabilities to the F1 help window in Second Life, and can also be embedded in other web pages outside of the SL client; you know, in a regular browser. It’s not perfect in the help browser window; SL’s embedded Firefox implementation doesn’t support things like opening new windows, so some of Bitty’s features don’t work, but it’s still quite useful if you want to surf without leaving Second Life.