SciCentr.org: Caretaker Notes

The caretakers for a world in CUni are those users who can assign rights and change the properties (features) in a given world. In SciFair/CyberCiv, caretaker rights are generally given to all SciFair staff, all the mentors, and the coach(es) for the site the world is for.

What the caretaker does:

Assigns World Rights

Rights are set under Options->World->Rights. Only caretakers can do this. Others can only see whether the right is given to everyone, nobody, or some people.

Each rights list is a comma-separated list of citizen IDs.
There is a limit of about 256 chars, so leave off spaces.
It is easiest to manage these if you keep them sorted in order.
* (asterisk) means everybody, so use it with care.
Ranges can be included using a tilde (~), for example 10~12 is equivalent to 10,11,12.
Exceptions can be made to ranges using a minus (-), for example 10~20,-15 is equivalent to 10~14,16~20.
Leaving blank gives nobody the right.

Rights that can be set:

See http://www.activeworlds.com/help/aw41/document.php?world_rights for basic descriptions.
Enter - Caretakers can enter even if not on the list, so you can leave them off if your list is long. The list should generally contain the participants in the program. Use * only when the world is ready to be public or for special events.
Build - Even caretakers can't build unless they're listed here. Builders can only edit things they own but can duplicate anything. It is recommended to leave this blank (or restricted) until you are ready to have teens build. * will let anyone who can enter build, so using it is not recommended (in case you open the world to the public later).
Eminent Domain - This should generally only be coaches and mentors. Note that you can't edit the property of someone that isn't currently allowed to build (without assuming ownership); you must re-enable build rights for them first.
Special objects/commands - This isn't generally useful to restrict in CUni, so just leave them as * unless you have a reason to do otherwise.
V4 Objects - This allows users to build with the new object types: movers, particle emitters, zones and cameras. In some cases, these can drastically change the user's experience, so you can control who can use them.
Public speaker - Some mentors like to use this to make their chat bold and to let them use special avatars that are easy to find in the world. It can also be useful to give to others if they make a presentation.
Eject - I don't think we've ever used this, but it should probably only be given to coaches/mentors.
Bots - Probably nobody (except staff and maybe mentors) will use this.
Speak - Should normally be given to everyone. Though maybe you could come up with a game that needs this restricted or some community rules that use this right.
Voice chat - While VoIP can be useful, there are many issues with using it in our programs. Please discuss with staff before using for more than a replacement for phone calls.

Sets world features

These are set in Options->World->Features. Only caretakers can set these. Others can see most but not all of the settings, but can't change them.

See http://www.activeworlds.com/help/aw41/document.php?world_features_dialog
World Title - Should probably keep SciFair and the site name in the title somewhere, but you can add in the topic name or whatever too.
Home Page - You probably won't change this unless you make a complete new web site and don't use the template.
Object Path - Don't change this without a really good reason.
Welcome message -It can be nice to change this.
Entry point - People don't have to land at ground zero.
Data limit -This is a limit on the total amount of text in the object properties boxes for the objects in each cell, not the number of objects exactly. The lower you can keep this, the less clutter there will be and the better performance will generally be. Start low and try to get people to clean things up before increasing.
Gravity - can be fun to play with. You don't even have to have it.
Various rules about what can/can't be done in the world - many of these don't apply to Caretakers and/or Public Speakers. They change the dynamics of interactions. Disabling flying/shift can be good for completed exhibits. Global events can be fun too (this is required to use "global" tags on commands).
Default global sounds - you can add things like footstep sounds
Ground/terrain - Worlds now use terrain by default, which is generally the better option (though you don't *have* to have a ground). Unfortunately, the default surface (lighting) properties for the terrain are no good (0.2-0.4 ambient, 1.0 diffuse is recommended).
Lighting - can be fun to change
Sky - the default is a panorama ("backdrop", a band wrapped around near the horizon) of mountains and it is ugly (personal opinion). Skyboxes (images wrapped completely across the sky) usually look nicer and more realistic. You can also get abstract with sky colors instead.
Clouds - these are tricky but they can look nice if done well.
Water - also difficult but can be nice if done well. You can also make the physics of the world behave differently underwater which can be cool.

Associated tasks

These are not technically limited to caretakers, they are usually done by the same people in CUni.

Maintain and oversee the world's web site (can only be done from our network unless we grant access by the coach via FTP)
Add objects, textures, etc to Object Path for availability in the world. Change the avatar list (also only accessible from our network or via FTP).
Find and fix/remove problem objects and missing objects (error icons usually mean bad filenames). Turning on Options->Settings->Advanced->"Print Object Errors" will help you find these, as can some bots. Individuals should clean up their own mess, but this doesn't always happen.

What the Uni Admin does, but Caretakers don't

Creates citizen id's and resets passwords
Creates new worlds, changes world size, assigns caretakers, reset worlds.
Can save and restore world contents ("propdumps") and attributes/features ("atdumps"). Caretakers can do this using bots, but most don't.
Enables/disables existing worlds.