GroupBots

Group Bots

1. Log in to the CasperLet website
2. Click the "Group Bots" icon
3. You will be presented with a "Robot Army" page.
4. This page has sections for SmartBots, PikkuBots, METAbolt, and the now-discontinued CasperBot.
5. Enter the appropriate information in for the bot system you are currently using
6. Hit save

If the renter accidentally ignores/declines the group invite, just have them click the rental unit and choose "GRP INVITE" from the popup menu. The rental units will only invite people who are current renters.

Limitations

A bot (any bot) cannot remove a tenant from the group IF they have been manually given any role other than the one they were originally invited to. The bot has no (scripted) way of knowing what additional role(s) they were granted, so there is no (scripted) way for the bot to know that it needs to remove them from the extra role(s).

Suggestions

If the land you're renting has individual parcels for each renter, be aware most people will want to be able to change their parcel media (for radio streams, etc.) Including permission to do that in the role you invite renters to will save you some time later.

Terminology

Bot: A unattended avatar account, used for automatic programmed activities or responses

Self-Hosted: You need to host the bot yourself, on your own computer. If you don't normally have a computer on 24/7 *anyway*, then self-hosting is probably not for you.

SmartBots

SmartBots is a third party bot hosting service that also allows you the option to have your own bot account hosted by them (so you don't have to run your computer 24/7 for your bot).

See the SmartBots page for more details.

PikkuBots

PikkuBots is a bot system that allows you to download and self-host one or more bots, or they can host the bot for you. Pikku has 49 commands available for the "lite" version, and over 500 commands available for the "premium" version, whether or not you self-host or have them host a bot for you. Be aware that while PikkuBot is very powerful in features, it is potentially very complicated to get fully set up. If you get "lost" easily, consider METAbolt (if you want to self-host) or SmartBots (if you want to have someone else host the bot) instead.

System Requirements

• Microsoft .Net 3.5 SP1 - Download
• Windows: XP 32bit / 64bit, Vista 32bit, Home Server 32bit, 2003 Server 32bit / 64bit (others may work but are NOT tested)
• Apple: Mac OS X 10.5 or later
• Linux: Linux with Mono-Beta

Installation

• Download and install .Net if it's not already
• Get PikkuBot Installer - Download
• Double-click on the installer.exe
• Let the install complete

PikkuBot Info & Instructions

• See how to prepare a bot account for PikkuBots
• While there is a free trial week, you will need to be aware of PikkuBot pricing
• View the FAQ about PikkuBots
• View the PikkuBot documentation hub
• See the PikkuBot warning with Windows Vista
• Troubleshoot error messages

METAbolt

METAbolt is a free text-based viewer for Second Life. METAbolt is popular for self-hosted bots because it needs minimal setup, and takes minimal system resources on the computer it is running on (so multiple instances can be running simultaneously).

System Requirements

• Microsoft .Net 3.5 SP1 - Download
• Windows: XP/SP2, Vista, Windows Server 2003, Windows 7, Windows Server 2008

METAbolt Installation

• Download and install .Net if it's not already
• Download METAbolt - Download
• Open the .zip file and double-click on "setup.exe"
• Let the install complete

METAbolt Instructions

• See the METAbolt page for details on setting up your bot!

CasperBot (Discontinued - No Support)

This is a discontinued product, so there is no warranty and no support.

CasperBot is a no-frills self-hosted bot that allows you to add group invite functionality to CasperVend or CasperLet. This is strictly a self-hosted bot.

System Requirements

• Windows: Microsoft .Net 3.5 - Download
• Linux: Linux with Mono
• Windows:

Casper, What windows versions are supported?

Capabilities

• Minimal feature set for small memory footprint
• Invite users to your group
• Ejects users from your group
• Checks to make sure user isn't already in group before inviting

Instructions

1. On Windows, install .Net 3.5. On Linux, install Mono.
2. Run the CasperBot application
3. At the command line, type in "login firstname lastname password" and hit enter. (firstname lastname password are for your bot Second Life account: first name, the last name (or "resident" if your bot account has one of the newer one-word names) and the bot's SL password.
4. Wait until it finishes logging in (you'll see a bunch of scrolling text, this is normal)
5. Type "setmaster firstname lastname" giving the first and last name of YOUR avatar that owns the copy of CasperVend and/or CasperLet.
6. You need to find your avatar key and group key.
7. Login to CasperVend and/or CasperLet and provide your group key and avatar keys when asked (in CasperVend, it's on the Edit Product or New Product pages. In CasperLet, there's a button on your title bar called "Group Bots")

Casper, What else goes here for steps?

FAQ / Troubleshooting

Q. Are bot-based group invites to the land holding group available upon renting?

A. CasperLet has full integration with Pikkubots, SmartBots and METAbolt. Simply add your bot codes on the website and you're good to go.

Q. I have a rental box with settings to auto-evict tenants after ___ time. The box is overdue, but the tentant was not evicted. Help!

A1. This was a bug fixed in recent updates (version 1.20+) - You'll have to:

1. Update your version if you're using an older one
2. Disable the auto-evict for ALL rental units, and then save
3. Then re-enable the auto-evict for ALL rental units, and then save

This will get them to properly auto-evict again.

A2. There is a LSL limitation that will prevent evictions if a tenant is added MANUALLY to any group role other than the role to which they were originally invited. For example, METAbolt invites renters to the "everyone" role, then landlord upgrades a tenant to a role with more privileges. Then when the tenant leaves and the rental unit evicts, the bot will send the usual evict notice and otherwise attempt to eject, but the eject will FAIL.

The fix: Either (a) give the "everyone" as many privileges as any upgraded tenant is likely to need, or (b) eject them manually when the rental ends.