This checklist is an aide to help you setup your grid. It is some things to think about as you decide to be a grid owner.
A .pdf downloadable version of this: OpenSim Grid Checklist.
1 – What is the focus of your grid, do you have a theme in mind? Social, live events, business, teaching?
2- Consider designing your grid name, icons and art to your theme so it becomes a brand and people remember it.
3 – Consider setting up a website for your grid for information, registration and news and try to keep it updated and fresh. For an easy to create website try WIX https://www.wix.com/, you get one website free with their ad, then add a link to your registration page (wifi). If you have some experience building a website we can host a website for you here at A Dimension Beyond.
4 – Do you want to make money from your grid or just make enough to help pay for your expenses? If yes you may wish to do some or all of the below steps:
Rent land on your grid, compare the prices on other grids and decide what would be a good price for you.
Put a donate button on your website and signs in your grid.
Sell your own goods or services, if your a good builder, coder, DJ, entertainer or website designer let others know your services and your rates.
Set up a money system on your grid:
Podex: http://www.podex.info/p/buy-virtual-currency.html
Gloebits: https://www.gloebit.com/login/?r=&u=0
Paypal: https://www.paypal.com/us/webapps/mpp/home
5 – Do you want voice on your grid? This is good for grids that hold live meetings, teaching or seminars. Most users in Opensim use text chat, To set up voice contact Vivox https://www.vivox.com/
6 – Set up your Terms of Service page, here is a sample page you can adjust to your liking, if in doubt contact a lawyer. https://www.hypergridbusiness.com/2014/07/copy-this-terms-of-service-policy-for-your-grid/
7 – Do you want your grid open to the Hypergrid so that members from other grids can directly teleport to your grid for events?
Suggestion: If your have a commercial grid (set up to make money) and have a Hypergrid (teleport) area, don’t put it in your welcome region, make a designated region for your Hypergrid teleport boards, train stations or signs. You want people to come in and look around not teleport in and then just jump back out to another grid.
8 – Set up a separate email account for your grid for customer service, we suggest gmail. Put it on your website and on your registration (wifi) page under links. Also add a sign in world with information on how to contact you.
9 – Customer Service, how do you want to offer customer services to your grid members and/or renters?
You can set up a Discord channel: https://discordapp.com/
You can add a help ticketing system on your website, this list should help: https://www.capterra.com/sem-compare/customer-service-software?utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc
You can add a live chat widget to your website like Livechat. https://www.livechatinc.com/pricing/
10 – Basic advertising for your grid. Here are two places where you can add your grid:
Opensim World: https://opensimworld.com/dir
Hypergrid Business: https://www.hypergridbusiness.com/
And set up social media such as Twitter and Facebook.
11 – Opensim Viewers, here are three viewers you can recommend to your members and a link to the recommended viewers on the OpenSim wiki.
Singularity http://www.singularityviewer.org/
Dayturn Viewer: https://www.dayturn.com/viewer/index.php
Firestorm Viewer: https://www.firestormviewer.org/choose-your-platform/
Opensim Website: http://opensimulator.org/wiki/Compatible_Viewers
12 – If you need help that we cannot assist you with at A Dimension Beyond you can check the Opensim wiki http://opensimulator.org/wiki/Main_Page, teleport into OS Grid Lbsa plaza and ask the members there. https://www.osgrid.org/ or ask on an Opensim group in Discord or MeWe https://mewe.com/ Also there is a lot of valuable information on Hypergrid Business.