You need a viewer to connect to this grid.
- Alchemy - C++ based viewer for Linux/Mac/Win. Forked from SL viewer.
- Cool VL Viewer - C++ based viewer for Linux/Mac/Win. Forked from SL viewer. (Former name: Cool SL Viewer).
- FireStorm Viewer - C++ based viewer for Linux/Mac/Win. Forked from SL viewer. Successor to Phoenix viewer. The most widely used viewer on Second Life.
- Kokua - C++ based viewer for Linux/Mac/Win. Forked from SL viewer successor to Imprudence.
- Radegast Metaverse Client - Radegast-ng is Light client, evolution of Radagast from libopenmetaverae project.
- Singularity - C++ based viewer for Linux/Mac/Win. Forked from the Ascent Viewer. Goal is to combine look of old SL viewer with modern features. Singularity source code available on GitHub.
- Dayturn - C++ based viewer for Win/Mac only. Forked from Kokua.
- Scenegate - C++ based viewer with a focus on accessibility and onboarding. With a simplified UI more suitable to just visit worlds, rather than building (but the full UI is still accessible). Forked from Alchemy.
Text-only Viewers
These are lightweight viewers, which either do not offer a graphical component or where the graphical component is not used by deault. The function of these viewers however is to connect to a grid, chat, manage inventory, etc. Useful on systems with low specifications or for bringing an alt online without having your main avatar log out, or to quickly take care of messages, inventory, etc.
- METAbolt - METAbolt is a non-graphical (text based) viewer. It's light weight and cross grid, which means it will work in Second Life™ as well as other grids that are based on OpenSIM. The viewer is Open Source so it's free. Currently METAbolt is only available for Windows platforms.
- Mobile Grid Client - A Second Life and OpenSim (Open Simulator) messaging client for your Android powered device (mobile phone, cell phone, tablet...).
Connecting to the Grid with A Grid Selector (Recommended)
Most viewers have a grid selector which in many cases is already visible, and located at the bottom of the login screen. If it is not visible, try pressing Ctrl-Shift-G to (un)hide the grid selector.
If the grid is present in the list
If you see the grid you want to connect to in the grid selector, then simply choose it from the drop down menu, enter the username and password that you chose when you created your account on that grid, and click the "Log in" button.
If the grid is missing from the list
If your preferred grid is not present in the drop down menu, then you will have to add it manually. You will have to do this only once. First, find the grid manager. Usually, this can be found in the preferences of your viewer, in a tab called "Grids". In general, the only fields that you will have to fill in are:
- Grid Name (or alike) - A name you can easily identify the grid by. OpenSimulator grids don't use this information, so you can name it anything you like.
- Login URI - The most important information. It should be like "http://someserver:9000" or "http://someserver". For instance, for OSGrid, this is "http://login.osgrid.org/".
Near these fields, you will also find a button named "Get Grid Info" or similar. If you click it, it may fill out several blank fields with URIs. In some cases, clicking the button will cause an error message to pop up, or in rare cases, freeze the viewer. If clicking the button causes problems of any kind, you can leave the remaining fields empty, or find the missing info and add it manually. Leaving the fields empty will normally not cause problems, and you will still be able to log in to that grid, although on some grids, some features may be unavailable until the missing info is added.
Click the "Apply" or "OK" button to store your new grid in the menu, and you will be ready to log in as explainted under If_the_grid_is_present_in_the_list
For instructions that are specific for your favorite viewer, see your viewer's website.