Sharing a molecular model can solve one problem and create another: collaborators need the files, but not everyone should necessarily be able to edit them—or even find them. A useful way to avoid confusion is to decide two things before you publish: who should be able to use the document and who should be able to change its settings or content.
SAMSON Connect gives published documents three visibility options: Public, Hidden, and Restricted. These settings determine who can use the document; editing is separately controlled by access rights. Thinking of visibility and editing as separate decisions makes it easier to share a model without assuming that “can access” means “can edit.”
Choose visibility to match the sharing situation
- Public: everyone can use the document, while editing requires access rights. Choose this when broad availability is intended.
- Hidden: anyone with the link can use the document, while editing still requires access rights. This can be useful when you want to share a link directly rather than make the document publicly discoverable. Treat the link as the means of access: anyone who has it can use the document.
- Restricted: using or editing the document requires access rights. Choose this when access should be limited to specifically authorized users or groups.
Before publishing, ask: “Should anyone be able to use this, should access depend on having the link, or should access be granted explicitly?” That question is often more useful than starting with a vague label such as “private.”
Publish from SAMSON, then manage access
To share a document from SAMSON, select Home > Publish. In the dialog, enter the document name and description, then choose its visibility. After you select Publish document, the document is shared on SAMSON Connect and a link is provided in the same window.
Publishing is only the first step if you need to manage access later. On SAMSON Connect, open Documents from your user menu to see documents you published and documents shared with you. Owners and editors can edit document settings. Owners can also change visibility and grant access rights to individual users or groups.
For a project team, granting access to a group can be easier to manage than adding people to each document one by one. SAMSON Connect groups can be public or private, and group owners can manage membership, roles, and membership end dates. If a collaborator does not yet have a SAMSON account, a group owner can invite them using their email address.
A quick pre-share check
- Confirm the document name and description identify the right model or project.
- Choose Public, Hidden, or Restricted based on who should be able to use it.
- Remember that editing requires access rights; set visibility and editing access deliberately.
- If sharing with a team, consider granting access to the relevant group and check its membership.
- After publishing, return to Documents to review or update the settings when the project or team changes.
This small routine helps prevent two common collaboration headaches: collaborators being unable to access a document they need, and a document being available more broadly than intended. For details on profiles, groups, documents, and cloud jobs, see the SAMSON collaboration documentation.
Note: SAMSON and all SAMSON Extensions are free for non-commercial use. Get SAMSON.