A new molecular modeling environment can feel like a maze: installation instructions, unfamiliar panels, navigation controls, file formats, tutorials, and help tools all compete for attention. The quickest way to feel oriented is not to learn everything at once. It is to follow a short sequence: check your setup, get familiar with the interface, move around the viewport, and load one structure.
This guide turns the SAMSON onboarding material into a practical route through those first steps. It is useful whether you are setting up a new workstation or returning to the platform and want a focused refresher.
1. Decide whether you need setup instructions
If SAMSON is not installed, begin by checking Requirements and Platforms. This is where to confirm operating-system support, graphics requirements, and Linux dependencies before installing. Then follow Install SAMSON for the installer flow, sign-in steps, and key entry.
Already have SAMSON running on a supported machine? Skip those setup pages and move on. This small decision saves time and keeps the first session focused on the task in front of you.
2. Take a short orientation before exploring
Start with Getting Started for the broad onboarding overview. If you want a compact guided tour, use the Quick Start Guide. It connects the main early topics—interface basics, navigation, selection, documents, simulations, apps, and help routes—so you can see how they fit together.
Next, read First look: the interface. The practical benefit is simple: once you recognize the main parts of the interface, later instructions have somewhere to “land.” You can spend less time wondering where a control or document belongs and more time following the workflow.
3. Learn how to move before you try to do everything
Open Moving around to learn the viewport controls and the default editors used for navigation and selection. Treat this as a short skills checkpoint. Before building or editing a system, make sure you can move around the view and understand which editor is being used for navigation or selection.
That distinction can make early work less frustrating: when an action does not behave as expected, first check whether you are using the relevant editor for the task. You do not need to master every tool at the outset; a basic understanding of navigation and selection is enough to continue to a first structure.
4. Load one structure, then learn the document around it
Continue with Loading molecules. This page covers opening or fetching a first structure and explains where documents, files, and shared data appear. Keep the goal modest: get one structure into the workspace and learn where its document is represented. Once you know where the structure and related data appear, you have a concrete starting point for the next task.
After loading, choose the next page based on what you want to do—not on the assumption that you must read the entire manual in order. Go to Work with structures for selection, inspection, measurement, and undo/redo. Choose Build and edit when you want to modify or construct systems. For visualization, labeling, rendering, or presentation output, continue to Visualize and present.
5. Choose help that matches how you learn
If you prefer guided walkthroughs, try Interactive tutorials after you know the main interface areas. If you prefer asking questions or working with commands, selections, and scripts, explore SAMSON AI when the basics feel familiar. For downloads, extensions, account settings, or shared documents, use SAMSON Connect. These are different routes for different needs; none has to be part of your first session.
A useful first-session checklist is therefore: check requirements if needed → install if needed → orient yourself → practice navigation and selection → load a structure → pick the next topic based on your goal. This gives you a clear stopping point at each step, while keeping the path flexible for returning users.
For the complete onboarding sequence and additional suggested paths, learn more in the SAMSON “Start here” documentation.
Note: SAMSON and all SAMSON Extensions are free for non-commercial use. Get SAMSON.