If you’re working in a collaborative environment or switching between devices, you’ve probably run into this issue: how to share and access molecular models across machines without losing files or struggling with mismatched folders. In molecular modeling, that friction can be more than annoying—it can slow down research. SAMSON offers a simple yet powerful solution: shared documents through SAMSON Connect.
SAMSON Documents are not just for storing molecules. They can embed everything you need to analyze and reproduce your experiments—Python scripts, data files, images, even entire folders. The best part? They can be easily shared through the SAMSON Connect platform, and your colleagues or collaborators can download and open them immediately, with all embedded resources intact.
Why Use Shared Documents?
Here are a few common use cases molecular modelers face:
- Switching between machines, for example, between a lab workstation and a laptop at home.
- Collaborating with colleagues or students remotely on a specific structure or protocol.
- Creating self-contained, reproducible molecular modeling notebooks for publication or presentations.
How to Share
Sharing your SAMSON Document couldn’t be easier:
- Click Home > Publish inside SAMSON.
- Fill in a document name and description in the dialog that appears.
- Choose a visibility setting:
- Public: anyone can access the document.
- Hidden: only users with the link can access.
- Restricted: usage and editing require access approval.
- Click Publish document. You’ll get a direct link that you can send immediately to collaborators or include in a paper.
Once published, your document lives in your SAMSON Connect account, where you can manage its visibility, delete it, or see who it’s shared with.
Downloading Shared Documents
To open a shared document someone else published:
- Go to Home > Download.
- Paste the link to the shared document or browse documents directly on SAMSON Connect – Documents.
- Once downloaded, the document opens with its molecular structures, scripts, folders, and other embedded content ready to use.
A Self-Contained Environment
Since all files and folders can be embedded directly in a document, there’s no risk of missing dependencies. Whether it’s input files, images, related publications, or even Python-based analyses, you won’t have to send them separately or risk something going missing during a transfer.
This self-contained approach is especially valuable for reproducibility and archival purposes—anyone opening the document in the future will see it exactly as you designed it, environment included.
Shared documents are a simple feature that can take a lot of friction out of molecular modeling workflows, especially when working with others or managing complex projects.
To learn more, visit the full documentation at https://documentation.samson-connect.net/users/latest/loading-molecules/.
SAMSON and all SAMSON Extensions are free for non-commercial use. You can download SAMSON at https://www.samson-connect.net.