When you’re deep in molecular modeling, every click counts. Whether you’re generating a nanotube, applying a rigid-body transformation, or fine-tuning a molecular structure, switching between modeling tasks often means changing your toolset. And in SAMSON, editors are those tools.
Editors in SAMSON give you interactive functionality, from molecule manipulation to custom builders. But with increasing numbers of extensions and workflows, a typical pain point for many molecular modelers is: how do you find the editor you need quickly? Fortunately, SAMSON offers more than one way to get to the editor you want.
Option 1: Left Menu Navigation
The most direct way is through the editor menu located on the left side of the viewport. It lists all installed editors, and clicking any of them activates it.
Option 2: Quick Access in the Corner
In the top-left corner, you’ll see a small contextual menu. This gives you quick access to functions related to the currently active editor. When speed matters, this is a very efficient way to trigger common operations without searching menus.
Option 3: Use the Search Box
This is perhaps the most underrated but powerful method: simply use the Find everything search box at the top of the SAMSON interface. Start typing the name or a keyword of what you want to do, and matching editors will show up. This becomes even more helpful when you’ve added many custom extensions via SAMSON Connect.
Option 4: Expand Your Toolkit
SAMSON comes with several built-in editors, but you can expand your toolkit significantly. Visit SAMSON Connect to download editors tailored for specific modeling tasks. You’ll find everything from structural relaxation tools to advanced design interfaces.
A Quick Tip: Only One Editor at a Time 🔄
Only one editor is active at a time, so when you select a new editor, you’re automatically deactivating the previous one. Keep this in mind if you’re building a workflow chain that involves different kinds of manipulations.
Bonus: What Does an Editor Look Like in Action?
Here’s an example, showing a nanotube generator editor in use:
Finding and switching between editors doesn’t have to slow you down. With multiple access points and filtering capabilities, SAMSON helps you stay focused on the science—not the interface.
To learn more, visit the official documentation page on editors in SAMSON.
SAMSON and all SAMSON Extensions are free for non-commercial use. You can download the platform at https://www.samson-connect.net.