A molecular model is rarely finished when one person closes a document. A collaborator may need to inspect the structure, continue editing, or review a related computational job. But sharing work can feel like a small administrative puzzle: Which part of the site should you use? Should you share a document, organize a group, or manage access to a job?
SAMSON’s collaboration guidance points to a useful way to approach the problem: begin with the account and site context, then move to the specific item or access workflow you need. That order helps avoid jumping into collaboration settings before you know where shared resources fit.
Start by identifying what you need to share
First, name the thing your collaborator needs. Is it a document they should open or download? Is it a job whose visibility or permissions need attention? Or are you setting up an ongoing team, where profiles and groups matter? These are related tasks, but they are not interchangeable. Being specific helps you choose the right documentation path and keeps the handoff focused.
- For account context, downloads, extensions, and shared resources: begin with SAMSON Connect.
- For publishing or accessing shared documents: read Share documents.
- For profiles, groups, permissions, shared documents, and shared jobs: continue to Collaboration.
A simple handoff sequence
- Get oriented. Start with SAMSON Connect to understand the website sections and account context. This is especially useful if you are new to the site or are also managing downloads or Marketplace access.
- Handle the document. If the goal is for someone to publish or access a shared document, use the Share documents guide. Keep the handoff centered on the document the other person needs.
- Set up broader collaboration when needed. If the work involves a team, group membership, permissions, or a shared job, use the Collaboration guide. You can go directly there if your account is already set up and you already know the SAMSON Connect context.
- Continue into the scientific task. Once a shared document is open or downloaded, the next step may be Work with structures for inspecting or editing its contents. For cloud-job workflows and analysis, see Simulate and analyze.
Make the route fit the task
If you only need account settings, downloads, or Marketplace access and are not sharing work yet, you can postpone the collaboration material. If you are sharing documents or jobs, a practical route is SAMSON Connect → Share documents → Collaboration. If your immediate concern is groups and permissions, start with SAMSON Connect and then go to Collaboration.
This distinction is helpful because collaboration is not just a question of sending someone a file. A document, a group, and a job can involve different access questions. Before you begin, write down what your colleague needs to do—open a document, work with a group, or access a job—and use that goal to choose the relevant guide. It is a small step, but it makes the handoff easier to explain and reduces the chance of overlooking the permissions part of a shared workflow.
For a new collaboration setup, follow the recommended reading order rather than trying to absorb every feature at once. For an established account, jump to the section that matches the task. After the handoff, use the relevant structure or simulation guide to continue the scientific work.
Learn more in the Share and collaborate documentation.
Note: SAMSON and all SAMSON Extensions are free for non-commercial use. Get SAMSON.