A new molecular modeling environment can feel surprisingly difficult before any science begins. You may be wondering whether your computer is ready, where to start after installation, how to move around the viewport, or which help resource is worth opening first. That uncertainty can turn a simple first session into a tour of documentation tabs.
A more useful approach is to treat onboarding as a short sequence of decisions: prepare the machine, recognize the workspace, learn the basic navigation, and load a structure. You do not need to explore every feature before you can begin working.
1. Check the machine before troubleshooting the application
If SAMSON is not installed yet, begin with Requirements and Platforms. It covers operating-system support, graphics requirements, and Linux dependencies. Checking these first helps distinguish a setup issue from a problem with the application itself.
Then follow Install SAMSON for the installer flow, sign-in steps, and key entry. If SAMSON is already running on a supported machine, you can skip these setup pages and spend your time on the workspace instead.
2. Get oriented before following detailed instructions
Open First look: the interface to recognize the main parts of SAMSON. This small investment pays off later: instructions are easier to follow when you know where the interface elements they mention are located.
Next, use Moving around to learn viewport controls and the default editors for navigation and selection. This is a useful distinction to keep in mind: moving through a view and selecting parts of a model are different tasks, and learning the relevant defaults early makes both less frustrating.
3. Make loading a structure your first hands-on task
Once you have a basic sense of the interface, continue to Loading molecules. This page covers opening or fetching a first structure and explains how documents, files, and shared data appear. Starting with one structure gives you a concrete way to connect the interface and navigation concepts to actual molecular work.
After loading it, pause to notice how the document is organized before moving on to more complex tasks. That orientation can save time later when you need to find a file or understand what belongs to the current document.
Choose the path that matches your situation
- Setting up a new machine: check requirements, install SAMSON, then read Getting Started and the Quick Start Guide.
- Already installed and ready to work: start with the Quick Start Guide, then review the interface, navigation, and structure-loading pages as needed.
- Prefer guided help: after learning the main interface areas, try Interactive tutorials. If you are looking for help with questions, commands, selections, or scripts, explore SAMSON AI.
You can leave webinars and optional help tools for later. Likewise, SAMSON Connect is useful when you need downloads, extensions, account settings, or shared documents, but it does not have to be your first stop for local basics.
The goal of a first session is not to learn everything. It is to get SAMSON running, understand the workspace well enough to navigate, and open a structure. From there, choose the next documentation page based on the task in front of you: Work with structures, Build and edit, or Visualize and present.
For the full onboarding sequence and additional paths, visit the Start here documentation page.
Note: SAMSON and all SAMSON Extensions are free for non-commercial use. Get SAMSON.