A molecular model is only useful to a collaborator if they can find it, access it, and understand what they are receiving. Yet sharing often creates a small but frustrating puzzle: Should the document be public, available only by link, or restricted? And once it is shared, how does someone download it into SAMSON?
SAMSON Connect provides a document-sharing workflow that makes those choices explicit. The key is to decide who should be able to use the document before you publish it—and to remember that using a document and editing it are different permissions.
Choose visibility to match the handoff
From SAMSON, select Home > Publish to open the publishing dialog.
Enter a document name and description, then select a visibility option. These settings determine who can use the shared document:
- Public: Everyone can use the document. Editing requires access rights.
- Hidden: Anyone with the link can use the document. Editing requires access rights.
- Restricted: Access rights are required to use or edit the document.
A practical way to choose is to start with the intended audience. If the document should be discoverable and usable by everyone, choose Public. If you want to share it with specific people by sending them the link, Hidden may fit. If access itself should require permission, choose Restricted. In every case, do not assume that permission to use a document also grants permission to edit it.
Before publishing, take a moment to make the name and description useful to someone who did not create the model. A clear name helps distinguish the document from similarly named files; a concise description can explain what it contains or why you are sharing it. These small details make a handoff easier to follow.
When the details are ready, click Publish document. The document is shared on SAMSON Connect – Documents, and a link is provided in the same window. Copy that link when you are ready to send it to collaborators.
Receiving a shared document
If a collaborator sends you a shared document, you can download it in SAMSON by choosing Home > Download. This is the route for bringing a document shared through SAMSON Connect into your workflow.
The download dialog lets you select a document from SAMSON Connect. If you cannot use a document, check whether you have the required access rights; the document’s visibility setting determines whether it is open to everyone, available to anyone with its link, or limited to users with access rights.
To keep track of shared work, you can access and manage documents you have shared, as well as documents shared with you, through your account on SAMSON Connect. This can be useful when a link gets buried in a conversation or when you need to review which documents are available to you.
A quick pre-share check
- Is the document name recognizable to someone outside your project?
- Does the description give enough context to identify the document?
- Does the visibility match the intended audience?
- Have you distinguished access to use the document from permission to edit it?
- After publishing, have you copied the provided link for the intended recipients?
These checks help prevent common handoff confusion without changing how you build or organize your molecular models. For the full workflow, see the SAMSON document-sharing documentation.
Note: SAMSON and all SAMSON Extensions are free for non-commercial use. Get SAMSON.