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Before you begin

What you need

  • The web address of your group's datalab instance. Ask your administrator if you do not know it. To try things out first, use the demo instance.
  • An account with one of the login methods your instance offers.
  • A recent web browser. Nothing needs to be installed on your computer.

Logging in

Open your instance and click Login/Register at the top of the page. Then log in with one of the options your instance offers. Your administrator decides which options are available.

The most common options are:

  • Login via email. datalab sends a one-time login link to your email address. Some instances only accept addresses from certain domains, such as your university.
  • Login via ORCID. You need an ORCID iD.

Your instance may offer other options, or none of these.

Use the same method every time

Each login method is linked to your account. If you log in with a different method, you may create a second, empty account by mistake. If the button you expect is missing, ask your administrator rather than picking another one. You can link extra login methods from Account settings once you are logged in.

Your account status

A new account is in one of three states:

Active
You can create, edit and delete your own items. This is the normal state.
Unverified
Your account exists but an administrator has not approved it yet. Many instances approve new accounts by hand. Ask your administrator to activate you.
Deactivated
You can still log in and read items, but you cannot change anything. This usually happens when someone leaves a group.

Finding out what your instance can do

Every instance is set up differently. Spend two minutes checking:

  • The About page. Click About in the top menu. It shows the software version and any notes from your administrator.
  • Your identifier prefix. Open any item and look at its refcode, e.g. grey:ABCDEF. The part before the colon is your instance's prefix. It is the same for every item on the instance.
  • Which data blocks are installed. Open any item and click Add a block. The list shows every block your instance has. Blocks decide which file formats datalab can plot.
  • Whether your group uses Beholder. Ask whether your instruments send files to datalab automatically. See Attach files for why this matters.

Conventions used in this guide

Convention Meaning
grey:ABCDEF A refcode. Yours will start with your own instance's prefix.
Bold text A button, menu or label in the datalab interface.
Admin only The action needs an administrator.
Experimental The feature may change. See What's next.