All Collections
e-Notebook Module
Protocols
Creating and Using Protocols
Creating and Using Protocols

A how-to guide on creating protocols and their suggested use

Meirav Matto avatar
Written by Meirav Matto
Updated over a week ago

The Protocols module allows you to document your lab's procedures, in Labguru we use them as templates for new experiments.

The protocols page shares its design and functionality with the experiment page but doesn't contain a results section. The protocol can document all relevant information such as the procedure steps, reagents, samples, calculations, and plate design. When the protocol is used in an experiment the whole content is copied to the new page, but the original protocol is not changed.

Creating new protocols

1. Go to "Protocols" under the "e-Notebook" tab

2. Click on either "Add From Protocols Directory" or manually create a "New protocol".

Guru Tips:

Protocols can be created by clicking the 3 dots and selecting Add New Protocol from additional pages :

  • The Login page

  • The project page

  • The experiment index page

Guru Tips:

Protocol directory - The protocol directory contains ready protocols from both the Labguru community and different vendors. Users can pull these protocols into their own protocol index.

Suggested uses for protocols

There are 2 ways in which protocols can be used:

Starting a New Experiment

1. Enter the protocol you want to work on and click on the Start experiment button.

2. The Create new experiment from protocol window will open. Select the location to save the new experiment.

3. Click Add Experiment.

The new experiment will contain a copy of the protocol and this will allow us to use the templates from it. For example, if you have designed a form in the protocol, you can populate it in the experiment, if you added sample information you can choose the actual stocks you used for the specific experiment, in the steps element you can mark steps as completed and start the timer, etc.

Loading a Protocol into an Existing Experiment

We can create an experiment that contains multiple protocols by adding a protocol as a new section.

1. To do this, click on the Add section link between two existing sections in the experiment.

2. Then, from the options given, click on Load from protocol and select the desired protocol from the drop-down list.

* You can search for the protocol in the list by typing any part of the protocol title.

Guru Tips:

If you have built an experiment that will be performed several times, you can save a copy of it as a protocol, saving you time not having to rewrite the entire procedure.

In the experiment, click on More and select Save as protocol...

The new protocol will be placed in your protocols list.

For more information on managing sections see the Managing Your Sections in Experiments and Protocols article.

Did this answer your question?