Assay Types
Last updated
Last updated
Assays in Study Tracker represent the smallest unit of work, typically some repeatable work that might be done in a wet lab or data sciences environment. Assay Types are a simple way for differentiating between the types of work being done in different assays and a means of creating templates for work that needs to be documented. They allow you to add additional depth to assays by incorporating some features that enable customizing workflows tailored to your organization: custom input fields and tasks. Input fields allow capturing additional information in a variety of inputs when creating new assays. Tasks allow you to create 'To Do' lists for your assays and assign work to colleagues.
Every new assay in Study Tracker requires the user to select an assay type. By default, each instance comes with a built-in 'Generic' assay type, which serves as a default when no others are available. Admins can add additional assay types in the Admin Dashboard's 'Assay Types' tab. From here, click the 'Add Assay Type' button. On the new page, provide some basic descriptive information about your new assay type.
If custom fields are needed for the assay type, click 'Add Field' under the 'Input Fields' heading to create a new field card. For each input field, provide the following information:
Select the field type you would like to define. This type will determine what type of input controls will be presented to the user when they create a new study with this assay type.
Provide a field name and optional description. The description can be used to describe to users how the field is intended to be used.
Use the checkbox to mark the field as required. Required fields must be filled out when creating a new assay.
If the selected field type supports it, you can optionally provide a default value or selectable options.
The order of each field card specifies the order the input controls will be presented to users when creating a new assay. You can change the order by dragging-and-dropping the cards.
Assay tasks can be defined for your assay type in the 'Tasks' section. Click 'Add Task' to generate a new task card. Provide the following information for each task:
Give the task a label that describes the work to be done.
You can optionally add one or more input fields to the task, which users will be prompted to fill-in when completing the task. These can be defined in the same way as described above.
The order of each task card specifies the order the task controls will be presented to users when creating a new assay. You can change the order by dragging-and-dropping the cards.
