Mike Cassidy's solution to puzzle 1109.
The Foldit wiki contains thousands of images for proteins, mostly puzzle results submitted by players.
The version of Foldit which launched in September 2022 disabled the usual method for sharing images. The camera button in chat no longer uploads Foldit screenshots automatically. Instead, it only saves a screenshot on the player's computer.
Until the camera button is restored to full function, there are several ways for players to share their puzzle results using Discord:
- use the camera button in chat, then drag the resulting screenshot file to the #veteran channel on the Foldit Discord server
- similarly, use the Save Screenshot button, then drag the screenshot to Discord
- for Windows users, the Print Screen (PrtSc or PrtScr) key captures the entire screen to the clipboard, which can then be pasted into Discord
- again for Windows, alt+PrtSc captures the active window to the clipboard, which again can be pasted to Discord
- the Windows Snipping Tool can capture screenshots to a file, which can then be dragged into Discord
The Discord solutions assume you're using the app version of Discord. The web version of Discord may be more limited.
For users not on Discord, it's still possible to share a screenshot using a photo sharing site like imgur.com. You can then post a link to the screenshot in Foldit chat. The imgur site at least doesn't require creating a user account.
Regardless of the method, the volunteer Foldit wiki editors look for the images posted to chat or Disord, and upload these images to the wiki. For many years, Paul Dunn did all the image uploading, but he has stepped aside as of 2019.
Players may also upload their screenshots directly to the Foldit wiki. Players can upload anonymously, or they can create a Fandom account.
The new 3D viewer feature is alternate way of sharing results. It works through the Foldit website, and offers a complete 3D model of the protein. See "3D viewer" below for a more complete description. The 3D model can't be viewed directly on the Foldit wiki. Also, the 3D model is very complete, revealing the position of every atom in your solution. Watch Foldit Lab Report #38 for a good demonstration of the 3D viewer.
Sharing images[]
Posting images to chat lets other players see them and also prompts the wiki editors to upload them to the appropriate results pages.
As discussed above, the camera icon in chat is not currently working, but there are still ways to capture and share screenshots.
Players can also capture their own screenshots, using the Save Screenshot button (or the control-H shortcut on Windows). The Save Screenshot option allows players who can't connect to chat to share images.
The camera icon shown in Foldit in-game chat. Normally, clicking the camera icon uploads a screenshot and posts a link to the screenshot. At the moment, the camera icon only saves a screenshot locally.
Save Screenshot can also capture some things that the camera icon misses. For example, the camera button can't capture the scoring popup that appears when you hover over a hydrogen bond network. Save Screenshot manages to grab the popup.
With Save Screenshot, players are responsible for uploading their own images. The "add a photo to this gallery" link on each puzzle results page can be used.
Regardless of how images are captured, here are some tips for uploading images:
- the group chat window is automatically blanked if you use the camera icon
- the cookbook is not blanked, so consider closing it before you take the snapshot
- a light background generally makes for a better image
- rainbow coloring makes it easier to tell which end is which
- showing all sidechains can help
- the "show bonds (sidechain)" option reveals disulfide bridges and may help reveal Hydrogen Bond Networks
- "show voids" can be interesting when proteins end up with lots of exposed hydrophobics
- consider showing the group and soloist or evolver scoreboards when possible
- maximize the Foldit window
- rotate the protein and zoom in for a good view
- feel free to upload multiple images showing different positions or solutions
The Save Screenshot button.
By default the "light background" in Foldit has a slight yellow cast. This is noticeable on the wiki, which has a bright white background by default. To change the background, close Foldit, edit the configuration file theme.txt, and find the entry:
"gui/color/bg" : "255 255 234"
then change it to
"gui/color/bg" : "255 255 255"
and save theme.txt. When you restart Foldit, with "dark background" unchecked, you'll have a bright white background.
Naming convention[]
Screenshots uploaded to Foldit chat have file names like:
Irc 51733 1436575202.png
For a soloist share, the convention is to add the soloist's ending rank (as Snn), name, and the score of the solution, for example:
Irc 51733 1436575202 S17 Mike Cassidy 13057.png
indicating Mike Cassidy had solo rank 17 with a score of 13057 for the shared solution.
For an evolver share, the convention is to add the group rank (as Gnn), group name, evolver rank (as Enn), evolver name, and the score of the solution, for example:
Irc 447652 1493705223 G1 Go Science E1 Bruno Kestemont 10450.png
indicating Go Science was the top group, and Bruno Kestemont was the top evolver, with a score of 10450.
The addition to the filename is made before uploading the image to the wiki. It becomes the basis of the caption shown in the image gallery on the puzzle results page.
Sometimes players share alternate solutions that didn't score as well as their best. The convention is to simply include the score of the solution in the filename, and show the player's ranking according to the best solution.
Upload[]
The wiki offers a convenient way to upload multiple images in one operation. The uploaded images must still be added to gallery on the puzzle results page.
Alternately, each gallery has an "add a photo to this gallery" link. This link opens the gallery, editor, which lets you upload a new image, or select an already uploaded image. The gallery editor also gives full control over the format of the gallery.
Wiki editor process[]
The wiki editors normally create a blank results page for each puzzle before the puzzle ends. See Puzzle nnnnn for a sample. The blank page contains link to the puzzle on the Foldit website and a gallery containing just a place holder image.
The wiki editors periodically check the Foldit veteran and global channels (and their Discord equivalents) for images, particularly in the hours after a puzzle ends. The wiki editors then download the images from the Foldit website, saving them using the naming convention described above.
Once it appears that all the images are in, the wiki editors run a TCL script developed by Paul Dunn, which generates the markup for the gallery. The editors then edit the puzzle result page and insert the output of the TCL script. Finally, the editors use the wiki's upload function to upload the screenshot files.
Each line of the gallery is simply the name of the uploaded file separated by a vertical bar from the caption. Using the naming convention, the caption duplicates part of the file name.
Here's an example of a completed gallery:
<gallery> irc_476462_1552606124 S1 LociIOiling 10360.png|S1 LociIOiling 10360 irc_476462_1552605904 S1 LociIOiling 10360.png|S1 LociIOiling 10360 irc_732310_1552604945 S4 actiasluna 10293.png|S4 actiasluna 10293 irc_732310_1552604932 S4 actiasluna 10293.png|S4 actiasluna 10293 </gallery>
3D viewer[]
The new version of Foldit also allows sharing results (or works-in-progress) in a 3D protein viewer on the Foldit website. To use this feature, save a solution using Open/Share Solutions, then share it with yourself, your group, or Foldit scientists. Then, select the solution on the left side, under "Shared Solutions", and click "Copy to Clipboard". The result is a link in the clipboard, which can be pasted into a discussion on the Foldit website. For example, you could "Copy to Clipboard", then paste your solution into a comment on the puzzle page. The result is a full 3D model of your protein, which allows viewers to rotate the protein, zoom in or zoom. The controls and functions are similar to Foldit itself, but the viewer doesn't allow making changes to the protein.