Plate Templates describe the layout of wells on the plate read by a given instrument. Each well can be associated with experimental groups describing what is being tested where and how the data read should be interpreted. Different instruments and experiments use different configurations of these groups. Plate templates are used to describe the specifics of each layout for interpretation within an assay design. Using a custom plate template, you can create the precise match you need to describe your own exact configuration of wells and roles.

• View Plate Template Options
• Plate Template Editor
• Create a Plate Template
• Create and Edit Well Groups
• Associate Wells with Groups
• Define Well Group Properties
• View Warnings

View Plate Template Options

Select (Admin) > Manage Assays (or click Manage Assays in the Assay List web part) to see the list of currently defined assays. Click Configure Plate Templates to open the Plate Templates page.

All plate templates currently defined (if any) are listed, along with the type and how many usages of each. For each, you can:

• Edit: Open the defined template in the plate template editor. ~~Note that you cannot edit a template after it has been used to import data.
• Edit a copy: This option opens a copy of the template for editing, leaving the original unchanged.
• Copy to another folder
• Delete: Only available if more than one template is defined. You cannot delete the final template.

From the Plate Templates page you can also create a new template from any one of the available built-in types, listed below the currently defined templates.

Plate Template Editor

The Plate Template editor lets you lay out the design of your experiment by associating plate wells with experimental groups. An individual cell might be associated with multiple groups of different types, such as different viruses applied to both controls and specimens. This walkthrough uses the 8x12 NAb Single Plate template as a representative example with some predefined groups.

Each tab in the plate template editor can define a different set of groups, properties, and layouts to meet your experiment needs.

When you wish to save your changes, you can click Save and continue to edit. When you have finished editing, click Save & Close to exit the template editor.

Create a Plate Template

Create and Edit Well Groups

In your template, you may see color-coded, predefined groups on one or more tabs, depending on the type.

Add additional groups by entering a group name in the New box and clicking Create.

Add multiple groups at once by clicking Create Multiple.... You can create as many groups as you like sharing a common name root. In this example, 5 specimen groups are created:

Select any well group by clicking the name below the grid. Once a group is selected you can:

• Delete
• Rename
• Associate group with wells
• Define properties for the group

Associate Wells with Groups

Click to select the desired group under the grid. Associate a grid cell in the plate template with this group by clicking a single cell or dragging to paint a region. Colors are assigned arbitrarily and will be unique for every group in a template but cannot be individually set or changed. For example, in the image for warnings below, the purple "CELL_CONTROL_SAMPLE" group was the active group, cell C-5 was clicked and thus associated with the CELL_CONTROL_SAMPLE group and painted purple.

You can enter groups and associate wells with groups for the "Virus", "Control," "Specimen," "Replicate" and "Other" tab layouts as well.

The Up, Down, Left, and Right buttons can be used to shift the entire layout if desired.

Define and Use Well Group Properties

In the section on the right, click the Well Group Properties tab to see any currently defined properties. You can enter a value, use the to delete, or click to Add a new property.

For example, single-plate NAb assays assume that specimens get more dilute as you move up or left across the plate. High-throughput NAb assays assume that specimens are more dilute as you move down or right across the plate. Adding a well group property named 'ReverseDilutionDirection' will support controlling this default behavior - enter the value 'true' to reverse this default behavior for a given specimen well group.

View Warnings

If any Warnings exist, for example, if you identify a single well as belonging to both a specimen sample and control group, the tab label will be red with an indication of how many warnings exist. Click the tab to see the warnings.

Related Topics

• Design a Plate-Based Assay
• Built-In Plate-Based Assays
• General Plate-Based Assays