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Everything you capture, import, or create becomes an item in your workspace. Every item sits in a collection or at the top level, and you can tag, link, share, move, and search it. To see one kind at a time, use the Type filter in the workspace view. Create any of them from Create (the + button): For moving, renaming, and deleting items, see Organizing your workspace.

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Collections

A collection groups notes, files, protocols, and other collections. Use them by experiment, sample batch, or date range. Collections can be nested. Everyone in the workspace can see a new collection unless you tick Private to me when you create it. You can restrict an existing collection from the Share dialog. See Sharing.

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Notes

A note is the editable record you search, organize, and build on. You write it in the editor, or Bower creates it when you dictate, photograph text, or import a document.

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Files

When you import a file, Bower decides whether to make a note from it: Bower never discards the original. To make a note from a PDF, image, audio file, or Word document that stayed a file, open it and choose Convert to Note from its menu.

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Files attached to a note

A note’s Attachments pill lists its files. Bower transcribes recordings and reads text from photos in the background, so you can leave the page while it works. The line under each file shows its state: To retry, click the ⋮ menu on the file and choose Image to Text, Transcribe as dictation, or Transcribe as meeting. If the text is already in the note, Bower asks before adding a second copy. Check extracted text against the source before you rely on it.

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Protocols

A protocol is your lab’s operational procedure for a method. Structured protocols keep the values in each step and a version history. See Protocols.

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Equipment

An equipment item records an instrument’s make, model, serial number, and location, so Bower can answer questions about your specific kit. See Equipment. A link is a shortcut to a page outside Bower, such as an analysis project, vendor page, or shared drive folder. It sits next to the work it belongs with and opens in a new tab. Choose Link from the Create menu and paste a web address starting with http:// or https://. Bower fills in the page’s title and icon where it can read them. Pages behind a sign-in usually only give the site’s address, so rename the link to something your team will search for. To change the address, title, or icon later, right-click the link and choose Edit link.