Quick guides

1. Check the source name and sample interval, then compare the dates shown on the plots with the acquisition log.
2. Look at the quality control card for gaps and at the time series for unexpected flat or empty stretches.
3. Confirm there are enough days for the question you want to ask. A clean import alone does not establish rhythmicity.

Need to rearrange columns or times? See the trace file guide.

A protocol preset loads a starting set of settings; check every value against the actual experiment before interpreting a result.

For a schedule that changes, enter one line per change: start date, lights-on hour, lights-off hour.

Or turn on Edit lighting above the actogram and click a clock cell. The light/dark strip shows the proposed cycle: drag its on/off markers or enter exact times, then apply. The change begins on that date and lasts until the next dated change. Click an existing change date to remove it. Nothing is saved until you press Apply.

2026-05-01, 7, 19
2026-05-08, 0, 0

Equal on/off hours mean constant darkness. The optional light–dark and constant-dark date ranges in the sidebar override the figure background for those days. Use the recorded schedule; elapsed-hour files have no real calendar dates to align to it.

2026-05-03 08:00, 2026-05-03 10:00
2026-05-06 12:00, 2026-05-06 13:30

Exclusions leave the original file untouched. For whole days, you can also turn on “Brush day range” and assign the brushed days to an exclusion. Recheck the remaining duration before fitting a period.

1. In a double-plotted view, the next day is repeated beside each day so a pattern crossing midnight stays visible.
2. Choose the Time series tab in Temporal Structure to see the same recording along a continuous time axis; its trace ticks select the visible measurements.
3. Turn on “Brush day range” to assign selected days as the analysis window, lighting range, exclusion, fit range or shift day.
4. Check daily onset and offset markers against the trace before correcting them by hand. Hand corrections belong to that recording.

The Layout selector sits beside the actogram's export buttons and is repeated under Canvas in Edit / export actogram. “Separate lanes” is the older stacked-vertically view: tick “Separate lane” only on traces that need their own vertical lanes. Other visible traces remain overlays.

For behaviour categories, choose “Parts of total” and tick “Part of total” on two or more traces with matching units and bin aggregation, such as correct and incorrect runs. The whole bar represents the sum; each coloured segment represents its percentage. Do not include a precomputed total alongside its components. A bin with any missing component is blank. The hover label gives the total, each value and its percentage. If columns contain event counts, set each column to Sum during import so the total is total runs.

1. Use several observable cycles and a selected interval that answers your question.
2. For a file with several trace columns, tick the columns under “Traces shown”. With one trace, the chart shows all three methods; with several, it overlays the method selected above the chart. Each curve is scaled to its own peak, so compare peak positions rather than heights.
3. Check whether a peak sits at the search boundary, at half or twice another peak, or changes with the selected interval.
4. Use the Workbench’s “Compare period estimates” question to compare methods on the same data and read their warnings.

Choosing a period for folding changes the display reference; it does not change what range the estimators searched.

1. Choose the files and check the shared analysis settings.
2. Choose “Full record per file” for each file's own dates, or “Use selected dates” to apply the current date window to every file.
3. Leave “Apply saved marker edits” off for different animals; hand-corrected markers are judgments about one recording.
4. Choose “Analyse and export batch” to download the results.

Choose one or more files with Add recordings to compare. A table with several numeric trace columns becomes one comparison card per trace, named after its column. If the table is already loaded, choose Compare traces in loaded file; this also works after manually mapping unusual columns.

For a multi-trace file, Measurement to analyse in the sidebar names the column used by detailed plots and day-by-day tables. The Statistics by trace panel above the tabs has checkboxes for the traces included in each view's comparison table; the same selection controls the periodogram overlay. Actogram and time-series layers have their own visibility controls.

“Full record per recording” uses each file's own dates. “Use selected dates” applies the active recording's date window and other dated settings to all files; check that those dates exist in every recording. Hand-corrected markers are not copied to other animals.

For a group overlay, assign groups and subject identifiers in the Compare view. Several recordings from one subject should share that identifier so they are not counted as independent subjects.

1. Search for a question and read the inputs shown for it.
2. Fill required fields, then choose “Run analysis”.
3. Read the conclusion together with its values, warnings and full result. Use the question mark beside the selected question for the method behind it.

Use the actogram or time-series figure workspace for canvas size, layers, colours and labels. The time series also offers grid, legend and line controls. Download PNG for a fixed image, SVG for an editable vector figure, transparent SVG, or all selected layers as separate SVG files in a ZIP. Use Publication to arrange existing figures into a page.

Figure images are browser downloads, not files stored in the Workbench project. Open your browser’s Downloads list to find the named file and show its folder. Depending on your browser settings, it may go to your usual Downloads folder or the browser may ask you to choose a location.