Installation
MicrobeTrace is a Web Application. Like most web applications, you don't typically "install" it, the way you might install a program. Unlike most web applications, it has been designed to work without internet access. It does this by downloading all of its files into your browser the first time you load it, and the loading the browser's copy of its files each time you go to the MicrobeTrace URL. This gives it the curious ability to behave as though it is connected to the internet, even when internet connection is available.
The benefits to this are two-fold: first, because MicrobeTrace performs all computations on the computer on which it is running (rather than on a cloud server), it is safe for use with PII. Second, because it caches all its resources on the user's computer, it can be deployed to environments without reliable internet access.
On certain systems, webapps (like MicrobeTrace) be "installed" to act more like a standard desktop program. For posterity, we strongly recommend that you do not do this. However, if your circumstances dictate that a desktop-like experience is preferred, then follow these directions:
- Navigate to MicrobeTrace
- Click on the three dots at the top-right corner of the browser, hover over "More Tools" and click "Create Shortcut".
- In the popup dialog, click the "Add" button.
MicrobeTrace should now appear on your desktop as though it were an installed program. Moreover, the browser bar should disappear when you access MicrobeTrace this way, giving it an even more program-like look-and-feel.
- Navigate to MicrobeTrace
- Resize the Firefox window so you can see both your computer's desktop and the Firefox window on the same screen
- Click-and-hold the icon on the left of the address bar (where the URL is shown)
- While still holding the mouse button down, move the pointer to the desktop, then release the mouse button.