For those of you who don't like reading the manual, here is a quick introduction to VMD. To start it type vmd on the command line of your shell. (If that doesn't work, make sure it is in your path; you may have to check with your system administrator about how to fix it). VMD should start up in a window titled vmd console, a display window entitled OpenGL Display, and a button bar entitled main. Text commands are typed in the console window, graphics are displayed and manipulated in the display window, and many commands are available from the menu interface, accessible through the button bar. (The menus are based on the Forms library so all future references in the documentation will refer to them as forms and not menus .) All the forms can be turned off by pressing the button in the center top; for instance, press the button labeled VMD in the main form to turn it off.
There are two ways to perform almost all functions in VMD, either use the forms or the text console. For many of the commands, you can also use the popup menu available in the display window by pressing the right mouse button. Some of the more sophisticated commands, such as Tcl scripting, are only available in the text interface. Now that the button bar is turned off, you probably will want it back. The easiest way to access any form is by placing the cursor in the display window and holding down the right button on the mouse to obtain a popup menu. Select the option `show form' on the popup menu, and then select the form `main'. The button bar should reappear. The same effect may be accomplished by typing the command menu main on in the text console window.