Taxonomy Terms

Taxonomy holds the lists of categories your content uses. Each list is called a vocabulary, and each choice in it is a term. For example, the Calendar Categories vocabulary might have the terms Community Events, Council Meetings and Holidays. When you add a calendar event, you pick one of them as its category.

Your Vocabularies

In the toolbar, go to Structure, then Taxonomy. Most sites have these vocabularies; yours may have others, or not all of them:

• Calendar Categories: the Calendar Category of calendar events.
• Councils and Committees: the Council / Committee that agendas and minutes belong to.
• News Category: the Category of news posts.
• FAQ Categories: the Category of frequently asked questions.
• Department: departments that content can belong to.

If a vocabulary is missing from your list, or you can’t add terms to it, your role doesn’t include it. Contact VC3 support if you need it.

See the Terms

Select List terms next to a vocabulary. Each row is one term.

Add a Term

1. On the term list, select Add term.
2. Type the term’s Name.
3. Select Save and go to list. Save keeps the form open to add another term.

The new term is a choice right away on every form that uses the vocabulary. Terms can’t be added from those forms, so add the term here first. On most sites, the Calendar Event form has a create a new term link under Calendar Category that opens this form.

On some sites, News Category terms also have a Description, a URL alias and a Published switch.

Rename a Term

Select Edit in the term’s row, change the Name and select Save. Content that uses the term shows the new name; you don’t need to edit it.

Change the Order

Drag a term by its handle (the cross-shaped arrows at the start of its row) up or down, then select Save. Forms list the terms in this order.

To sort the whole list A to Z, select Reset to alphabetical and confirm. This replaces any order you set.

Group Terms Under Another Term

A term can sit under another term, such as Youth Sports under Parks & Recreation. Drag it below the other term and slightly to the right, then select Save. Or, on its Edit form, open Relations and choose the other term under Parent terms. Most vocabularies don’t need this; keep lists flat unless there’s a clear reason.

The arrow beside a term’s Edit button also has Add child, which adds a new term under it.

Delete a Term

Open the arrow beside the term’s Edit button, choose Delete and confirm. Content that used the term no longer has that category. Any terms grouped under it are deleted too. This can’t be undone.

To merge two similar terms, first edit the content that uses the one you’re removing and choose the other term, then delete it.

Tips

• Keep names short and clear, and check the list before adding, to avoid near-duplicates such as “Council Meeting” and “Council Meetings”.
• Renaming is safer than deleting and adding again: content keeps its category.