Glossaries

Define a term

A term is one business concept with an agreed meaning. This page covers creating a term, the fields it has, and everything you can add on the term’s own page.

In the app: Business Context › Glossaries › your glossary › Add Term

Before you start

  • The glossary must already exist. See Create and edit a glossary.
  • Term names are unique across your whole organization, not only within one glossary. If the name is taken in any glossary, Kenseme rejects the new term.
  • Names can’t contain a comma.

Create a term

  1. Open the glossary and click Add Term. From the Glossaries page, you can also click Add Term on the glossary’s card.
  2. Fill in the fields below.
  3. Click Create.

Kenseme opens the new term’s page so you can keep building it out.

[screenshot]
The Create Term dialog with a name, a parent term, status set to Draft, a definition, and one link.

Fields

Field What it does Required
Term The display name, up to 500 characters. Yes
Parent Term Places this term under another term in the same glossary. Leave it as (no parent) for a top-level term. No
Status Draft, In Review, Certified, Contested, or Deprecated. Yes
Definition The agreed meaning, in plain text. No
Current Usage & Examples How people use the term in practice, with example sentences. No
Links Click Add Link for each URL. Each link has an optional title and an https://... address. No

Note: The Use rich text formatting (coming soon) checkbox is visible but not yet available. Definitions are plain text.

Tip: Write the definition as one or two strong sentences that name what makes the concept distinct. Avoid circular definitions such as “a customer is someone who is a customer”. Put examples in Current Usage & Examples, not in the definition.

Choose a status

Status is a label you manage. Kenseme doesn’t enforce a review workflow, so agree on one with your team.

Status Use it when
Draft The term is being written and isn’t authoritative yet.
In Review The definition is ready for stakeholders to check.
Certified Everyone agrees. Use it in reports and decisions.
Contested People disagree about the definition. Treat it with care.
Deprecated The term has been replaced or is no longer used.

Find your way around the term page

The term page has two tabs: Info and Attributes. The Info tab is laid out as a set of sections.

Section What it shows
LINEAGE The glossary and the chain of parent terms above this one. Click any part to go there.
Header The name, status badge, and the Edit Term, Move Term, and Delete Term buttons.
DEFINITION The definition.
SYNONYMS, ACRONYMS, RELATED TERMS Connections to other terms. See Relate terms to other terms.
CURRENT USAGE & EXAMPLES Shown only when the term has usage notes.
RELATED ENTITIES Linked tables, columns, views, and routines. See Link terms to schema objects.
ATTRIBUTES Custom attribute values set on the term. The pencil opens the Attributes tab.
OWNERS and EXPERTS The people accountable for the term, and the people who know it well.
LINKS External URLs.

Each section has a small + button to add an item, and each item has a pencil to edit it or an x to remove it.

[screenshot]
A term page's Info tab showing the lineage bar, the header with the Certified badge, and the Synonyms, Owners, and Links sections.

Edit a term

  1. On the term page, click Edit Term. You can also click the pencil beside a term in a glossary’s term tree or in the List view.
  2. Change the name, parent, status, definition, usage notes, or links.
  3. Click Save.

A term’s parent must be in the same glossary, and you can’t make a term the parent of one of its own ancestors. To move a term to another glossary, use Move Term. See Move and delete terms.

Add owners and experts

Owners are accountable for the term’s definition. Experts are people others can ask about it. Both must be members of your organization.

  1. In OWNERS, click the add-person icon. For an expert, use the icon in EXPERTS.
  2. In the User list, pick a team member. People already listed are left out.
  3. Optionally enter a Title, such as Data Steward.
  4. Click Add.

To change someone’s title, click the pencil beside them and click Save. To remove them, click x and confirm.

Add an acronym

  1. In ACRONYMS, click +.
  2. Enter the Acronym, for example MRR.
  3. Click Add.

Kenseme creates the acronym as an internal term and links it to this term. Internal terms don’t appear in glossary lists, but they show in the ACRONYMS section and you can click through to them. An internal term’s page has an Internal term checkbox. Clear it and confirm Make Visible to turn the acronym into a full, visible term in the glossary.

Warning: Making an internal term visible can’t be reversed. Once it’s a full term, it stays one.

  1. In LINKS, click +.
  2. Enter an optional Title and a URL that starts with http:// or https://.
  3. Click Add.

Link titles can’t contain a comma or a semicolon.

Set custom attribute values

If the glossary has attribute groups assigned, open the term’s Attributes tab to fill them in. See Apply attribute values on glossary terms.