This FAQ is to help explain the creation and use of glossaries in a Plato web.

What are glossaries for?

A glossary allows the author to produce a table of codes, abbreviations or phrases, together with a corresponding definition or description for each code.

How do I define a glossary item?

Each glossary item has key, a definition and a further (optional) details field. You can also define its visibility.

What is the visibility?

See the general FAQ on visibility.

What appears on the home page?

As usual, a maintainer can configure the number of glossary items to appear on the home page. The section contains the key and definition of the first glossary items, sorted by key. The section header is a link to the summary page.

What appears on the summary page ?

The summary page has three (two if the details field is not used) columns for the key, definition and details fields. The items are sorted by key. The site maintainer may chose the word or phrase used for each column heading.

What are archived glossary items?

Glossary items can be archived, rather than deleted. An indication is given on the summary page if any archived glossary items exist and the summary can be switched to display them. Glossary items can be un-archived at a later date.

What is the alert checkbox for?

Most items allow the creator/updater to send a preset e-mail alert to the list appropriate to the visibility level. It contains identification of the creator/updater and a URL to view the item.

Chris French - 26 Feb 2004