JDOC:How to Create a Glossary Entry

The S:MyLanguage/glossary is an important reference, especially for users new to Joomla!. Therefore special attention should be paid to the creation of glossary entries. This tutorial will provide some background information on glossaries and guide you through the process of creating an entry.

What Are Glossary Pages Made of?

S:MyLanguage/Glossary pages are based on Glossary Templates. When you follow the link you will see the list of glossary templates available for several languages. These templates use DPL (Dynamic Page List, a report generating tool used by wiki pages) to pull the titles and contents of their respective glossary entries. Those entries are made of chunks (reusable pieces of text to be be included into other pages). However, the title of a glossary entry does not link to the chunk, but to the article with the same name - which may or may not use the same chunk and may contain additional information.

Creating a Glossary Entry

In order to work properly, glossary entries need a chunk and an "ordinary" article with the same name.

The Article

The easiest way is to create the article page first. Please enter

https://docs.joomla.org/My_Article_Name

in your browser. An editor window will open. Enter

{{Chunk:My_Article_Name}}
<noinclude>[[Category:Landing Pages]][[Category:Glossary]]</noinclude>

This code will insert the contents of the chunk into the page and assign categories to the article. Of course you are free to add more categories, if you feel the need for it. Note that, after inserting the chunk, you may add addional contents. These contents will not be visible on the glossary page, but only when a user klicks on the linked title.

The Chunk

After saving your article, you will see a red link taking you to the (not yet existent) page for the chunk. Enter your definition for the new glossary term here.

Then add the following lines:

<noinclude>
== Languages ==
<languages /></noinclude>
<noinclude>[[Category:Glossary definitions|{{PAGENAME}}]]</noinclude>

This code adds the language selection bar and the category to the chunk. Please note that if the chunk is not included in the category Glossary Definitions, it will not show up in the glossary.

Things To Keep In Mind

• Glossary entries should not be too long, but concise and easy to understand. In order to keep the glossary tidy, detailed explanations (with examples etc.) should not be placed into the chunk. Instead, you can use links inside the chunk pointing to other pages or put any addional information into the corresponding article.
• Please make sure your glossary entry is up to date with the latest Joomla! version. If your entry is specific to a version, let the reader know.
• Be careful when using sub-headings in your chunk. The glossary templates are coded in a way that will cut your chunk text at the first occurrence of a sub-heading. Consequently, all subsequent texts will not appear on the glossary page.

Languages

[[Category:Documentation Wiki Information}}]]