A Taxonomy is a set of terms that can be added to content in order to categorize it into subgroups.

For example, the taxonomy "Ice Cream Flavors" can include terms like chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry.

Other websites may use words like "tags," "keywords," or "topics" instead.

You will use taxonomies and their terms to categorize and display certain types of content throughout your site. Taxonomy terms do display on the front end of your site. Some taxonomies allow you to edit the terms to fit your content (editable taxonomies), and some have preset terms that cannot be changed (uneditable taxonomies).

Helpful Hint

It helps to set up or edit any of the editable taxonomies first, before creating new content. If not done first, you need to go back to tag pieces of content already created.

To add or edit taxonomy terms, you must have the Site Administrator role.

Editable Taxonomies

In general:

  • Categories are used most often to classify various types of site content. This is the broadest and most flexible taxonomy. You may choose to classify content by academic theme, lab affiliation, type – or whatever terms make the most sense for your content.
  • Organizational Unit, Profile Group, and Profile Type are ways to classify people. These taxonomy names are intentionally vague, giving you the flexibility to decide which groups of terms make the most sense for your organization. For example, you may choose to classify Profiles by Duke affiliation (student, faculty, staff, etc.) or Scholars Profiles by department.
  • Policy Type is used to classify policies. This flexible taxonomy allows you to choose terms that make the most sense for your organization. For example, you may choose to classify Policies by audience – e.g., policies that apply to University, Health, or both.
  • Project End Timeframe, Project Start Timeframe, and Project Status are ways to classify projects. These flexible taxonomy names allow you to choose terms that make the most sense for your organization. For example, you may choose to classify Projects by semester, month, academic year, or calendar year; or by whether a Project is active or complete.
  • Series and Sponsor are used to classify events. When an event on the Duke Event Calendar is pulled into your site, any Series or Sponsor terms from the Event Calendar will automatically appear in your site, as well.

 

Taxonomy NameFunctionalityAvailable on Content Types

Categories
  • Assign categories or topics to content.
  • Users can filter content by category on list pages. List content blocks can be placed on pages by category.
Blog Post, Event, FAQ, News, Page, Resource, Project, Scholars Profile, & Story
Organizational Unit
  • Assign an organizational unit to a Profile.
  • On the Profile list page, users can filter profiles by organizational unit.
Profile, Scholars Profile
Policy Type
  • Assign a policy type to a Policy.
  • On the Policy list page, users can filter policies by policy type.
Policy
Profile Group
  • Assign a profile group to a Profile.
  • Typically, profile groups are used for department names. On the Profile list page, users can filter profiles by profile group.
Profile, Scholars Profile
Profile Type
  • Assign a profile type to a Profile.
  • Typically, profile types are used for categories of employees such as students, summer interns, and various groupings of staff members within or among departments or teams.
Profile, Scholars Profile
Project End Timeframe
  • Assign an end timeframe to a Project.
  • Timeframes can be any format – e.g., March, spring semester, 2021, or 2022-23 – but use that format consistently for all terms on a site.
Project
Project Start Timeframe
  • Assign a start timeframe to a Project.
  • Timeframes can be any format – e.g., March, spring semester, 2021, or 2022-23 – but use that format consistently for all terms on a site. On the Project list page, users can filter profiles by start timeframe.
Project
Project Status
  • Assign a project status to a Project.
  • Typically, project statuses are used to classify projects as open/closed, accepting new members/full, etc. On the Project list page, users can filter profiles by project status.
Project
Series
  • Assign a series to an Event.
  • The series automatically feeds into events that are imported from the Duke Event Calendar. On the Events list page, users can filter events by series.
Event
Sponsor(s)
  • Assign a sponsor(s) to an Event.
  • The sponsor(s) automatically feeds into events that are imported from the Duke Event Calendar. On the Events list page, users can filter events by sponsors.
Event

Uneditable Taxonomies

These taxonomies have specific technical purposes and are not editable.

Taxonomy NameFunctionalityAvailable on Content Types
Announcement
  • Assign a priority to an announcement.
  • Announcements will have different visual displays depending on which priority is chosen.
Announcement
Event Status
  • The status automatically feeds into events that are imported from the Duke Event Calendar. If an event has a status of 'Cancelled', then this word will display prominently in the event title for users to see.
Event
Scholars@Duke VivoTypes Scholars@Duke Profiles