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Create a Glossary Topic

To create a glossary for your publication, add a glossary element to a topic. Paligo will then automatically add the basic structure that is required for a glossary. Some of the elements are optional. The glossary topic is where you will add the descriptions for your glossary terms. When you add glossterm in your other topics, Paligo will create a link from the glossterm to the matching definition on the glossary page.

Consider how you want the glossary to appear in the published output:

  • Glossary as a topic with the glossary entries to follow it.

    This is the most common approach for glossaries. To set this up, use "Glossary" as the topic's title. When you add a glossary element, it has its own title. You can delete the title for each glossary entry so that the only title is the title element of the glossary topic.

  • Glossary as a subsection with the glossary entries to follow it.

    To create this, give the topic the title that you want to use. When you add the glossary element, it has its own title. You can set the glossary title to "Glossary" or any other name that you want.

A topic with Glossary as its title. It contains a glossary element and inside that there are some glossary definitions.
A topic called "Reference" and it contains a glossary. The glossary has its own title, which is labelled "Glossary".

Tip

If you want to sort the glossary entries in alphabetical order, see Sort Glossary Alphabetically.

You can also add references, so that the terms in your topics contain links to the explanations in your glossary, see Glossary References.

  1. Create a new topic or open an existing topic.

  2. Position the cursor at a valid position for the glossary element.

    For example, after the topic title, but before the first para element.

    Glossary topic open in Paligo editor. An arrow points to the cursor which is positioned below the Glossary title element but above the first para element.

  3. Press Alt + Enter ⏎ (Windows) or Command ⌘ + Enter ⏎ (Mac) to display the Element Context Menu.

    Element context menu shows a search field and a list of elements that are valid at the current position.

  4. Enter Glossary and select it from the menu.

    Paligo adds the basic structure for a glossary.

    A glossary entry, with para, gloss term, acronym, and glossterm elements.

  5. Add a glossary title and an introduction text in the para(both elements are optional).

  6. Add the glossterm (the name of the term).

  7. Add an acronym for the glossary term (optional).

    For example, if the glossary term is Extensible Markup Language, you could add the acronym XML.

    <glossentry>
    <glossterm>Extensible Markup Language</glossterm>
    <acronym>XML</acronym>
    <glossdef><para>A self-descriptive language used to store and transfer data.</para></glossdef></glossentry>

  8. Add a glossdef that explains what the term means.

  9. Use the Element Context Menu to add one glossentry per glossary term.

    Glossary_Example_small.png

  10. Select Save. Save icon.

  11. Add your glossary topic to your publication, see Add Content to a Publication.