The glossary is a set of Glossary Definition records. Glossary Definitions include a Term, a Definition, and a Language.
While viewing a document, users can either select a word or short phrase or enter a word or phrase into the glossary panel to search for approved Glossary Definitions with matching values. You can configure a library of Glossary Definitions in Vault and set up approved external search engines.
Vault returns a maximum of five (5) results for each search and presents any available definitions in the user’s language. If there are no definitions in the user’s language, Vault presents definitions in English. If a search term matches an approved definition that is not in the user’s language, and that definition is related to an approved definition in the user’s language, Vault presents the definition in the user’s language. For example, while configuring the Glossary, you relate the English definition for “Low Calorie Diet” to both the Spanish definition for “Dieta baja en calorías” and the French definition for “Régime hypocalorique.” If a French-language user searches any of these terms, Vault presents the definition for “Régime hypocalorique.”
Note: The glossary matches definitions based on the user’s defined language and the language specified on an individual Glossary Definition record. It does not consider the document language.
Enabling the Glossary
To enable the glossary, navigate to Admin > Settings > General and, under Documents, select Enable Glossary Lookup.
Configuring the External Search
After enabling the glossary, you can configure an external search engine. To add an external search engine, enter a valid External Search URL and External Search Label in Settings.
Important: Valid external URLs must contain the {{searchTerm}} token in the position where the search engine expects the search term. For example, the valid URL for PubMed is https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term={{searchTerm}}.
Configuring Glossary Definitions
To add definitions to the glossary:
- Navigate to Business Admin > Objects > Glossary Definitions.
- Click Create.
- Enter a Glossary Term. You can enter a word or phrase.
- Enter the Definition Text.
- Select a Language.
- Optional: Select a Related English Definition. This field is only available when the selected Language is not English.
- Click Save.
You can include full path URLs in Definition Text values, which are rendered as navigable hyperlinks in the Glossary panel.
You can relate Glossary Definitions in English to Glossary Definitions in other languages. You cannot relate an English Glossary Definition to another English Glossary Definition or a non-English Glossary Definition to another non-English Glossary Definition. However, you can relate two non-English Glossary Definitions to the same English Glossary Definition.
You can also relate Glossary Definitions on the Glossary Definition object record detail page.
When you relate Glossary Definitions, users can see relevant Definitions in their preferred language. When searching the Glossary, Vault displays matched or related Glossary Definitions in the user’s language. If no Glossary Defintions are found in the user’s language, Vault displays matching Glossary Definitions in English.
Important: Vault only displays Glossary Definitions in the Approved state.
About Glossary Definition Languages
The Language field is required on Glossary Definitions. Vault does not display Glossary Definitions in multiple languages at once. Document language values are not applicable to Glossary searches.
About the Glossary Event Object
Vault uses the Glossary Event object to maintain a record of all glossary activity. Glossary Event records include Search Phrase, Search Type (Glossary Lookup or External Search), Match Type (Precise, Fuzzy, None), Glossary Term and Language (both are blank when the Match Type is None), and Definition Copied (true or false).
With Glossary Events, you can:
- View events by navigating to Business Admin > Objects > Glossary Events.
- Create Glossary Event reports using a custom report type.
- Export Glossary Event data using Vault Loader.
About the Glossary Definition Lifecycle
By default, the Glossary Definition object uses the Glossary Definition Lifecycle. You can relabel the states and add additional states to the lifecycle as needed.
Note: Users cannot edit the status of Glossary Definition records. The record’s status is defined by the state.
Reporting on the Glossary
Vault maintains a record of all glossary activity, including searches, displayed Glossary Definitions, and document metadata, using the Glossary Event object. The Glossary Event object also logs the identity of the user performing a search.
You can report on the Glossary Event object using a custom report type or export the data using Vault Loader.