## Set up glossaries

URL: https://docs.atlan.com/product/capabilities/governance/glossary/how-tos/set-up-glossaries

> The Atlan [glossary](/product/capabilities/governance/glossary/concepts/what-is-a-glossary) allows you to add new terms and categories, search for existing glossary definitions, and archive old ones. You can also nest terms under categories and subcategories to create a glossary hierarchy.

In Atlan, the glossary lets you add, search, and organize terms and categories into a hierarchy that grounds how teams and agents read data.

The Atlan [glossary](https://docs.atlan.com/llms/governance/glossary/what-is-a-glossary/llms.txt) allows you to add new terms and categories, search for existing glossary definitions, and archive old ones. You can also nest terms under categories and subcategories to create a glossary hierarchy.

## Set up a glossary

To define the relevant terms and categories for your data assets, you will first need to set up a glossary.

To create a glossary:

1. From the left sidebar, click on **all assets** and then click on **Business Graph**.
 * If you are using the **Old UI (Classic)**, from the left menu of any screen in Atlan, click **Glossary**.
2. In the _Create new glossary_ dialog, enter the following details:
 1. For _Glossary name_, enter a name for your glossary - for example, `Finance`. The character limit for a glossary name is 80 characters.
 2. In the top right, _Draft_ is set as the default certificate. To change the certificate, click the dropdown arrow and select the [certificate](https://docs.atlan.com/llms/catalog/discovery/add-certificates/llms.txt) you'd like to apply to your glossary.
 3. Click the glossary icon to personalize the icon for your glossary.
 4. For _Description_, write a short or detailed description for your glossary - size limit for [description](https://docs.atlan.com/llms/catalog/discovery/add-descriptions/llms.txt) values is 32766 bytes.
 5. For _Add owners_, add yourself or anyone else in your team as [owners](https://docs.atlan.com/llms/catalog/discovery/add-owners/llms.txt) of the glossary.
 6. Click **Create** to add your glossary.
3. (Optional) From the top right of the glossary profile:
 - Click the user avatars to view a list of recently visited users, total views on your glossary, total number of unique visitors, and total views by user.
 - Use the days filter to filter glossary views and user activity in the last 7, 30, and 90 days.
 - This feature is turned on by default - admins can [turn off user activity](https://docs.atlan.com/llms/governance/administration/disable-user-activity/llms.txt).
 - Click the star button to [star your glossary](https://docs.atlan.com/llms/catalog/discovery/star-assets/llms.txt).
 - Click the clipboard icon to copy the link for your glossary.
 - Click the pencil icon to edit the glossary name, description, and icon.
 - Click the **Slack** or **Teams** icon to share directly on a [Slack](https://docs.atlan.com/llms/governance/integrations/integrate-slack/llms.txt) or [Microsoft Teams](https://docs.atlan.com/llms/governance/integrations/integrate-microsoft-teams/llms.txt) channel.
 - Click the bell icon to enable [Slack](https://docs.atlan.com/llms/governance/integrations/slack-integration/llms.txt) or [Microsoft Teams](https://docs.atlan.com/llms/governance/integrations/microsoft-teams-integration/llms.txt) notifications for glossary updates in Atlan.
 - Click the 3-dot icon and then:
 - Click **Add announcement** to [add an announcement](https://docs.atlan.com/llms/governance/integrations/create-announcements/llms.txt) to your glossary.
 - Click **Bulk upload terms** to [bulk upload terms](https://docs.atlan.com/llms/governance/glossary/bulk-upload-terms-in-the-glossary/llms.txt) to your glossary.
 - Click **Export** to [export nested categories and terms](https://docs.atlan.com/llms/governance/integrations/export-assets/llms.txt) within a glossary to spreadsheets.
 - Click **Archive** to archive the glossary.

Your glossary is now ready for you to start adding [terms](https://docs.atlan.com/llms/governance/glossary/what-is-a-glossary/llms.txt) and [categories](https://docs.atlan.com/llms/governance/glossary/what-is-a-glossary/llms.txt)! 🎉

## Add new glossary terms

[Terms](https://docs.atlan.com/llms/governance/glossary/what-is-a-glossary/llms.txt) are the building blocks of your glossary. While defining a new glossary term, add as much information as possible for your term so that your team fully understands how to use it.

To add a new glossary term:

1. On the _Glossary_ page, click the **\+** icon next to _All glossaries_ and then click **Add term** from the dropdown.
2. In the _Create new term_ dialog, enter the following details:
 1. For _Select glossary_, select a glossary for your term. In this example, we'll select the `Finance` glossary.
 2. For _Term name_, enter a name for your term - for example, `Credit Score`. The character limit for a term name is 80 characters.
 3. In the top right, _Draft_ is set as the default certificate. To change the certificate, click the dropdown arrow and select the [certificate](https://docs.atlan.com/llms/catalog/discovery/add-certificates/llms.txt) you'd like to apply to your term.
 4. (Optional) For _Alias_, [add an alias](https://docs.atlan.com/llms/catalog/discovery/add-an-alias/llms.txt) to your term.
 5. For _Description_, write a short or detailed description for your term - size limit for [description](https://docs.atlan.com/llms/catalog/discovery/add-descriptions/llms.txt) values is 32766 bytes.
 6. For _Add owners_, add yourself or anyone else in your team as [owners](https://docs.atlan.com/llms/catalog/discovery/add-owners/llms.txt) of the glossary.
 7. (Optional) Turn on **Create multiple** to create more terms from the same dialog.
 8. Click **Create** to add your term.
3. (Optional) From the top right of the term profile:
 - Click the user avatars to view a list of recently visited users, total views on your term, total number of unique visitors, and total views by user.
 - Use the days filter to filter views and user activity in the last 7, 30, and 90 days.
 - This feature is turned on by default - admins can [turn off user activity](https://docs.atlan.com/llms/governance/administration/disable-user-activity/llms.txt).
 - Click the star button to [star your term](https://docs.atlan.com/llms/catalog/discovery/star-assets/llms.txt).
 - Click the clipboard icon to copy the link for your term.
 - Click the pencil icon to edit the term name and description or [add an alias](https://docs.atlan.com/llms/catalog/discovery/add-an-alias/llms.txt) to your term.
 - Click the **Slack** or **Teams** icon to share directly on a [Slack](https://docs.atlan.com/llms/governance/integrations/integrate-slack/llms.txt) or [Microsoft Teams](https://docs.atlan.com/llms/governance/integrations/integrate-microsoft-teams/llms.txt) channel.
 - Click the bell icon to enable [Slack](https://docs.atlan.com/llms/governance/integrations/slack-integration/llms.txt) or [Microsoft Teams](https://docs.atlan.com/llms/governance/integrations/microsoft-teams-integration/llms.txt) notifications for glossary updates in Atlan.
 - Click the 3-dot icon to [add an announcement](https://docs.atlan.com/llms/governance/integrations/create-announcements/llms.txt) or archive the term.

:::info **Did you know?** 
 Once you've added terms to your glossaries, you can also [link them to your assets](https://docs.atlan.com/llms/governance/glossary/link-terms-to-assets/llms.txt).

:::

## Update your glossary terms

You can also add a term to your glossary without attaching a certificate or adding an owner at first. Once you have completed adding a term, navigate to the sidebar next to the term profile:

- Click **+** under _Owners_ to assign [owners](https://docs.atlan.com/llms/catalog/discovery/add-owners/llms.txt) for a term.
- Click **Draft** to update the certificate for a term. Choose from four [certificate](https://docs.atlan.com/llms/catalog/discovery/add-certificates/llms.txt) options - _Draft_, _Verified_, _Deprecated_, and _No certificate_.
- Click **+** under _Tags_ to [classify](https://docs.atlan.com/llms/governance/tags/attach-a-tag/llms.txt) the key characteristics of your term and configure [tag propagation](https://docs.atlan.com/llms/governance/faq/tags-and-metadata-management/llms.txt) for [linked assets](https://docs.atlan.com/llms/governance/glossary/link-terms-to-assets/llms.txt).
- Click **+** under _Categories_ to assign a term to a particular category.
- Click **+** under any of the [associated term options](#add-associated-terms) to create relationships between terms.

:::info **Did you know?** 
 Adding an [owner](https://docs.atlan.com/llms/catalog/discovery/add-owners/llms.txt) to your term can help your teammates figure out who is an expert on a glossary term. This is the person they should reach out to if they have any questions about the term or would like to collaborate on updating it.

:::

## Add new glossary categories

You can add [categories](https://docs.atlan.com/llms/governance/glossary/what-is-a-glossary/llms.txt) to your glossary to better organize your terms and create a hierarchy of information.

To add a category to your glossary:

1. On the _Glossary_ page, next to the name of your glossary in the left, click the three horizontal dots icon and then click **Add category**.
2. In the _Create new category_ dialog, enter the following details:
 1. For _Category name_, enter a name for your category - for example, `Personal Finance`. The character limit for a category name is 80 characters.
 2. In the top right, _Draft_ is set as the default certificate. To change the certificate, click the dropdown arrow and select the [certificate](https://docs.atlan.com/llms/catalog/discovery/add-certificates/llms.txt) you'd like to apply to your category.
 3. For _Description_, write a short or detailed description for your category - size limit for [description](https://docs.atlan.com/llms/catalog/discovery/add-descriptions/llms.txt) values is 32766 bytes.
 4. For _Add owners_, add yourself or anyone else in your team as [owners](https://docs.atlan.com/llms/catalog/discovery/add-owners/llms.txt) of the glossary.
 5. (Optional) Turn on **Create multiple** to create more categories from the same dialog.
 6. Click **Create** to add your category.
3. Next to the category name in the left menu, click the three horizontal dots icon and then add new terms or subcategories to your category.
4. (Optional) From the top right of the category profile:
 - Click the user avatars to view a list of recently visited users, total views on your category, total number of unique visitors, and total views by user.
 - Use the days filter to filter views and user activity in the last 7, 30, and 90 days.
 - This feature is turned on by default - admins can [turn off user activity](https://docs.atlan.com/llms/governance/administration/disable-user-activity/llms.txt).
 - Click the star button to [star your category](https://docs.atlan.com/llms/catalog/discovery/star-assets/llms.txt).
 - Click the clipboard icon to copy the link for your term.
 - Click the pencil icon to edit the category name and description.
 - Click the **Slack** or **Teams** icon to share directly on a [Slack](https://docs.atlan.com/llms/governance/integrations/integrate-slack/llms.txt) or [Microsoft Teams](https://docs.atlan.com/llms/governance/integrations/integrate-microsoft-teams/llms.txt) channel.
 - Click the bell icon to enable [Slack](https://docs.atlan.com/llms/governance/integrations/slack-integration/llms.txt) or [Microsoft Teams](https://docs.atlan.com/llms/governance/integrations/microsoft-teams-integration/llms.txt) notifications for glossary updates in Atlan.
 - Click the 3-dot icon and then:
 - Click **Add announcement** to [add an announcement](https://docs.atlan.com/llms/governance/integrations/create-announcements/llms.txt) to your category.
 - Click **Export** to [export nested terms](https://docs.atlan.com/llms/governance/integrations/export-assets/llms.txt) within a category to spreadsheets.
 - Click **Archive** to archive the category.

## Move terms and categories

You can move terms and categories within and across glossaries to better organize your business context. Move terms to a different category or create subcategories within the same glossary or across your glossaries in Atlan.

You will need the following permissions:

- Moving a term or category from one glossary to another - read, update, and delete permissions on both glossaries.
- Moving a term or category within the same glossary - update permission on the glossary you want to reorganize.

To move an existing term or category:

1. From the left sidebar, click on **all assets** and then view the glossary.
 * If you are using the **Old UI (Classic)**, click on **Glossary** from the left sidebar.
2. In the left menu of the _Glossary_ page, you can either:
 - Drag and drop a term or category into the relevant category within the same or a different glossary. In the popup, click **Confirm** to confirm the changes.
 - To the right of the term or category name, click the three dots icon and then click **Move to**. In the _Move to_ dialog, select a relevant category within the same or a different glossary and then click **Move** to confirm the changes.

 :::info **Did you know?** 
Deleting a glossary permanently removes all categories and terms it contains. However, deleting a category won't delete its sub catogories or terms. Those sub categories or terms are automatically moved up to its parent glossary.
::: 

## Search for glossary terms

There are two ways to search for glossary terms:

- In the left panel of the _Glossary_ page, type the name of your term in the search bar and select your preferred option from the search results.
- Click the **\>** icon preceding the name of a category to expand the full list of nested terms in that category.

## Add READMEs to your assets

For glossaries, terms, and categories, the asset profile provides a helpful summary. For example, the _Linked assets_ section displays all the data assets that are linked to a particular term. This is also where you can [add a README](https://docs.atlan.com/llms/governance/integrations/llms.txt).

The secret to making your glossary really useful is to provide as much information as possible. Adding a README will allow you to state your objectives for defining a glossary unit in greater detail.

## Inspect glossary terms and categories

The navigation bar to the right of the asset profile provides high-level information about the glossary item you are looking at. Here's what you can view:

- **Overview** shows key characteristics of a glossary term or category and helps you understand its relationship to other items in a glossary.
- **Activity** displays the [changelog](https://docs.atlan.com/llms/catalog/discovery/faq/llms.txt) for your glossary items. For instance, you can find out who updated a term and when.
- **Resources** are links to [internal or external URLs](https://docs.atlan.com/llms/catalog/discovery/add-a-resource/llms.txt) that can help your team better understand your glossary items. You can add links from GitHub, Google Docs, Google Sheets, or more as resources to your glossary item to provide additional context.
- **Requests** for a particular glossary item can be filtered by their status, such as _Pending_, _Approved_, and _Rejected_.
- **Properties** show the unique identification number of a glossary item and other properties. 
- **Integrations** show [Slack](https://docs.atlan.com/llms/governance/integrations/slack-integration/llms.txt) or [Teams](https://docs.atlan.com/llms/governance/integrations/microsoft-teams-integration/llms.txt) messages and [Jira](https://docs.atlan.com/llms/governance/integrations/jira-integration/llms.txt) tickets pertaining to a particular glossary item.

## Add associated terms

:::warning Who can do this?
 You will need your Atlan administrator to [enable associated terms](https://docs.atlan.com/llms/governance/administration/enable-associated-terms/llms.txt) - except related terms.

:::

In order to [inter-relate your terms](https://docs.atlan.com/llms/governance/glossary/what-is-a-glossary/llms.txt), you will first need to [set up a glossary](#set-up-a-glossary) and then [add terms](#add-new-glossary-terms).

To add relationships between terms:

1. From the left sidebar, click on **all assets** and then view the glossary.
 * If you are using the **Old UI (Classic)**, click on **Glossary** from the left sidebar.
2. Under _Glossary_ in the left menu, click the name of your glossary.
3. Under the glossary name, click the category in which your term is nested and then click the term you would like to enrich with an associated term.
4. In the _Overview_ tab of the term sidebar to the right, under _Associated terms_, click **+** to add relationships to your term. In the _Associate terms_ dialog, configure the following:
 1. To select a term relationship:
 - Click **Related to** to add a [term that is related in some way](https://docs.atlan.com/llms/governance/glossary/what-is-a-glossary/llms.txt).
 - Click **Recommended** to add a [standard form of use for the term](https://docs.atlan.com/llms/governance/glossary/what-is-a-glossary/llms.txt).
 - Click **Synonyms** to add a [term that is similar in meaning](https://docs.atlan.com/llms/governance/glossary/what-is-a-glossary/llms.txt).
 - Click **Antonyms** to add a [term that is opposite in meaning](https://docs.atlan.com/llms/governance/glossary/what-is-a-glossary/llms.txt).
 - Click **Translates to** to add a [translated version of the term](https://docs.atlan.com/llms/governance/glossary/what-is-a-glossary/llms.txt).
 - Click **Valid values for** to add [applicable values for the term](https://docs.atlan.com/llms/governance/glossary/what-is-a-glossary/llms.txt).
 - Click **Classifies** to add an [umbrella category for the term](https://docs.atlan.com/llms/governance/glossary/what-is-a-glossary/llms.txt).
 - Click **Classified By** to add a [term that falls under the purview of the term in use](https://docs.atlan.com/llms/governance/glossary/what-is-a-glossary/llms.txt).
 2. For _Select terms_, select existing terms to associate.
 3. Click **Associate terms** to confirm your selections. The interrelated terms will reflect the relationships automatically in the term profile and sidebar.
5. (Optional) Under _Associated terms_ in the term profile, you can view a visual representation of your term relationships:
 - Click any term attribute to focus on that specific term relationship. 
 - Click the minus or plus icons to zoom out or zoom in on the graph, respectively.
 - Click the expand icon to enlarge the graph.

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