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This is the fastest path to value. You will start a governance model from a ready-made template, review and publish it, fill in a submission, and turn it into a record that carries a finished URL. It takes about ten minutes, and most of the setup is done for you by the template.
Prefer to build a model field by field, with picklists and computed fields explained as you go? Follow the Campaign URL Builder tutorial instead. This quickstart takes the shortcut.

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Prerequisites

You need a Terminus Hub account where you are an owner or admin. If you do not have one yet, sign up and confirm your email. A new account starts on a Business trial, so every feature in this quickstart is available, and it already has a workspace named Main, so you will not need to create one here.
1

Start a governance model from a template

A governance model holds the fields, picklists, and taxonomies that describe your campaign data.When you first open a new account, Terminus Hub shows a welcome screen. Under Start from a template, click Simple UTM Starter: it is listed first and is a good first choice. To compare more options, click See all templates and use the Business and Structure filters and the tag chips in the template gallery. The preview shows the template’s fields; click Who it’s for & samples to see example values.Click Create Governance Model. Terminus imports the template as a brand-new model in your account. Everything in it is now yours to edit.
You can also click Build it by hand on the welcome screen, or import an exported model with Import from JSON from the template gallery. Creating a model requires the owner or admin role. If you clicked Skip for now, use Get started on the dashboard’s setup checklist to return.
2

Review your setup

Because your account has nothing published yet, the import opens Review your setup: a read-only summary of the model with one card per taxonomy and its fields. A taxonomy is the form people fill in, and the template comes with at least one.Anything that blocks publishing is listed at the top with a link to fix it. Suggestions never block. To change something now, click Open in designer, then Back to review in the banner to return. See Review and publish your setup.
3

Publish and start building

Click Publish and start building. In one step, Terminus publishes the model as its first revision (an immutable snapshot that submission forms always run against), turns its taxonomies on in your Main workspace with review off, and opens the builder. If your account has more than one workspace, choose one under Workspace to build in first.Later changes to the model are published from the designer. See publishing a revision.
4

Build your first URL

The builder opens on the template’s first taxonomy with a form generated from the published revision, so every field you configured appears as an input.Fill in the fields, including a destination URL. Computed fields (a tagged URL, a short URL slug, a QR code) fill themselves in as you type. For the other ways to fill in the builder, including a grid for many rows at once, see fill modes.
5

Create the record and its URL

When the fields are valid, click Create URL (or Create record). Terminus turns the submission into a record that carries the finished tagged URL. When the taxonomy also has a Short URL field (Simple UTM Starter does not, Cross-Channel Campaign Standard does), the record gets a live short URL (for example ter.link/aB3xZ), and a QR code when it has a QR Code field. The Submissions list then shows Your first URL is live, with the link and a copy button.Review is off for these taxonomies, so the record is created right away. To have a workspace admin approve submissions first, see Review and approve submissions.Open the workspace’s Records page to see your record. From here clicks and scans start flowing into analytics. See Work with records for cloning and editing records.
If your account already has a published governance model, the import opens the new model’s Taxonomies page instead of the review screen. Publish it with Publish at the top right, then connect its taxonomy in the workspace’s Settings under Assigned taxonomies (see Workspaces), and build your URL from the workspace’s Submissions page.
You have run the whole Terminus Hub flow: model, revision, submission, record, URL. Everything you imported is a normal, editable governance model, so the next step is to make it yours.

Campaign URL Builder tutorial

Build a governance model from scratch, with picklists, cascading dropdowns, and computed fields.

Start from a template

Browse, preview, and import the ready-made governance models.

Publish a revision

Understand validation and how revisions snapshot your model.

Your dashboard

The welcome screen, the setup review, the setup checklist, and what the home screen shows.