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.On a new account, the dashboard shows a setup checklist. Click Get started next to Build your governance model, then browse the template gallery. Use the Business and Structure filters and the tag chips to narrow the list, open a card to preview its fields, and click Who it’s for & samples to see example values. Simple UTM Starter is listed first and is a good first choice.Click Create Governance Model. Terminus imports the template as a brand-new model in your account and drops you into it. Everything in it is now yours to edit.
You can also start from scratch (Start from scratch) or paste an exported model (Import from JSON). Creating a model requires the owner or admin role.
2
Publish a revision
A revision is an immutable snapshot of the model. Submission forms always run against a published revision, so this step is what makes the model usable.Click Publish at the top right of any page in the model. Add optional Notes to describe what is in this version, then confirm. Terminus validates the model first; if it reports blocking issues, fix them and publish again.See publishing a revision for what validation checks and how later edits stage the next revision.
3
Connect a taxonomy to your workspace
A taxonomy is the form people fill in. The template comes with at least one.In the sidebar, expand the Main workspace and click Settings. Under Assigned taxonomies, click Add Taxonomy, choose the template’s taxonomy, and click Save changes. The workspace can now collect data against it. See Workspaces for the other assignment options.
4
Build your first URL
In the sidebar, open the Main workspace’s Submissions page and click Build URL (the button names the taxonomy, for example Build URL · Campaigns; a taxonomy with no tagged URL, short URL, or QR code field shows New record instead). The builder opens 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.
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Create the record and its short URL
When the fields are valid, click Create URL (or Create record). Terminus turns the submission into a record, activates its short URL (for example
ter.link/aB3xZ), and generates its QR code.If your workspace requires review for this taxonomy, the button reads Submit for review instead, and a workspace admin approves it before the record is created. Review is off by default. 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.Related
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
Track the rest of the setup checklist and see what the home screen shows.