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A taxonomy is the form people fill in: an ordered selection of a governance model’s fields. For the definition and how it relates to workspaces and records, see Key concepts. This page walks through building one. Prerequisites: you must be an account owner or admin to create or change a taxonomy. The governance model must already have the fields you want to add.

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Create a taxonomy

1

Open the Taxonomies page

Open the governance model and choose Taxonomies in the model sidebar.
2

Create it

Click Create new, enter a name (unique within the governance model, up to 100 characters) and an optional description (up to 500 characters), which is shown as help text in the form. You land in the taxonomy editor.
3

Add and order fields

On the Fields tab, the left pane lists the taxonomy’s fields and the right pane shows a live Preview of the form. Add fields from the governance model, then drag them into the order you want. The order is the order people see in the form.
4

Publish

Field changes are draft edits. They reach submitters when you publish a revision.
Removing a field asks you to confirm, because entries that already use the field may be affected. If a Tagged URL parameter in this taxonomy takes its value from the field you are removing, the confirmation says so, and that parameter needs a new source.

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Edit a field inside a taxonomy

Click a field in the editor to open it. The field editor has three tabs:
  • Shared settings: the field’s own definition. Changes here apply to every taxonomy that uses the field. Click Save to draft to keep them.
  • Taxonomy settings: overrides that apply to this taxonomy only. Required in this taxonomy and Parameters save as soon as you change them; an Option filter saves when you click Save Filter.
    • Required in this taxonomy makes an optional field required here. It is locked on when the field is already required in Shared settings, because overrides can only tighten.
    • Option filter (dropdown fields) shows only some of the dropdown’s options here.
    • Parameters (Tagged URL fields) sets where each parameter the field left open gets its value in this taxonomy, or marks it Not used here.
  • Usage: read-only lists of Used in taxonomies (every taxonomy that includes the field) and Referenced by fields (fields whose settings depend on this one).
For how each override behaves, including option filters and Tagged URL parameters, see Field-reference overrides.

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Rules the editor enforces

  • One Short URL field and one Terminus ID field per taxonomy. The editor will not add a second field of either type, and publishing rejects it.
  • A field appears once per taxonomy. Use two fields if you need two values.
  • Dependencies must be present. If a computed field or a cascading dropdown relies on another field, that field must be in the taxonomy too. The Taxonomies list shows a Missing dependencies badge until you add it. To see how fields, picklists, and taxonomies connect across the whole model, open Visualizer in the model sidebar.

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Connect the taxonomy to workspaces

A taxonomy collects submissions only in workspaces it is connected to. Add workspaces on the taxonomy’s Settings tab, or assign taxonomies from the workspace’s settings (see Manage workspaces). Each connection has two settings, which you change in the workspace’s settings (the taxonomy’s Settings tab links there with Manage in workspace):
Turning on Require review and setting per-workspace Field options both require the Business plan or higher. Turning review off or clearing the options is always allowed. See Plans and limits.

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Rename, clone, or delete

  • Rename: edit the name or description on the taxonomy’s Settings tab. Both are draft edits: they show up as a pending change, reach submitters when you publish, and Discard draft reverts them.
  • Clone: on the Taxonomies list, open the row’s menu and choose Clone. The clone copies every field with its per-taxonomy settings (required, option filters, and parameter bindings) into the same governance model. It is not connected to any workspace, so cloning never exposes a form by accident. The name must not already be used in the model.
  • Delete: choose Delete from the row’s menu, or Delete Taxonomy under Danger Zone on the Settings tab. The confirmation says “This action cannot be undone.”

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Gotchas

  • Shared settings change every taxonomy. Use Taxonomy settings when a change should apply here only.
  • Overrides only tighten. A taxonomy can make a field required but cannot make a required field optional.
  • Cloning drops workspace connections by design. Connect the clone before anyone can submit against it.

Field-reference overrides

Required, option filters, and parameter bindings per taxonomy.

Workspaces

Where taxonomies are connected and used.

Review and approve submissions

What review required turns on for a taxonomy.

Governance models

The container that owns a taxonomy’s fields.