Using Taxonomy and Vocabulary

Taxonomy: Your YaleSites Superpower

Unlock better navigation, searchability, and content relationships

Taxonomy is a powerful way to organize and classify your website content. Taxonomies help you create logical connections between related content, making information more discoverable for your visitors and enhancing your site’s overall usability.

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illustration of man on two way path with signs

What is Taxonomy?

Taxonomy is a system of categorization that helps you group similar content together. In the YaleSites platform:

  • Taxonomy is the overall system for organizing content
  • Vocabularies are collections of related terms (like “Tags” or “Post Categories”)
  • Terms are the specific keywords or phrases used to describe content
Taxonomy in the Admin Content menu screenshot

Go to Content>Manage Taxonomy

Finding and Editing Your Taxonomies

To access taxonomy settings on YaleSites:

  1. Log in with your NetID
  2. Navigate to the top admin bar
  3. Go to Content > Manage Taxonomy
  4. View and edit your available vocabularies

Once you have created your terms, those terms are available to add to your conent under the Manage Settings. 

See Manage Settings

Default Vocabularies on YaleSites

YaleSites comes with several built-in vocabularies:

Think of taxonomy as a filing system that makes your digital content easier to find, connect, and display. Each content type has taxonomies designed for its specific needs.

Filing system on undraw

Displaying Content Using Taxonomy and View Blocks

Taxonomy powers the view block display on YaleSites.

The View Block functions as a dynamic content display tool that pulls information from other parts of your site. You leverage your taxonomy to create dynamic sections of content. This means you can use it to automatically show updated content without manually editing pages.

view block icon

Getting Started with Taxonomy

Begin implementing taxonomy on your YaleSite by:

  1. Reviewing your existing content types
  2. Identifying logical groupings and relationships
  3. Planning your vocabulary structure
  4. Consistently applying terms to new and existing content
  5. Using taxonomy-based displays to showcase your content

Why Taxonomy Matters

Effective taxonomy on your YaleSite:

  • Improves navigation and user experience
  • Enhances internal search functionality
  • Creates meaningful relationships between content
  • Helps with search engine optimization
  • Makes content management more efficient
  • Supports better social media and external sharing