Table of Contents
Taxonomies - the basics
01. September 2026
Table of Contents
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Taxonomies help you organize metadata in a structured, consistent way. They provide users with predefined lists of values for searching, filtering, navigating, and tagging content.
A taxonomy is built as a hierarchy, allowing metadata values to be grouped into logical categories. For example, a taxonomy for locations might contain countries, regions, cities, and districts. This structure makes it easier for users to find content and select the correct metadata values.
Taxonomies can improve metadata quality by:
- Promoting consistent terminology across the organization
- Reducing spelling mistakes and duplicate values
- Making assets easier to find through filtering and navigation
- Simplifying metadata entry for users
How taxonomies are used
Taxonomies can be used in several ways throughout the system:
Metadata entry
When users edit metadata, taxonomy-enabled fields present predefined values that can be selected instead of entered manually. This helps ensure that the same terms are used consistently.
Navigation
When taxonomy navigation is enabled for an archive, users can browse content using the taxonomy structure. This provides an alternative to traditional searching and can make large collections easier to explore.
Search and filtering
Taxonomy values can be used to narrow down results and help users find relevant content more quickly.
Roles and permissionsDifferent users have different responsibilities when working with taxonomies.
Role Responsibility Administrator Enables taxonomies for metadata fields and configures their use in archives and actions. Taxonomy manager Creates and maintains taxonomy content. Users Use taxonomy values for metadata entry, navigation, filtering, and search. Planning your taxonomy
Before creating taxonomy content, it is important to consider how users will search for, browse, and categorize content.
A well-planned taxonomy should reflect your organization's terminology, be easy for users to understand, avoid unnecessary complexity, and support both current and future content. For recommendations and best practices, see the Planning taxonomy content checklist.
Next steps
After becoming familiar with the concepts, continue with the following topics:
Planning taxonomy content - Learn how to design a taxonomy that meets your organization's needs.
Enabling taxonomies for specific metadata fields - Configure metadata fields to use taxonomy values.
Creating taxonomy content - Build and maintain the taxonomy structure.
Enabling taxonomy navigation in an archive - Allow users to browse content using taxonomies.
Managing the behavior of taxonomy items - Control how taxonomy values behave in the system.