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WebCT Faculty Tip Sheets

Glossary

Use the glossary to define terms but also provide media, such as images, audio, etc., that will explain the term more completely.  Entries are organized in a glossary index alphabetically. Students access individual glossary entries and their definitions by clicking the first letter of the keyword in the glossary index.

The glossary tool can also be added to the Action Menu of your content module. For instructions, see the Action Menu tip sheet. Students can access glossary directly from any content page by clicking the glossary link in the Action Menu. They can also see individual glossary definitions by clicking keyword links embedded in the text. For more information, see the To link glossary entries to course content pages section of this tip sheet.

To add the glossary to your course:

  1. From the Control Panel, select Add Page or Tool.
  2. In the Course Content Tools column, click Glossary. The Add Glossary screen appears.
  3. In the Enter a title for this item text box, enter the title as you want it to appear below the icon.
  4. Under Decide where to show the link to this item, select where you want the link to be displayed.
  5. Click Add. The glossary is added to your course.

To add new glossary entries:

You can add entries to the glossary individually or by importing a file.

  1. From the Glossary Keywords screen, under Options, click Add keyword. The Add Keyword screen appears.
  2. In the Keyword text box, enter the keyword of the glossary entry.
  3. In the Definition text box, enter the description of the glossary entry, and click Add. The Glossary Keywords screen appears with an updated list of glossary keywords.
  4. To preview the glossary:
    1. Click the View tab. The Glossary Keywords screen appears displaying the Glossary index.
    2. Click the letter that corresponds to the first letter of the new keyword. A list of all keywords starting with that letter appears with their corresponding definitions.

To import glossary entries from a file:

  • The file must be a text file (.txt format).
  • The entries must be in a specific format:
    • Each keyword must be preceded by a colon (:). Note: The glossary entry or description may contain a colon. Only lines beginning with a colon will be interpreted as containing a new glossary entry.
    • The keyword must be in a separate line on its own.
    • The lines following the keyword must contain the glossary entry description.

  • This example illustrates how to add a new glossary entry:

    :new entry This is the new glossary definition for the glossary entry named "new entry".

Note: Ensure that you have uploaded the glossary file from your local computer to your My-Files folder before you begin.

  1. From the Glossary Keywords screen, under Options, click Import keywords from file. The Import From File screen appears.
  2. In the Filename text box, enter the path and filename of the file to be imported, or to locate and select the file, click Browse. The WebCT Browser appears.
  3. From the Import from File screen, click Import. The Import Confirmation screen appears.
  4. Click Continue. The Glossary Keywords screen appears.

To edit glossary entries:

You can change keywords and descriptions which have already been entered into the glossary.

  1. From the Glossary Keywords screen, under Glossary keywords, select the glossary keyword that you want to edit.
  2. Under Options, click Edit. The Edit keyword screen appears.
  3. In the Keyword and Description text boxes, enter the changes that you want to make and click Update. The Glossary Keywords screen appears with an updated list of Glossary keywords.

To delete glossary entries:

You can delete glossary entries individually or by deleting all of the entries.

  1. From the Glossary Keywords screen, under Glossary keywords, select the glossary keyword(s) that you want to delete. To delete all of the glossary keywords, do not select any keywords.
  2. Delete the entries:
  3. To delete individual entries, click Delete. A warning message appears. Click OK. The Glossary Keywords screen appears with an updated list of Glossary keywords.
  4. To delete all entries, click Delete all. A warning message appears. Click OK. A final warning message appears. Click OK . The Glossary Keywords screen appears and the Glossary keywords list is empty.

To download glossary entries:

If you have a number of glossary entries to edit, you may want to use a text editor of your choice, rather than edit each entry individually in WebCT. You can do this by downloading the glossary entries onto your own computer, making your changes, uploading the file to WebCT, and then importing the glossary entries. Note: The glossary is downloaded in plain text format (.txt).

  1. From the Glossary Keywords screen, under Options, click Download. Your computer's file download screen appears.
  2. Save the file on your computer. You can now edit the file, upload the revised glossary to WebCT, and import it to the glossary .

To link glossary entries to content pages:

You can create links from words in a page of content to corresponding glossary entries.

Note: The content page must be in HTML format. Since this function only applies to content pages, you use the glossary tool in the content module to add the links. For more information on adding the glossary tool to a content module, see the Action Menu tip sheet.

To add a glossary link to a content page:

  1. Click the icon of the content module to which you wish to add a glossary link. The Content Module screen appears.
  2. From the Table of Contents, click the page of content. The Content Page Settings screen appears.
  3. Under Action Menu, click Glossary. The Glossary Keywords screen appears.
  4. Under Options, click Page Links. The Manage Page Links screen appears. Any glossary keywords in the text are hyperlinked, with a radio button next to them. These words are also listed at the bottom of the page, under Unlinked Keywords in the page.
  5. To activate the link, select the keyword in the text, scroll to the bottom of the page, and click Update. The Glossary Keywords screen appears and the link is added to the page.
  6. To make the changes available to students, update the student view.

To remove a glossary link from a content page:

  1. Click the icon of the content module to which you wish to add a glossary link. The Content Module screen appears.
  2. From the Table of Contents, click the page of content. The Content Page Settings screen appears.
  3. Under Action Menu, click Glossary. The Glossary Keywords screen appears.
  4. Under Options, click Page Links. The Manage Page Links screen appears.
  5. Remove the links.
    • To remove a link, scroll to the bottom of the screen, and under Unlinked keywords in the page, select the keyword(s) that you want to remove. Click Update.
    • To remove all links, do not select any keywords first. Click Remove Links.

To link glossary definitions to other glossary entries:

You can create hyperlinks from words within glossary definitions to corresponding glossary entries.

Note: Since this function only applies to content pages, you use the Glossary tool in content module to add the links. This option is not available for the course Glossary tool.

To add a glossary link to a definition:

  1. From the Glossary Keywords screen, under Glossary keywords, select the glossary keyword containing the glossary definition to which you want to add a link.
  2. Under Options, click Manage keyword links. The Manage keyword links screen appears. The words in the definition that are existing glossary keywords are hyperlinked, with a radio button next to them. These words are also listed under the definition, as Unlinked Keywords.
  3. To activate the link, select the keyword in the definition, and click Update. The Glossary Keywords screen appears and the link is added.

Note: If you decide to edit the glossary definition in the future, all the Keyword Links will be removed; you must use Manage keyword links to recreate them.

To remove a glossary link from a definition:

  1. From the Glossary Keywords screen, under Glossary keywords, select the glossary keyword containing the glossary definition from which you want to remove a link.
  2. Under Options, click Manage keyword links. The Manage Keyword Links screen appears.
  3. Remove the links:
    • To remove a link, scroll to the bottom of the screen, and under Unlinked keywords in the page, select the keyword(s) that you want to remove. Click Update. The Glossary Keywords screen appears and the link(s) are removed.
    • To remove all links, do not select any keywords first. Click Remove Links. The Glossary Keywords screen appears and all links are removed.
 
CRC Help Support for WebCT Designers is available through the Computing Resource Center. To contact a Help Desk representative, please call 702.895.0777 or email crchelp@ccmail.nevada.edu. Support is available Monday through Friday 8:00AM - 5:00PM PST. WebCT training and instructional design support are available through the Teaching and Learning Center.

Last Updated: December 6, 2004
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