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Space, global and linked glossaries

A page in Confluence can get its terms from three places: its own space, the global glossary and the spaces it is subscribed to. The picture below shows the result for three spaces. Support is subscribed to Payments; Platform is not linked to anyone.

The rest of this page explains each source.

Space glossary​

Every space has its own glossary. Its terms are created on the Space page and are used on the pages of that space.

Global glossary​

The global glossary holds Global terms: terms that are the same for the whole Confluence site. They are managed on the Global page and appear in every space next to the space's own terms, marked as Global term.

Global terms work only while Use Global terms is turned on in the Global settings. When it is turned off, global terms disappear from space glossaries, from pages and from Glossary tables. The terms themselves are kept and come back when the option is turned on again.

A global terms editor can also create a global term from a space: turn on the Global term switch in the term form.

Linked spaces​

A space can use the glossary of another space. This is set up on the Linked spaces tab of the Space settings.

The two sides have names:

  • Source is the space whose terms are shared.
  • Subscriber is the space that receives them.

How a link is made:

  1. An admin of the subscriber space adds the source space under Sources. The link gets the status Waiting for approval.
  2. An admin of the source space sees the request under Subscribers and chooses Approve or Reject.
  3. After approval the status is Subscribed and the terms of the source work in the subscriber space.

All statuses of a link and what moves it from one to another:

Terms are shared only in the Subscribed status.

Things to know:

  • The link goes one way. The subscriber gets the terms of the source. The source does not get the terms of the subscriber. For terms to go both ways, each space subscribes to the other:
  • Terms stay in the source. In the subscriber space they are read-only and carry a link to the source space. They are edited only in the source.
  • Only an approved link works. While a request is waiting or rejected, the subscriber does not see the terms. A rejected request can be approved later.
  • Either side can end it. The subscriber can cancel a request or unsubscribe. After that the terms of the source disappear from the subscriber space; its own terms are not affected.
  • If the source space is deleted, its terms disappear from the subscriber space, and the link is shown as Space deleted so that it can be removed.

What a page ends up with​

For a page in a space, the app uses:

  • the terms of the space itself;
  • global terms, if Use Global terms is on;
  • the terms of every source the space is subscribed to with an approved link.

The same set is used everywhere: on the glossary page of the space, under the page title, in the selection menu, in macros and in highlighting.

Each of these glossaries is separate, so the same word can be defined in more than one of them, for example in the space and in the global glossary. The app does not pick a winner: the reader sees all matching definitions.