Support and setup guide

Need help? Email support@definitiveglossary.com. We reply within one business day.

Getting started

1. Choose your glossary editors

A Confluence admin opens Settings → Apps → Glossary settings and picks the people who can approve, deprecate and delete terms. Everyone else can propose drafts. Until you pick editors, everyone can approve.

2. Add terms

Open Apps → Glossary and click Add term. For each term you can set:

• aliases, such as "service level agreement" for "SLA";
• a definition, owner, source link and review date;
• a scope: the whole site, or just one space.

Each space also has a Glossary tab in its sidebar showing that space's terms.

3. Link your pages

On any page, open ••• → Apps → Glossary links and click Link glossary terms. Reload the page to see dotted underlines; hover over one to see its definition.

Editors can link every page in a space from the space's Glossary tab.

• Headings, code blocks and existing links are never changed.
• Running it again never double-links.
• Remove glossary links restores the original text.

4. Keep definitions current

In Glossary settings, turn on Daily review reminders and pick a space. Definitive Glossary keeps a "Glossary review queue" page there, with a task for each term that's due, and @mentions its owner.

Importing a CSV

Use Import CSV on the Glossary page. The first row must be a header. term and definition are required. Separate multiple aliases with semicolons.

term,definition,aliases,status,space,sourceUrl,reviewBy
SLA,Service Level Agreement: our response commitment,service level agreement,approved,,,2027-01-31
on-call,Support agent covering urgent tickets,,approved,SUPPORT,,

• status can be draft, approved or deprecated. Only editors can import approved terms.
• space: leave it blank for a site-wide term, or use a space key.
• reviewBy uses the YYYY-MM-DD format.

Rows with a duplicate term or alias are skipped, and the import tells you which ones and why.

Switching from another glossary app? CSV exports from Smart Terms, VECTORS Glossary and Bordant Glossary import as they are: their title, synonym, abbreviation and acronym columns are recognised and formatted definitions become plain text. These files have no status column, so the import asks whether to bring the terms in as approved or as drafts. In Smart Terms, export as CSV rather than Excel.

Using the glossary in Jira

Definitive Glossary is installed in Confluence, where the glossary is managed. It can also be connected to Jira on the same site, at no extra cost.

Connect Jira

A site admin opens Atlassian Administration → Apps → Sites, picks the site, opens Connected apps → Definitive Glossary and connects Jira. Jira shows the permissions it needs: reading work items, so the app can find glossary terms in them.

What Jira users see

• A Glossary panel on every work item. It lists the glossary terms in the work item's summary and description, with their definitions, and updates when you edit the work item.
• Explain glossary terms in the work item's ••• menu shows the same list in a dialog.
• Apps → Glossary in Jira's menu opens the whole glossary, with search and a status filter.

Jira only reads the glossary. Terms are added, changed and approved in Confluence. In a work item's Glossary panel, deprecated terms never show, and drafts show as drafts (or not at all if "Only link approved terms" is on). A space's own terms only show to people who can see that space. Seeing the glossary in Jira needs access to Confluence on the same site.

Troubleshooting

"You need permission to edit this page"

Linking changes the page, so you need edit permission on it.

A term isn't underlined

Check these first:

• The term isn't deprecated.
• If "Only link approved terms" is on, the term is approved.
• The term isn't in a heading, code block or existing link.
• "First occurrence" mode links only the first mention on each page.

"The glossary license for this site is not active"

Your subscription has lapsed. The glossary is read-only until it's renewed. Existing definitions still appear, and removing links still works.

Data and security

Definitive Glossary runs entirely on Atlassian's Forge platform. Your data is stored in Atlassian's cloud with your site and never leaves it. See the privacy policy.