Create an A to Z Index

Creating the A to Z Index Component

A to Z Index components are pretty easy to make, just fill out the following three fields:

1. Name: enter a name for your component here
   
2. Schema: select A to Z Index
   
3. Index List Type: select the keyword that will drive your index
   • Main keyword: All Tridion websites come with a default Main keyword already created. We recommend using this for the main A to Z Index on your site. 
     
   • Other keywords (like the "User Guide" shown in the picture): If you'd like to create additional A to Z Indexes for your site, you will need to create additional keywords for each index. You can do so by clicking the green plus sign at the right end of the Index List Type field. This will open a pop-up window. Fill in the Value field with the name of your new index and then click Save and Close. The new keyword will now appear in the Index List Type field. Click the radio button to the left of your new keyword.

Save and Close your A to Z Index component.

Create a Headline and Introduction for the Page

The A to Z Index component does not include a headline or introductory text, outlined in red in the screencap below, for the finished A to Z Index page. To fix this, you will need to create a separate component. Below are the steps to do so.

1. In the 020 section, navigate to the folder where you created the A to Z Index component.
2. Create a new component and complete the following fields:
   1. Name: enter a name for the component here
   2. Schema: select General Content
   3. Title: enter the headline for your A to Z Index page here. 
   4. Content: enter the introductory text that will go at the top of your page. This is a rich-text field, so you can add other elements like images, links, etc.

Create the A to Z Index Page

1. In the 050 section, navigate to (or create) the structure group where the A to Z Index page will reside.
2. Create a new page.
3. Fill in the Name, File Name, Page Display Name, Dublin Core Title, and Dublin Core Description fields.
4. For the Page Template field, uncheck "Inherit from Parent." Then, in the drop-down menu for the field, select A to Z Index.
5. Click the Design tab.
6. Click the Add button:
   1. Navigate to the General Content component you created in step 2, select it, apply the Page Introduction component template, and insert it into the page.
   2. Navigate to the A to Z Index component you created in step 1, select it, apply the A to Z Index component template, and insert it into the page.
7. Close the Insert Component Presentation pop-up window.
8. Save and Close your A to Z Index page.

An Introduction to A to Z Index Categories

Categories are used in A to Z Indexes to gather information, all related to the same topic, into one place. There are many ways to categorize your information, and below are a couple examples.

Grouping by category or topic 

This is how A to Z Index categories are used on this website. If you visit our A to Z Index page, you will see that under a single category (such as "Component Types"), we have 8 webpages listed that are relevant to that topic. Other examples of categories on that A to Z Index page include "Component Basics" or "Content Types."  

Grouping by Program Name

Another way to use A to Z Index Categories is to build a page similar to a site map. DEED's A to Z Index is used in this way. Since DEED uses an audience-based navigation structure, the pages for specific agency programs are not easy to find on their site by browsing alone. DEED opted to use their A to Index as a easy, one-stop-shop for finding specific DEED programs. As you can see below, this means that basically every link has its own category. 

Other Options

You are not limited to the two options above. If you can think of other creative ways to use the A to Z Index, please do so! We'd love to see what you come up with.

Creating the A to Z Index Categories

After you've spent some time thinking about how you want to set up your A to Z Index page, and have decided on a structure, you can begin setting up the categories. To do so:

1. Navigate to 020 [Your Publication] Content > Categories and Keywords > Index Category
2. Click Create in the top dark grey ribbon and then select New Keyword
   
   
3. In the pop-up up that appears, enter your keyword or phrase in the Value field.
4. Click Save and Close.
5. Repeat steps 2 - 4 for every keyword you need to create.
   
   

Add Pages to the A to Z Index

After creating categories for your A to Z Index, you'll need to assign webpages on your site to those categories. To do so:

1. Navigate to a page, located in the 050 [Your Publication] website > root structure groups, that you wish to include in the A to Z Index and open it.
2. Toward the middle of the page is a field called A to Z List. In the following sub-fields:
   1. Index List: from the drop-down menu, select the Index List type for the A to Z Index where this page will appear. This is the same Index List Type you selected or created in Step 1: Creating the A to Z Index Component.
   2. Index Category: click the Browse Folder icon  and a pop-up window will appear.
      
      
      
      Using the right column on the pop-up, select the category by clicking it once and then click the Insert button. 
      
       
      
      

      Tip: If you double click on the category, it will open a blank window in the right column. To get the keywords back in that column so you can select them, you'll have to click the Index Category menu at the top of the left column.

   3. If desired, you can add the same page to additional Index Categories on your A - Z Index. To do so: 
      1. Click the green plus sign . This will open a new pop-up. 
      2. Select the category as described above and click Insert. 
      3. Repeat this step as needed for all the categories you wish to assign to the page.
         
         
         
3. Save and Close the page.
4. Repeat these steps for every webpage you need to add to your A to Z Index.

Publish the A to Z Index Page

When you've finished adding all your categories to the A to Z Index and have added all the pages to those categories, as described in steps 4 and 5, then all you need to do next is publish your A - Z Index page.

Navigate to the A-Z Index page you built in step 3, right-click on it and select Publishing > Publish.

This will send the A to Z Index page to the publishing queue. Like the site navigation, the A to Z Index will take a while to publish because it requires checking all pages on the site to see if they need to be included in the A to Z Index.

We also recommend republishing the navigation at this point, so it picks up the new page.