Knowledge Base Defined Terms

Overview

To improve the consistency of the knowledge base content, all writers should use the same terminology to describe systems, features, UI elements, users and other terms in the company’s lexicon. The defined terms list will support development of customer facing articles so feature names and terminology is consistent.

Before you publish a new knowledge base article, look it over for any of these terms and make sure they are being used appropriately.

Phrases and Terms 

User Types 

TeamDynamix has two user types: 

  1. User – Someone who has a username and security role which means they can authenticate. 
  2. Customer – Someone with a person record who has no security role and cannot authenticate. 

The TDX System 

The system 
When referring to the entire TeamDynamix product, call it the system. This is not the title of the product, so it should not be capitalized.  

Interfaces 
These should always be capitalized as proper nouns, and non-varying in format. 
Refers to one of: TDAdmin, TDClient or TDNext.  

Applications 
These should always be capitalized as proper nouns, and non-varying in format. 

These application names include Application as part of the title and should be capitalized: 

  • Asset Application (Assets/CIs) 
  • Client Portal Application 
    • Service Catalog  
    • Questions 
  • Ticketing Application 

These are applications with a small “a”: 

  • Analysis application 
  • Desktop application 
  • File Cabinet application 
  • My Work application 
  • People application 
  • Portfolio Planning application 
  • Projects/Workspaces application. Note: there is a UI labeling inconsistency where extra spaces appear on the TDNext application tab. This is incorrect, it should always be formatted as Projects/Workspaces with no spaces around the slash. 
  • Resource Management application 

Components 
The key system features listed below have branded names and should always be capitalized as proper nouns. All other features should be written in normal sentence case.  

These are the branded components that should always be capitalized: 

  • Briefcase 
  • Calendar 
  • My Work 
  • Reports 

When describing a non-branded feature or function in regular text, write them out in standard sentence case.  

Do not abbreviate feature names to match ways they’ve been shortened to fit in the UI unless they are descriptors in step-by-step instructions. 

For example, looking at this list of reports, there are several abbreviations in the report titles in the UI. 

To describe the path to reach the last of these reports, you'd write: 

Under Standard Reports, click Scheduled V Actual Hrs By Project. 

Features
Features is a generic term that can be used to describe any part of the system, be it an application, component, a small function or button, or something else.  

Modules
This refers to the thematically related sections of the system used by Professional Services Team for implementation delivery, as defined in the professional services modules. 

The System UI 

  • Applications menu – The graphical button that opens the menu with all the applications laid out in a grid. Note that it is plural – applications menu. 
    Icon Description automatically generated 

  • Application tabs – The graphical tabs for each open application, that appear across the top of the TDNext interface. When instructing a reader to click on one of these refer to them as applications or application tabs, not tabs.  
    For example,  
    Click the My Work application. 

  • Button – A control that is visually shown as a graphical button.  
     

  • Checkbox – A small square field that allows for a binary choice with a checkmark. This should not be shortened to box.  

  • Dropdown – The field the expands down to show a list of choices should be called a dropdown. This should always be one word, never drop down or drop-down. 

  • Field – Refer to form fields and input boxes as fields, not boxes. 

  • Hamburger menu –  This icon is used as a grab handle for drag and drop reordering. 

  • Left navigation – This appears on the left in TDAdmin and TDNext. It should not be written as left navigator. 

  • Left sub navigation – In the left navigation, this menu appears below an expanded left navigation. It can be written as sub navigation, omitting left, if it is closely preceded by an instruction about the left navigation. 

  • Link – A control that looks like link text and is not a graphical button. Do not conflate this with a button, even if it serves an important function.  
     

  • Modal – A JavaScript window that appears on a web page. It looks like a popup but if the page were closed, the modal would close with it. 

  • Pop-up window – These are small windows that open and appear frequently in the TDAdmin and TDNext interfaces. 

  • Right sidebar – The drawer that slides open from the right side when clicking buttons like Filter or Resources. Okay to just say sidebar. 

  • Sub-navigation – This appears under the top nav in TDClient. 

  • Toolbar – This refers to the set of tools that appears at the top of an application page in TDNext.   

  • Tool tip – The helpful information found throughout the interface that can be seen by clicking the  question mark.  

  • Top navigation – This appears across the top of the page in TDClient. 

  • Widget – Widgets are the building blocks used in the Desktop application. 

A-Z Terms 

A 

  • Accounts and Departments – Should be spelled out when generally describing using the system.  

  • Acct/Dept – Use this abbreviation when specifically referring to the navigation, field label or setting that is formatted in the same way. 

  • Administrator – Administrators are the TDX system users who are most focused on the TDAdmin interface. They can be responsible for the entire system, or just some part of it, but they are the users who get the system setup and keep it running for everyone else.  

  • App – Always write it out as application. 

  • Article – Term used to describe a single page of a knowledge base. 

  • Asset Discovery – Capitalize when referring to the module. 

C 

  • CAB – Abbreviation for change advisory board. 

  • Click – Click describes action for clicking on an element.  

  • Client – A user who does not have access to TDNext. Their interaction with TeamDynamix is exclusively in the TDClient interface. If this were for a university, it would mean the students, if it were a city, it would mean the constituents, etc. 

  • Column – The value that will appear in the vertical columns of a table or grid, mostly referenced in reports.   

  • Component – Not capitalized. These are the foundational parts of the system and include the interfaces, environments as well as the account and department records, Briefcase integrations, days off, security roles, notifications, groups, and users.  

  • Creating and Modifying – Two separate words with and in between should be used instead of Creating/Modifying. Do not use slashes to combine words or functions. 

  • Customer – One of the two user types, a person record who has no security role who cannot authenticate. 

D 

  • Double-click – Always hyphenated. 

E 

  • Enterprise Service Management – The system for managing work across the organization – from basic service requests to full projects. Abbreviation ESM is okay to use after it is defined at first mention in the article.  

  • Entries – A generic term for individual items that have been entered into the system. 

F 

H 

  • Help desk – The standard term for a department or team that provides assistance with issues. 

I 

  • Interfaces – TDAdmin, TDClient and TDNext are the interfaces.  

K 

  • Knowledge base – Use title case when using the phrase TeamDynamix Knowledge Base. Otherwise, use lowercase for generic references to a knowledge base. Do not use the term knowledge base to mean a single article.  

  • Knowledge-centered service – The phrase is not capitalized, while the abbreviation, KCS, is.  

  • Knowledge-centered support – Use Knowledge-centered service. 

  • Knowledge management – Not capitalized. 

L 

  • Lean – As in lean IT. This is not a proper noun and should not be capitalized.  

M 

  • Management console – Do not use this term in place of the Projects/Workspaces application or Manage Projects/Workspaces. 

  • Module – There are a few features what have “module” in their name. For general installation module definition, see above. 

P 

  • Person – Not People when referring to records. Person Profile, Person Records, Person Attribute.   

  • Project module – Do not use this term in place of the Projects/Workspaces application.  

R 

  • Records – A user entry in the system. 

  • Related articles – This is not capitalized unless writing instructions, and there is a button or function titled Related Articles. 

  • Reports – When referring to the feature is capitalized and is always Reports never Reporting. When referring generally to a report as an object or verb this can take the common form, as in download the report, or reporting to the manager.  

  • Report builder – The UI of custom reports.  

  • Report source – A type of report data coming from a single application. The filters and columns available vary for each report source.  

S 

  • Select – Select describes choosing an element when there is more than one option. 

  • Self-service – For consistency, use hyphenated self-service rather than self service. When in a title, Service should be capitalized, Self-Service. 

  • Services – This is what the button in the interface says, this is not interchangeable with a Service Catalog application. 

  • Select – Describes choosing an element when there is more than one option. 

  • Single sign-on – Always hyphenated. When in a title, On should be capitalized, Single Sign-On. 

  • Steps – Legacy term used for tasks in project plans. Use tasks going forward. 

T 

  • Tasks – Line items in a waterfall plan or cards in a cardwall plan are tasks.  

  • TDX – This is the standard abbreviation for TeamDynamix and should be used instead of TD. 

  • TDAdmin – The interface for system administrators. 

  • TDClient – The client portal interface, for institution end users – the people who ask for work. 

  • TDNext – For the users who do the work, using the system to serve the end users. 

  • TeamDynamix – When assigning possessive use the TeamDynamix instead of TeamDynamix’s. 
    For example, 
    …added into the TeamDynamix environment. 
    not 
    …added into TeamDynamix’s environment. 

  • Time - In the system time usually refers to work you’ve accomplished. 

U 

  • User(s) – One of the two user types. Someone who has a username and security role which means they can authenticate.  

V 

  • Vs, V, versus – Use vs as the abbreviation for versus, avoid using “V”. 

W 

  • Waterfall plan – Should not be capitalized or treated as a proper noun. 

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