Agile Tortoise

Terminology Resources

Documentation for resource creation

< Terminology

  1. About Resources
  2. Resource Library
  3. Resource Configuration
    1. The Basics
    2. Default Method
    3. Templates
  4. Sharing Resources

About Resources

Resources are a way to dynamically define and open URLs on other reference sites related to your terms in Terminology. Think of them as bookmarks to other sites that change as the terms you browse change. We provide a library of ready-to-use example resources for many popular reference sites, but you can also create your own.

If a website you use incorporates terms in the path or URL arguments of its search or detail pages, you can create a Terminology resource for it.

Resource Library

When adding a resource in the resource manager, you have the option to create a new blank resource, or you can select from the library. The library has dozens of ready-to-use resources for popular reference, dictionary, AI, and other sites. These may work as-is for your needs or act as good starting points to construct your own resources.

Resource Configuration

The Basics

In most cases, creating a resource for a site is a couple of easy steps:

  • Visit the site you wish to create a resource to utilize
  • Browse or search for something on that site
  • Look at the full URL in the address bar of your browser. Does the URL contain the text of the term you are browsing?
    • If YES, you can create a resource for this site - continue below
    • If NO, this page is not compatible with resources. Check if other ways of browsing or searching for information on the site do include the term in the URL
  • Copy the URL from the address bar
  • Create a resource in Terminology, give it a name, etc.
  • Paste the URL into the URL template field
  • Replace the term you were searching where in appears in the url with the tag [[term]] - which tells Terminology to dynamically insert the term you are browsing when using this resource.

That’s the basics. Here’s an example for Google:

// search for "terminology" at Google
// copy the URL from your browser's address bar

https://google.com?q=terminology

// replace the portion of the URL that matches
// the search term you used with the [[term]] tag
// put this in the URL template field of your resource

https://google.com?q=[[term]]

Default Method

The method controls the default behavior when opening the resource’s URL.

  • Inline: Open resource inline in Terminology’s built-in browser
  • In App: Open resource in a popup Safari window in Terminology
  • Browser: Open the resource in your default system browser, leaving Terminology

Each method has pros and cons. Terminology’s inline browser is convenient and keeps you right in the app. It supports logins/cookies but does not share them with the system browser, so you may have to log in separately to any services requiring an account. The inline browser also does not support Safari extensions, like ad-blockers.

The In App option uses Safari View Controller to open a Safari browser window without leaving Terminology. This has the advantage of sharing Safari’s logins and supporting browser extensions.

Lastly, the Browser option opens the resource URL in your default browser.

Regardless of the default method you select, resources can still be opened via other methods on-demand.

Templates

Each resource has two template fields: URL and Prompt. For most resources, you only need to use the URL template, which should contain a valid URL for a resource. In most cases, this will be an http or https web URL, but it can also be a custom URL scheme that opens another app on your device. Two placeholder tags are supported in URL templates:

  • [[term]] inserts the URL-encoded version of the current browsed term
  • [[prompt]] inserts the URL-encoded output of the prompt template (see below)

The prompt template provides an easier way to construct a longer parameter for use in the URL template. The typical use case for the prompt template is for AI resources, like ChatGPT. For example, you might want to construct re-usable prompts that hone in on specific aspects of a term with an LLM.

Say, for example, you are interested in the etymology (history) of terms; you might create a variant of the ChatGPT resource with the prompt template “What do you know about the history of the word: [[term]]” - then use the [[prompt]] tag to insert that full parameter in the URL template. That would open ChatGPT directly, asking that full question.

Sharing Resources

Resources can be imported and exported using URLs. To share a resource you have created, use the share button on the resource’s edit screen to copy or otherwise export the URL, which can be used to install the resource in other Terminology installations.

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