Creating an index with AEM Guides (CCMS)

[james-mke]

How do I define terms to include in an index output with AEM guides?

The user documentation and web searches have not yielded results so far.

Thank you!

[sschnelbach]

I'm sure I'm the last person who should be jumping in here with an answer, but what have you tried that isn't working?

Normally, you just insert the <indexterm> where you want it. In AEM Guides, you can insert into any point in your topic. In our previous CCMS (SDL LCA), we inserted the indexterms into the <prolog>, but we could also have embedded the element within the topic text.

If you are using FMPS to generate your output, you turn on the Index option for that particular output when creating the sts file. However, the FMPS will generate that heading whether there are indexterms defined or not, so you might have to create a separate sts file for use when you know your document doesn't have indexterms defined.

[james-mke]

We haven't tried anything yet, so this is very helpful. The question was mostly the art of the possible, and your response gives me hope that it is relatively simple to achieve.

We are in the system onboarding phase and working through user questions. This was one I could not find documentation around.

[sschnelbach · Accepted solution]

Gotcha. Yes, you just insert <indexterm> directly into your content. It doesn't appear in the output except as the index entry if you a generating an index. It is ignored if you are not generating an index.

For example:

<p>This is a test of the indexterm element. This is only a test entry <indexterm>test entry</indexterm>.</p>

The DITA also has several other index elements, such as <index-see>, <index-see-also>, and <index-sort-as>, but I haven't tested those. (We're in the system configuration, testing, and about-to-go-live phase.)

indexterm (oasis-open.org)