Managing Acronyms

As an admin, you have advanced control over all acronyms in your workspace. This guide covers editing, locking, deprecating, deleting, and restoring acronyms.

Accessing Acronym Management

1. From the main navigation, click Admin → Acronyms
2. Or navigate directly to /admin/acronyms

The acronym management view displays all non-deleted acronyms in a table with expandable rows for each term.

Acronym List View

The acronym table shows key metadata:

Expandable Row Details

Click the expand icon to reveal full acronym details:

• All Definitions: List each definition with author and date
• All Categories: Full list of assigned categories
• Tags: Associated tags for search and filtering
• Comments: Team discussion thread (if enabled)
• Activity History: Timeline of all changes to this acronym
• Related Acronyms: Suggestions based on content similarity

Editing Acronyms

To edit an acronym definition:

1. Click the Edit action in the row menu

2. Update any of the following:

   • Title: Primary acronym term
   • Description: Full definition or explanation
   • Categories: Assign or remove categories
   • Tags: Add or remove tags for discoverability
   • Sentiment: Mark as positive, neutral, or negative (admins only)
   • Advanced: Custom metadata fields (enterprise)

3. Click Save to apply changes

Changes trigger:

• Audit log entry recording the change
• Webhook event (if configured)
• Cache invalidation
• Activity feed update
• Notification to followers (optional)

Bulk Edits

To edit multiple acronyms:

1. Select acronyms using checkboxes in the list
2. Click Bulk Actions → Edit Selected
3. Choose which fields to update (only checked fields are modified)
4. Confirm and apply

Bulk edits are useful for:

• Adding a category to multiple related acronyms
• Updating tags across similar terms
• Changing sentiment for a group

Locking Acronyms

Lock an acronym to prevent team members from editing it. Use this for standardized, regulated, or frequently misused terms.

Lock an Acronym

1. Click the Actions menu (⋮) for the acronym
2. Select Lock
3. (Optional) Add a lock reason: "Regulatory requirement", "Standard terminology", etc.
4. Confirm

Effects of Locking

• Regular users: Cannot edit definitions; "Locked" badge appears in UI
• Editors: Cannot edit definitions; view-only mode
• Admins: Can still edit (with audit log note that term was locked)
• Read-only: Users without edit permission see a lock icon
• API: PUT /api/v1/acronyms/{id} returns 403 Forbidden for non-admin users

Unlock an Acronym

1. Click Actions → Unlock
2. Confirm

Unlock triggers:

• Audit log entry
• Notification to watchers (optional)

Deprecating Acronyms

Mark an acronym as deprecated (outdated) to signal that it should not be used going forward, while keeping it searchable and linked.

Deprecate an Acronym

1. Click Actions → Deprecate
2. (Optional) Provide a reason: "Replaced by ABC", "Phased out 2026", etc.
3. (Optional) Suggest a replacement acronym from the dropdown
4. Confirm

Effects of Deprecation

• UI Badge: Deprecated tag appears next to the term
• Search Results: Marked with a strikethrough or faded appearance
• Links: Can still be accessed and referenced
• Historical Record: Preserved for compliance and audit trails
• Admin View: Can filter to show/hide deprecated terms
• API: deprecated field returns true; clients can choose to filter

Undeprecate an Acronym

1. Click Actions → Undeprecate
2. Confirm

Deleting Acronyms

Define.wtf uses a two-step deletion process:

1. Soft Delete (move to trash) — recoverable
2. Permanent Delete (hard-delete from trash) — irreversible

Soft Delete (Move to Trash)

1. Click Actions → Delete
2. Review impact: Shows count of linked definitions, categories, and collections
3. Confirm Move to Trash

After soft delete:

• Acronym no longer appears in search results
• Links remain intact but show "Deleted" badge
• Available in trash bin for 30 days
• Can be restored at any time
• Audit log records the deletion
• Webhook event fires (if configured)

Permanent Delete (Hard-Delete from Trash)

Permanent deletion is irreversible and requires explicit confirmation:

1. Navigate to Admin → Trash (or filter to show soft-deleted items)
2. Click Actions → Delete Permanently (or use query param ?permanent=true)
3. Review final warning: "This action cannot be undone"
4. Enter the acronym term to confirm (e.g., type "OKR")
5. Click Delete Permanently

After permanent delete:

• Acronym and all definitions are removed from the database
• Audit log permanently records the deletion (with timestamp and user)
• Linked references in other acronyms or collections become broken links (shown as gray)
• Cannot be recovered
• No webhook event fires (owner only capability to prevent accidents)

Soft-Deleted Items Display

In admin view, soft-deleted acronyms are shown in a separate "Trash" section:

• Filter Toggle: Show/hide deleted items
• Deleted At: Timestamp showing when deleted
• Deleted By: User who performed the deletion
• Restore Option: Click Restore to bring back to active workspace
• Auto-Purge: Items purged after 30 days (customizable, enterprise)

Restoring Deleted Acronyms

To recover a soft-deleted acronym:

1. Navigate to the acronym in trash (filter to deleted items)
2. Click Actions → Restore
3. Confirm

After restore:

• Acronym returns to active list (no longer in trash)
• All definitions, categories, and links are restored
• Search indexes are updated
• Audit log records the restoration
• Visibility returns to previous state (not automatically republished if previously hidden)

Bulk Restore

To restore multiple acronyms:

1. In trash view, select multiple soft-deleted items
2. Click Bulk Actions → Restore Selected
3. Confirm

Sentiment Filtering

In admin view, filter acronyms by sentiment to identify potentially problematic or sensitive terms:

Sentiment Levels

• Positive: Encouraging, aspirational language (e.g., "CEO" as Chief Executive Officer)
• Neutral: Objective, technical, or descriptive (most acronyms; e.g., "API", "SQL")
• Negative: Critical, cautionary, or potentially sensitive language (e.g., "FUBAR", "PITA")
• Unset: No sentiment assigned (default for new acronyms)

Filter by Sentiment

1. In acronym list, click Filter → Sentiment
2. Select one or more sentiment levels
3. View filtered results

Assign Sentiment

1. Expand an acronym row or open edit dialog
2. Look for Sentiment field (admin-only)
3. Select from dropdown: Positive, Neutral, Negative
4. Save

Use Cases

• Audit: Filter to negative sentiment to review for content policy compliance
• Export: Include sentiment in exports to downstream systems
• Search: Return sentiment data via API for client-side filtering
• Reporting: Track sentiment trends in your workspace

Advanced Filtering

In the acronym management view, use filters to narrow results:

• Status: Active, Deprecated, Locked, Deleted, All
• Category: Filter by one or more categories
• Created Date: Custom date range
• Modified Date: Custom date range
• Created By: Filter by user
• Search: Full-text search on term, definition, tags
• Sentiment: Positive, Neutral, Negative
• Has Tags: Show only acronyms with tags
• Has Collections: Show only acronyms included in collections

Combine multiple filters:

1. Click Add Filter button
2. Select filter type and value
3. Click Apply
4. Repeat to add more filters
5. Click Clear All to reset

Acronym Metadata

Each acronym maintains the following metadata (visible in expanded row or edit view):

• ID: Unique system identifier (UUID)
• Tenant: Workspace it belongs to
• Created At: Original creation timestamp
• Created By: User who created it
• Updated At: Last modification timestamp
• Updated By: User who last modified it
• Deleted At: Soft-delete timestamp (null if active)
• Deleted By: User who soft-deleted (if applicable)
• Locked: Boolean flag (true if locked)
• Deprecated: Boolean flag (true if deprecated)
• Sentiment: Assigned sentiment level

Audit Trail

All acronym changes are recorded in the audit log:

• View Audit Log: Click Audit tab in expanded row
• Details Captured: Who, what, when, before/after values
• Export Audit: Download audit trail as CSV for compliance
• Retention: 90 days default (customizable, enterprise)

Bulk Operations

Bulk Import (CSV)

Add many acronyms at once:

1. Click Bulk Actions → Import
2. Upload CSV file (see Bulk Import Guide)

Bulk Export

Download all or filtered acronyms:

1. Apply filters as desired
2. Click Bulk Actions → Export
3. Choose format: CSV, JSON, PDF
4. Download

Bulk Delete

Move multiple acronyms to trash:

1. Select acronyms using checkboxes
2. Click Bulk Actions → Delete Selected
3. Confirm

Bulk Category Assignment

Add a category to multiple acronyms:

1. Select acronyms
2. Click Bulk Actions → Add to Category
3. Choose category from dropdown
4. Confirm

Permissions

Required permissions for acronym management:

Best Practices

Content Governance

• Lock official terms: Use for regulated, standardized, or frequently updated terms
• Deprecate instead of delete: Preserves history and linkage
• Set clear deletion policies: Establish team guidelines on when to hard-delete
• Regular audits: Monthly review of sentiment-flagged terms

Avoiding Accidental Deletion

• Use soft-delete first: Always move to trash before permanent deletion
• 30-day review window: Allow time for recovery requests
• Audit trail: Permanent deletions are logged and cannot be undone
• Admin+: Only admins can delete; owners can permanently delete

Organizing Content

• Use categories effectively: Link acronyms to multiple categories
• Tag strategically: Add tags for cross-functional discovery
• Create collections: Curate sets for onboarding or team reference
• Document deprecated: Explain why in reason field

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Next Steps: Learn about Managing Users to control team permissions, or explore Managing Categories to organize your workspace.