Metadata Taxonomies

Metadata taxonomies enable Box admins to define metadata hierarchies and provide the ability to: 

• Add multi-level metadata to a file or folder
• Define terms that form available taxonomy options
• Reuse a taxonomy in multiple metadata templates

Taxonomies can help admins organize and manage their company's metadata structures. A dynamic filter displays available options based on characters entered into the dropdown box. 

A taxonomy can have a depth of up to 10 levels. Check our formatting rules before submitting a CSV template. A 5-level taxonomy could include:

The only place you can search, sort, or filter content based on taxonomy values is by using the search bar at the top of the Apps page. 

Create a metadata taxonomy

Admins, or co-admins who have been granted the requisite permissions to create and edit metadata taxonomies for your company, can create metadata taxonomies:

1. Navigate to the Admin Console.
2. Select Metadata.
3. Select the Taxonomies tab.
4. At the top of the taxonomies window, select New +.
5. In Taxonomy Name, type the name of your metadata taxonomy.
6. In the Build Taxonomy section, do one of the following:
   • If you have your taxonomy in a CSV-formatted file, click Select File.
   • If you do not have your taxonomy in a CSV-formatted file, select Download Template. See details of the metadata taxonomy template. Once completed, upload the file to Box via the Admin Console then click Select File. 
7. At the top of the window, select Save.

Metadata taxonomy template

This section explains how you should structure and format the Metadata taxonomy template CSV file to better avoid import errors and ensure consistent results.

Importing a CSV allows you to create or update many taxonomy terms at once. The file must include a header row so the system can map columns correctly. Each row in the CSV represents a single taxonomy node.

To streamline permissions and maintain security, the CSV file must be stored in Box. Place your CSV file in a Box folder you can access, then select it during the creation process.

Required structure

The first row in the CSV defines the levels for the taxonomy. This is the structure of the data that will be loaded in. The values you supply in the header row will be the displayed values for your end users. Make sure they are user-friendly before importing the CSV file.

Formatting rules

• Delimiter: Comma
• Encoding: ASCII or UTF-8
• Allowed characters: Anything defined as “alphanumeric”, including non-English languages, as defined by the Unicode standard
• Quoting: Wrap fields containing commas, quotes, or new lines in double quotes
• Escaping: To include a quote mark inside a quoted field, double up the quotation mark (e.g., He said ""Hello"")
• Empty fields: Leave blank rather than using NULL or N/A
• Duplicates: Rows that exactly match another row (i.e. all values in all columns are the same) will be skipped during import
• Depth: Maximum hierarchy depth supported is 10 levels

Validation checklist

• No tabs or semicolons should be used. Only use commas as delimiters
• Header row values should not match any values from the next line in the file
• Avoid duplicate records (duplicates will be skipped)
• The file size has to be less than 50MB

Best practices

• Use understandable display names
• Keep names concise but with enough detail that users will be able to find them by typing
• Avoid duplicates in the CSV file. While they do get skipped, this can lead to confusion
• If a taxonomy is imported incorrectly, delete it and start again

Import steps

1. Prepare your CSV following the rules above.
2. Validate locally with a CSV linter or spreadsheet export to CSV.
3. Create a new taxonomy in the Metadata section of the Admin Console. 
4. Check the preview and correct any minor errors. For any major issues, restart the process.
5. Confirm the import.

If you need a starter template, copy the header row from the example at the top of this page and tailor columns to your taxonomy. Alternatively, a downloadable file is available during the taxonomy import process from Admin Console > Metadata > Taxonomies.

Edit a metadata taxonomy

1. Navigate to the Admin Console.
2. Select Metadata.
3. Select the Taxonomies tab.
4. In the relevant taxonomy row, select the name.
5. Make the desired changes then, when complete, select Save.

Delete a metadata taxonomy

You can delete metadata taxonomies using the Metadata Taxonomy Deletion API. This is not yet available in the Admin Console.

Delete a node

Prior to saving the taxonomy, you can delete nodes. 

To delete a node:

1. Select the node you want to delete.
2. Select the trash icon which displays alongside the address bar.
3. Select Delete. This will delete the node along with all its sub-nodes.