This glossary defines key terms used throughout CurryCMS and its documentation. Terms are organized alphabetically for easy reference.
A
Account
An organization or team workspace in CurryCMS. Each account has its own structures, curricula, team members, and settings. Users can belong to multiple accounts with different roles in each.
Example: "Acme Education" is an account. Maya (admin), James (author), and Sofia (editor) are members of this account.
Account Owner
The person who created the account or received ownership through transfer. The owner has all admin permissions plus the ability to delete the account, manage billing, and transfer ownership. Every account has exactly one owner.
See also: Admin Role, Account
Admin Role
A team role with full platform access. Admins can manage structures, node types, attribute bundles, team members, and account settings. Multiple people can have the Admin role.
See also: Designer Role, Editor Role, Author Role, Account Owner
Alignment Category
The type of relationship between content and a standard. Categories include Addressing (direct instruction), Building On (builds on prior knowledge), Building Toward (prepares for future learning), and Practicing (reinforcement).
See also: Standards Alignment, Standard
Allowed Children
Hierarchy rules that define which node types can be nested inside another node type. For example, a Unit might allow Lesson and Assessment as children.
Example: If Course allows Unit as a child, authors can add Units inside Courses. If Course does not allow Lesson, authors cannot add Lessons directly to Courses.
See also: Node Type, Hierarchy, Structure
Attribute
A single data field associated with a content node. Attributes have types (text, number, boolean, etc.) and can be required or optional.
Examples: title (string, required), description (text, optional), duration (integer, minutes)
See also: Attribute Bundle, Node Type, Content Node
Attribute Bundle
A reusable collection of attributes that can be applied to multiple node types. Bundles ensure consistency across your structure and make updates easier—change a bundle and all types using it update automatically.
Example: "Basic Info" bundle contains Title, Description, and Thumbnail. Applied to Course, Unit, and Lesson node types.
See also: Attribute, Node Type, System Bundle
Author Role
A team role focused on content creation. Authors can create and edit their own curricula, create variants, and align content to standards. Authors cannot edit others' content or manage structures.
See also: Editor Role, Admin Role, Viewer Role
B
Bundle
See Attribute Bundle.
C
Child Node
In the hierarchy, a node nested inside another node. A Lesson is a child of its parent Unit.
See also: Parent Node, Content Node, Hierarchy
Clone
Creating an independent copy of a structure or curriculum. Clones have no connection to the original—changes in one do not affect the other.
Compare with: Structure Variant, Curriculum Variant
See also: Structure, Curriculum
Content Node
A piece of content within a curriculum. Each node has a type (determined by the structure) and contains attribute values. Nodes are organized hierarchically.
Example: "Lesson 1.1: Adding Two-Digit Numbers" is a content node of type Lesson.
See also: Node Type, Curriculum, Hierarchy
Crosswalk
A mapping between two different standards frameworks showing equivalent or related standards. Used when creating curriculum variants with different standards frameworks to automatically convert alignments.
Example: CCSS.MATH.3.OA.A.1 (Common Core) maps to TEKS.3.4.E (Texas Standards) via crosswalk.
See also: Standards Alignment, Standard Set, Curriculum Variant
Curriculum
An instance of a structure filled with actual educational content. A curriculum is based on exactly one structure and can be aligned to one standards framework.
Example: "Grade 5 Math - 2024 Edition" is a curriculum based on the "K-12 Mathematics Structure."
See also: Structure, Content Node, Curriculum Variant
Curriculum Variant
A curriculum derived from a parent curriculum. Variants inherit content from the parent but can override specific nodes or add new content. Used for localization, adaptation, or differentiation.
Example: "AP Biology - Texas Edition" is a variant of "AP Biology - National Edition."
See also: Variant, Inheritance, Override, Parent Curriculum
D
Designer Role
A team role focused on structure design. Designers can create and modify structures, node types, and attribute bundles but cannot manage team members or account settings. Ideal for instructional designers.
See also: Admin Role, Structure, Node Type
Direct Attribute
An attribute added directly to a single node type rather than via an attribute bundle. Used for type-specific fields that aren't reused.
Compare with: Bundle Attribute
See also: Attribute, Attribute Bundle
E
Editor Role
A team role focused on content quality. Editors can create and edit any curriculum (not just their own) but cannot manage structures or team members. Used for content review and quality assurance.
See also: Author Role, Admin Role
H
Hierarchy
The parent-child relationships between content nodes in a curriculum. A curriculum's hierarchy is determined by its structure's allowed children rules.
Example:
Course (root)
└── Unit (child of Course)
└── Lesson (child of Unit)
└── Activity (child of Lesson)
See also: Allowed Children, Content Node, Structure
Hierarchy Rules
See Allowed Children.
I
Inheritance (Variants)
The mechanism by which variant curricula receive content from their parent. Inherited content updates automatically when the parent changes unless overridden.
Example: Texas variant inherits all lessons from national curriculum. When national updates Lesson 1, Texas variant automatically receives the update.
See also: Curriculum Variant, Override, Revert
Inherited Content
In a variant, content that comes from the parent curriculum. Inherited content shows a blue badge and cannot be directly edited—it must be overridden first.
See also: Overridden Content, Added Content, Curriculum Variant
L
Leaf Node
A content node that cannot have children. Typically the deepest level of your hierarchy.
Examples: Activity, Assessment (in most structures)
See also: Root Node, Content Node, Allowed Children
Local Content
See Added Content.
N
Node
Short for Content Node.
Node Type
A definition of a kind of content in your structure. Each node type has a display name, system name, attributes, and rules for allowed children.
Examples: Course, Unit, Lesson, Activity, Assessment
See also: Structure, Attribute Bundle, Allowed Children
O
Override
In a variant, the act of creating a local copy of inherited content so it can be edited. Once overridden, content no longer updates from the parent and shows an amber badge.
Process: Click "Create Override" on inherited content → Edit the local copy → Changes apply only to this variant
See also: Inherited Content, Revert, Curriculum Variant
Overridden Content
In a variant, content that was inherited from the parent but has been customized. Shows an amber badge. Changes to the parent version no longer affect this content.
See also: Override, Inherited Content, Revert
P
Parent Curriculum
In the variant system, the curriculum from which a variant inherits content. The parent is the source of inherited content.
Example: "AP Biology - National" is the parent of "AP Biology - California" variant.
See also: Curriculum Variant, Inheritance
Parent Node
In the hierarchy, the node that contains another node. A Unit is the parent of its Lessons.
See also: Child Node, Content Node, Hierarchy
R
Required Attribute
An attribute that must have a value before content can be submitted for review or published. Required attributes are marked with an asterisk (*) in forms.
See also: Attribute, Optional Attribute
Revert
In a variant, the act of restoring overridden content back to the inherited version from the parent. Removes local customizations and resumes receiving parent updates.
Process: Click "Revert to Inherited" on overridden content → Confirm → Content reverts to parent version
See also: Override, Inherited Content, Curriculum Variant
Root Node
A content node at the top level of a curriculum with no parent. Some structures allow multiple roots; others allow only one.
Example: A "Course" node at the curriculum's top level is a root node.
See also: Leaf Node, Node Type, Is Root Type
S
Standard
An individual educational standard with a code and description. Standards are organized hierarchically within standard sets.
Example: "CCSS.MATH.3.OA.A.1 - Interpret products of whole numbers"
See also: Standard Set, Standards Alignment
Standard Set
A collection of educational standards from a single framework. Standard sets contain hierarchically organized standards (domains, clusters, individual standards).
Examples: Common Core State Standards (CCSS), Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS), Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)
See also: Standard, Standards Alignment
Standards Alignment
The association between curriculum content and educational standards. Indicates which standards a piece of content addresses, builds on, builds toward, or practices.
See also: Standard, Alignment Category, Crosswalk
Structure
A template that defines the architecture of curricula—what node types exist, their attributes, and how they can be organized. Structures are reusable and created by administrators.
Example: "K-12 Mathematics Structure" defines Course → Unit → Lesson → Activity hierarchy.
See also: Curriculum, Node Type, Attribute Bundle
Structure Variant
A structure that inherits from a parent structure but can add specialized node types or attributes. Used for subject-specific or regional extensions while maintaining compatibility.
Example: "K-12 Science Structure" variant adds "Lab Activity" node type to base "K-12 Academic Structure."
See also: Structure, Node Type, Inheritance
System Bundle
An attribute bundle provided by CurryCMS or installed modules. System bundles are read-only (cannot be edited or deleted) and integrate with platform features.
Example: "Standards Alignment" bundle enables content-to-standards linking.
See also: Attribute Bundle, Custom Bundle
System Name
An immutable API identifier in snake_case used for node types and attributes. Cannot be changed after creation to ensure API stability.
Examples: course, learning_activity, duration_minutes
See also: Display Name, Node Type, Attribute
V
Variant
Short for Curriculum Variant. Also refers to Structure Variant when context is structure design.
Viewer Role
A team role with read-only access. Viewers can view all curricula and structures but cannot create or edit content. Ideal for stakeholders and observers.
See also: Author Role, Editor Role, Admin Role
W
Workflow State
The publication status of a content node tracking its progress through creation, review, and publishing.
States: Draft (work in progress), In Review (awaiting approval), Approved (ready to publish), Published (live and final)
See also: Content Node, Curriculum
Additional Terms
A
Added Content
In a variant, content that exists only in that variant with no connection to the parent. Shows a green badge.
See also: Inherited Content, Overridden Content
API
Application Programming Interface. CurryCMS provides an API for accessing data programmatically. System names are used in API calls.
Autosave
Automatic saving of changes after a brief delay (typically 1 second). Used in structure builder for node type details and hierarchy configuration.
B
Badge
Visual indicator showing content state in variants (blue = inherited, amber = overridden, green = added) or other status information.
See also: Inherited Content, Overridden Content, Added Content
C
Custom Bundle
An attribute bundle created by account administrators (as opposed to system bundles). Custom bundles are fully editable and can be deleted.
See also: Attribute Bundle, System Bundle
D
Display Name
The human-readable name shown to users (e.g., "Course", "Learning Activity"). Can be changed after creation.
See also: System Name, Node Type
I
Icon
Visual identifier for a node type. Can be an emoji (📚) or icon name from the available set.
See also: Node Type
Is Root Type
A boolean property on node types determining whether the type can be created at the curriculum's top level without a parent.
See also: Root Node, Node Type
M
Multi-level Inheritance
Variant chains with more than two levels (e.g., National → California → San Francisco). Each level can override or inherit content from its immediate parent.
See also: Curriculum Variant, Inheritance
O
Optional Attribute
An attribute that can be left blank. Authors can save content with optional attributes empty.
See also: Attribute, Required Attribute
P
Propagation
The automatic updating of all node types when an attribute bundle is modified. Change a bundle attribute → all types using that bundle update immediately.
See also: Attribute Bundle, Node Type
S
Sibling Nodes
Content nodes with the same parent at the same level in the hierarchy.
Example: "Unit 1" and "Unit 2" inside "Course" are siblings.
See also: Content Node, Hierarchy
Source Type
For attribute bundles: indicates whether a bundle is system (read-only) or custom (editable).
For standard alignments: indicates how the alignment was created (manual, crosswalk, or inherited unmapped).
See also: Attribute Bundle, Standards Alignment
T
Template
See Structure.
Need More Help?
If you encounter a term not listed here:
- Check the related documentation pages
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Suggest an addition: If a term should be in the glossary, please let us know.
Related Documentation:
- Getting Started - Platform introduction
- Admin Overview - Administrator concepts
- Author Overview - Content creator concepts