Problem/Motivation
The term bundle is confusing to users and no longer is descriptive of the way bundles are used. A "bundle"
is a subtype of an entity type, which could be "node", "taxonomy" or "comment". For example, a "node bundle"
would be the equivalent of a Drupal 6 "content type".
Considerations:
A concept called "bundles" is going to be brought in from Symfony, so the Drupal term should be changed.
Effect of renaming Entity Type and Bundle on documentation
- Since a bundle could be a node type, if we rename bundle -> entity type, do we need to rename node type?
Attempting to convey the meaning of Entity subtype without using the word subtype
Proposed resolution
We need to have terms that cover:
a) Entity type (such as Node, Taxonomy, Custom block, Comment, etc.)
b) Bundle (such as content type, taxonomy vocabulary, comment type, block type, etc.)
c) Entity item (individual node, taxonomy term, etc.)
Proposed terms for entity type: Entity type, entity class, entity base type
Proposed terms for bundle: Bundle, entity type, entity sub-type, variant, variety, entity schema
Proposed terms for entity item: Entity item, Entity
Proposed combinations of these terms into a set of terminology:
A:
Entity type -> Entity class
Bundle -> Entity type
Entity -> Entity
B:
Entity type -> Entity type
Bundle -> Entity variant/variety
Entity -> Entity
C: [We decided on this option]
Entity type -> Entity type
Bundle -> Entity subtype
Entity -> Entity
D:
Entity type -> Entity type
Bundle -> Entity subtype
Entity -> Entity item
E:
Entity type -> Entity class
Bundle -> Entity family
Entity -> Entity
Notes:
1. Option D is what is currently used in the User Guide and Help Topics, but it may not be the best choice.
2. Within one entity type, we would still use the specific name. E.g., when talking about taxonomy terms, we would use the word "Vocabulary" to refer to a bundle, not the generic "Entity variant" or whatever we choose. This terminology is for the generic text to describe entities in general.
3. MIME types, which are also 2 level, use the terms "type" and "subtype": http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_media_type, http://www.iana.org/assignments/media-types/index.html
Remaining tasks
a) [done] Decide on which alternative makes the most sense, hopefully based on usability testing.
==> At #3164615: Drupal Usability Meeting 2020-08-18 we decided on option (C):
Entity type -> Entity type
Bundle -> Entity subtype
Entity -> Entity
a.2: Decide on whether we should update strings like "Add @bundle" to "Add @subtype". A few points:
- There are only 18 strings that have either @bundle or %bundle in them, that don't also have the word "bundle" that would appear in the UI that would need to be updated anyway (based on searching on localize.drupal.org). So, it's not a huge translation burden.
- It seems to me that going forward, anything that confuses users in the UI would also potentially confuse translators in a placeholder name. We don't name the placeholders "foo""bar" and "baz" -- we name them something supposedly understandable.
- Not all translators are programmers. So, we should strive to not confuse them with things that don't appear in the UI.
That has not yet been decided. The current patch does include these changes.
b) Change the Drupal Core UI text to use this terminology.
==> Proposed patch on #223.
c) Change the help topics to use this terminology on #3121340: Fix up minor problems in help topics
==> Help topics are already using this terminology of "entity type" and "entity subtype"; will want to make sure we are using the term "entity" rather than "entity item".
d) Change the User Guide to use this terminology on #3165909: Make sure entity terminology is consistent in User Guide.
e) Update Entity API documentation to mention the UI terminology, without changing the field/entity code. Things to update:
- https://api.drupal.org/api/drupal/core%21lib%21Drupal%21Core%21Entity%21...
- Some doc blocks in the Content Entity base interfaces and classes probably?
- Some doc blocks in the Field and Field UI API probably?
==> These updates are also in the current patch, unless we need more?
f) [done] Update the UI text standards page with this change
https://www.drupal.org/docs/develop/user-interface-standards/interface-text
Compare revisions: https://www.drupal.org/node/604342/revisions/view/11472253/12184451
User interface changes
Entities will have standardized and better terminology in the UI and in help.
API changes
Probably none.
Original report by webchick
I'd really love to see the word "bundles" done away with. I've yet to meet a human being who can explain this in fewer than 300 words and with a lot of head scratching and glazed-over eyes on behalf of the listener. Witness users trying to figure this out at: http://drupal.org/node/1040330