What Are Collections?
Collections are the primary way to organize vocabulary in WordByWord.io. Each collection groups related words and phrases together, making it easier to study specific topics, prepare for particular situations, or follow a structured curriculum. You can create as many collections as you need and manage them from the main dashboard.
Creating a New Collection
To create a collection, click the Add Collection button on your dashboard. You will be asked to provide the following details:
- Collection name — Choose a clear, descriptive name such as "French Business Vocabulary" or "Japanese JLPT N5."
- Language — The language you are learning. This defines the target language for all terms in this collection.
- Description — An optional note to help you remember the purpose of the collection.
- Public/Private — Choose whether the collection is visible to other users or kept private.
Once you confirm, the collection appears on your dashboard and is ready to receive terms.
Organizing by topic
A practical approach is to create separate collections for different topics or difficulty levels. For example, you might maintain one collection for everyday conversation, another for professional terminology, and a third for idioms. If you are studying multiple languages, each collection is tied to a specific language, so your French and German vocabulary remain clearly separated.
Adding Terms to a Collection
Open any collection to view its term list. From here you have several options for adding new vocabulary.
Manual entry
Click Add Term and type the word in your target language along with its translation. You can optionally include an example sentence to provide context, which helps reinforce how the word is used naturally. The app will automatically suggest translations as you type in the meaning field.
AI-powered generation
If you want to populate a collection quickly, click the Generate button. You can provide a topic or theme — such as "food and cooking" or "airport travel" — or let the system choose a random topic. Select the difficulty level (A1 to C2), the number of terms to generate, and whether to include only single words or also phrases. Review the suggestions, remove any that are not relevant, and confirm to add them in bulk.
CSV import
For adding many terms at once, you can import them from a CSV file. This is useful when migrating vocabulary from another app or working with pre-prepared word lists.
Import from the Chrome extension
Words saved through the WordByWord.io Chrome extension can be directed to any existing collection. When you save a word from a webpage, you select the target collection before confirming. The word and its translation are then available the next time you open that collection in the app.
Editing Terms
You can update any term at any time. Open the collection, find the term you want to change, and use the menu to edit the word, translation, or example sentence. This is useful when you discover a better translation, want to add context, or need to fix a typo.
Deleting Terms and Collections
Removing individual terms
To remove a term from a collection, open the term's menu and select Delete. You can also select multiple terms and delete them in bulk.
Moving terms between collections
If a term fits better in a different collection, you can move it using the term menu. Select one or more terms and choose Move to transfer them to another collection.
Deleting an entire collection
If you no longer need a collection, you can delete it from the dashboard. This action removes the collection and all of its terms permanently, so make sure you no longer need the data before confirming.
Cloning and Sharing Collections
Public collections
When you mark a collection as public, other users can view and clone it. This is useful for sharing curated word lists with friends, classmates, or the community.
Cloning a collection
If you find a useful public collection, you can clone it to create your own copy with all the terms included. The cloned collection is independent — you can edit, add, or remove terms without affecting the original.
Exporting Collections
You can export any collection to PDF or CSV format. This is handy for printing word lists, creating study sheets, or backing up your vocabulary data.
Tips for Effective Organization
- Keep collections focused. A collection with 30 to 50 terms on a specific topic is easier to study than a single collection with hundreds of unrelated terms.
- Pin your active collections. Use the pin feature to keep the collections you are currently studying at the top of your dashboard.
- Use descriptive names. Names like "Spanish A2 — Health and Body" are more useful than vague labels like "Misc Words."
- Leverage generation for speed. When starting a new topic, use AI generation to build a base, then refine manually by adding words you encounter in real-world reading or conversation.
Keeping your collections well-organized ensures that every training session is targeted and productive.