Taxonomy and semantic relationships
Name the relationship before arranging the pages.
A topic can be broader than another, contain a part, depend on a prerequisite or contrast with an alternative. These are different relationships. A navigation parent is a separate publishing decision.
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Broader and narrower describe scope.
A narrower concept falls within the scope of a broader concept. In a simple planning example, commuter bicycles are a narrower subject within bicycles. A broader page may orient the reader while a narrower page answers a task with extra conditions.
The relationship alone does not require two pages. If the narrower topic adds little useful information, it may belong in a passage. Alternatively, a specialist task may need a separate page even when its heading could fit neatly into the parent. Decide from the answer and audience, then record the conceptual relation.
Part, prerequisite and alternative need different labels.
A bicycle wheel is a part of a bicycle; it is not a narrower kind of bicycle. A compatibility check can be a prerequisite for selecting a replacement part; it is not necessarily a child topic in a classification. Comparing two approaches creates a contrast relationship rather than a hierarchy.
Use a small controlled set of relationship labels with plain definitions. Record the reason for each relation. A generic “related to” label can be useful when the evidence is limited, but it should not hide distinctions that affect the next reading step.
Worked example: one semantic parent, another navigation home.
Consider a hypothetical article explaining tyre pressure for commuter bicycles. Conceptually, it belongs under bicycle tyre maintenance. The site may place it in a beginner commuting overview because that is where its audience looks for help. The navigation home does not change the subject being explained.
The map can record semantic parent: tyre maintenance; navigation home: beginner commuting overview; prerequisite: identify the tyre and applicable pressure guidance; related task: diagnose repeated punctures. These relations serve different purposes and should not be collapsed into a single parent cell.
A link from the commuting overview can introduce the practical task. A link from the tyre maintenance overview can place it in the wider subject. Neither connection requires publishing duplicate copies of the same answer under separate folders.
Keep concepts, pages and URLs distinguishable.
A concept is the subject. A page is a document performing a reader task. A URL locates that document. One page can explain different tightly related concepts; one concept can appear in different pages with different tasks. Record an owner for the principal answer and contextual references for supporting uses.
A folder path can express site organization, but it is not a complete semantic model. Do not move a useful URL just to make it resemble a tidy concept tree without considering existing links, user routes and migration work. A relationship in a planning table is not an automatic redirect instruction.
Use explicit relations to plan useful links.
The W3C RDF model represents statements through subjects, predicates and objects. It is a technical data model, not a rule requiring every editorial site to become a formal ontology. The practical lesson here is to make the relation you intend clear and inspectable.
A prerequisite link belongs near the step that depends on it. A comparison link belongs near the decision between alternatives. A broader overview helps a reader who needs orientation. Explain the destination through anchor text rather than relying on a visually neat tree.
Return to the topical mapping hub or use the learning overview. Review the topic discovery process before deciding that an unresearched relationship deserves a page.