I am concerning myself with creating a NetworkManager profile and bringing up a connection via "nmctl".
First is:
nmcli conn add type wifi con-name <connectionname> ifname wlp3s0 ssid <wifinetworkname>
used to create a profile or a means to connect to the access point "wifinetworkname"?
Second is: connectionname the same as wifinetworkname?
Lastly can: ifname be either wlp3s0 or wifi or * when creating a profile?

I am confused with the adapter names (wlp...) and wifi and wlan0/1/2... . To me wlp... are device names, wifi is as apposed to Ethernet a type of network but is the same as 802.11... type. And wlanX is the network port known to the system not an interface (I guess it could be a hardware interface).
Can someone correct me I keep getting confused when reading descriptions

What's your Linux distribution, Fedora, Ubuntu and so on?

UR correct, it is Fedora 22 OS. AND that nmctl should be nmcli-- Dah!

nmcli conn add type wifi con-name <connectionname> ifname wlp3s0 ssid <wifinetworkname>

It should be a adding action.
For example, "nmcli con add type ethernet con-name test-lab ifname eth1 ip4 10.10.10.10/24 gw4 10.10.10.254", it create a static Ethernet connection with only IPv4 address and gateway.