Auto numbering header in template pages

[Donna Bates]

I have a user that would like a Confluence space created for other users to submit Requests for Comments. Easy enough to do.

• Create space and 3 pages; one listing all In-process/Active Requests, one listing all Accepted Requests and one lising all Archive/Rejected/Supersceded Requests
• Create template for the request

Now comes the hard part - they want the header to autopopulate with an autonumber (001, 002, etc) Request and to publish the completed request onto the appropriate page. What I find on the web for doing this is outdated with triggers/actions apparently no longer in Confluence.

Can anyone provide assistance on this?

[Martin Runge]

Hi @Donna Bates

Yeah, Confluence Cloud has no native running counter, so any older guide that stamped 001, 002 through template triggers simply does not work anymore. The Publish page automation action does add a number, but only to keep titles unique, so it is not a controllable request counter.

I would split this into two separate problems.

1. For the number itself, I would rethink where the autonumber comes from. The cleanest native route is a Confluence database as your request register. Add one row per request, turn on Number entries so each entry gets a sequential value, then build three filtered views by status. Another strong option, given these are Requests for Comments, is to capture the intake as a Jira or JSM issue, so the key increments are free (REQ-1, REQ-2), and the Confluence page just links to it. If the number truly has to live in the page title, that part needs a Marketplace app. There are a few across vendors that add an auto-ID on page creation.
2. For the second requirement, getting each request onto the right index page, I would not move or copy pages at all. I would add a Page Properties macro to the request template with a Status value like In Process, Accepted, or Archived. Then on each of your three index pages I would add a Page Properties Report macro filtered to that status. The request then appears in the correct index the moment its status changes, with no automation rule routing it and nothing to break when a request moves between states.

Are you open to a Marketplace app for the ID, or should this stay app-free? 

Cheers, Martin

[Donna Bates]

We'd prefer to stay app free for now or at least until November, we review our budget for all the apps then.

[Donna Bates]

So for this that you mentioned: "...Add one row per request, turn on Number entries so each entry gets a sequential value..."

Would the database add additional rows as time goes on or would someone have to manually do that?

[Martin Runge]

A Confluence database will not add rows on its own. Each request is a row that someone creates when it comes in, so that part stays manual.

[Martin Runge]

For the least manual effort and a number that stays put, Jira or JSM fits well. Creating one issue from an email or form is a single action that both logs the request and assigns a permanent key, such as REQ-1 or REQ-2, which is never renumbered. You can still surface those on your three index pages with a Jira issues macro filtered by status.