Confluence databases limitations

[Maria Mas]

I have been working with Confluence databases and found four limitations that do not exist with standard pages. I wanted to check if others have experienced the same and whether there are any workarounds.

1. Text fields are very difficult to write in The text input experience inside database text fields is poor. Basic writing and editing actions do not work as expected, making it hard to enter or modify content.
2. Jira tickets mentioned in a database do not appear in the ticket's Confluence content section References inside database entries are not picked up by the Jira cross-reference. This works fine with standard pages.
3. A database cannot be linked to a Jira ticket as a Confluence page When using the "Link" option in Jira, databases are not recognized as Confluence pages. Only standard pages appear.
4. Text does not wrap in narrow columns When a column is resized to a smaller width, content is cut off instead of wrapping to fit the space.

Are these known limitations? Is there any plan to address them, or any workaround available in the meantime?

[Germán Morales _ Hiera · Accepted solution]

Hello @Maria Mas 
These are real, and most of them trace back to databases still being a separate content type from pages, so the page based Jira integration doesn't treat them the same way. On point 2, the database's Jira work item field is built to pull Jira data into Confluence for display; it doesn't register as a page mention on the Jira side, which is why nothing shows in the issue's content or links section. On point 3, the issue "Link, Confluence page" picker only searches pages, so a database never appears in it.

• For point 3, link the database from the issue with the Web link (URL) option instead of the Confluence page picker. It accepts any URL, including the database's, so you still get a clickable link from the issue.
• For point 2, if you need the reference to appear back on the Jira issue, keep a normal page mention or the Jira Issues macro for that direction, and use the database's Jira field purely for the Confluence side view.
• Points 1 (text editing) and 4 (no wrap in narrow columns) are known rough edges with no setting that changes them today.

On whether any of this is planned, I can't speak to Atlassian's roadmap as a community member, so your best move is to search jira.atlassian.com for these specific gaps and vote or raise them, since that's the channel that feeds prioritisation. Background on how the database Jira fields are meant to work: Database fields