Is it possible to create custom page elements?

[Tim Fields]

I have created a custom template for adding case studies. Any one case study will have one or more components that contribute to the solution being documented — a form, JavaScript, CSS, SQL, etc. For each component, I have built a table to capture the attributes of the component — name, filename, link, dependencies, etc., and below that will be additional elements to describe the component — code snippets, screenshots, diagrams, etc. Let's call this collective group of page elements a page "block."

In my page template I'd like to avoid having 6 empty page blocks, where the user would have to delete the blocks not needed. Instead, I'd like a way to abstract the page block as its own page element that can be inserted, just as we insert page elements delivered with Confluence.

Is it possible to create my own custom page elements that show up in the menu or the / shortcut?

[marc -Collabello--Phase Locked- · Accepted solution]

Hi @Tim Fields ,

Developing your own "page elements" is possible if you develop a Forge or Connect addon for Confluence.  This requires programming.

[Tim Fields]

Thanks, I'll explore that. I'm a developer, so I'm hoping that some of the limitations I'm experiencing with the cloud product can be resolved through custom development. I tried the Scaffolding plug-in, but it didn't play well with other Confluence-native form elements.

[Sam Lucas]

Hey there @Tim Fields ! I am a new PM for Confluence Templates! Your note here caught my attention! We are exploring page "blocks" and I'd love to gather your feedback about specific use cases for you and your teams, and how you'd imagine something like this working! If you're interested and available, mind scheduling a quick zoom call to help me understand more about your page elements and how they might be templatized? thx! 

[Sebastian Caparroz]

Hi @Sam Lucas , while looking for the same functionality the OP asked about I found this. Have you had any progress on this? Do you know if you will be adding this?

Thanks in advance!

[Paweł Łoboziak]

Use case from me:

In our system we implement various table lists. Creating new stories (feature requests) to implement new lists is repetetive, as every time someone creates a story (FR), they need to remember to include all the table-list-specific descriptions/params/arrangements (like: list of columns, page size, auto refresh interval etc).

What would be useful is to create a new, custom element called "Table list FR template" that would insert our custom-defined template (simple text), ready to be filled. This would force us to always include all the relevant info about the requested table list.

This table list is just an example; we have many other repetitive modules/components that would benefit from creating a custom-defined template. Some stories contain description of various/multiple components - this way we could simply insert relevant templates and fill them, not having to remember to which params are required for this specific component.

TLDR: It would be useful to be able to define repetitive description elements/blocks and be able to insert them from the Insert element list.