How to make the confluence pages visible on Jira Service Managment (free)

[Casey]

I'm trying to enable public access to a Confluence space linked to a Jira Service Management (JSM) project, but I’m running into some issues despite following the available documentation.

Goal: 

Allow customers with customer login to view Confluence space linked in JSM through Knowledge Base. 

Resources reviewed:

• (https://support.atlassian.com/jira-service-management-cloud/docs/configure-public-access-to-spaces-on-linked-confluence-site/
• https://support.atlassian.com/jira-service-management-cloud/docs/link-confluence-spaces-to-your-service-project/
• this support feed 
• this blog

Actions Taken:

• The Confluence space is successfully linked to the JSM project and is visible in the Knowledge Base section.
• I have admin access and confirmed I can manage global permissions in Confluence. 

Questions:

• Is this a feature that needs to be enabled by Atlassian Support?
• Are there any limitations or additional settings that may be blocking public access?

Note: Currently using the Free plan for both Jira Service Management and Confluence. According to Atlassian documentation and a support chat, public access to knowledge base articles should still be possible on the free plan.

Screenshots are attached for reference. Any guidance or suggestions would be appreciated.

Thank you.

[Deivid Araujo]

Hi Casey, welcome to the Atlassian Community!

I’m not sure if Confluence Free allows you to do that. Could you share where in the documentation this is mentioned? Also, looking at your last screenshot, it shows that you can’t change the permission to enable Confluence viewing—that’s why you’re not able to complete the process.

[Casey]

 @Deivid Araujo great question - here are my questions with responses from Atlassian...
 
I asked: is this option available in the free plan?
Give access to unlicensed users from Jira Service Management | Confluence Cloud | Atlassian Support
 
 
Atlassian Support: 
Yes, the option to give access to unlicensed users from Jira Service Management to view Confluence knowledge base articles is available on the Confluence Cloud Free plan. You can add Confluence on a free plan (for up to 10 users) to your Jira Service Management site and unlock these knowledge base features. Customers accessing articles through the Jira Service Management portal do not require a Confluence license, and you do not need to purchase Confluence to use this integration
.
Keep in mind:
• Only users who author or edit content in Confluence need a license.
• Customers can view articles via the portal without consuming a Confluence license 
If you need help with the setup steps, let me know!

I asked: Space permissions will not allow me to enable them - please advise.

 
Atlassian Support:
On the Confluence Free plan, space permissions are not customizable. This means you cannot manually enable or adjust detailed space permissions for customers or other users. The ability to manage space permissions—including granting access to unlicensed users or customizing what different users can see or do in a space—is only available on paid plans
If you need to provide customers with access to Confluence spaces or knowledge base articles and require control over permissions, you’ll need to upgrade to a paid plan
 
Sources
 
• What are space permissions? | Confluence Cloud | Atlassian Support
•  Manage global permissions | Confluence Cloud | Atlassian Support
 
 
(This seemed to conflict so...)I asked: 
Does this conflict with your statement, "Yes, the option to give access to unlicensed users from Jira Service Management to view Confluence knowledge base articles is available on the Confluence Cloud Free plan."?
 
Atlassian support: 
There is no conflict between the two statements. Here’s how it works:
• On the Confluence Cloud Free plan, you can allow unlicensed users (Jira Service Management customers) to view knowledge base articles. This is enabled by linking your Jira Service Management project to a Confluence space and setting the "Who can view" option to "All logged-in users" in the Jira Service Management project settings. This permission overrides existing space permissions and allows customers to view articles via the portal, even if they don’t have a Confluence license
 
• Space permissions are not customizable on the Free plan for general use, but the specific permission to allow Jira Service Management customers to view knowledge base articles is managed from Jira Service Management, not from the Confluence space permissions screen. You cannot fine-tune space permissions for other scenarios, but this special integration works as described
 
Summary:
• You can give Jira Service Management customers access to view knowledge base articles on the Free plan, but you cannot customize space permissions beyond what is allowed by this integration