Expand Macro - anybody successful in embedding that macro?

Question

Hi all

I used to use Confluence Server in a private cloud for some years. We switched to Confluence Cloud last year.

I am used to have the Numbered Heading macro on my pages, so Confluence numbers the headings for me, in perfect sequence, without me having to care for this at all.

I am documenting lots of code, so, I used to insert the code block macro quite often in my pages.

Confluence Cloud in its new editor forces me to use their code snippet macro and embed it into their expand macro to arrive at code block's functionality.

That works - as long as you don't have to embed the expand macro into another macro, like the numbered headings, as expand will always go to the top level and break macros trying to embed it.

That also holds for tables, lists, you name it. Lots of features I have grown to like just don't work anymore with this severe restriction.

Therefore, my questions in this regard are:

* Do I do something wrong?
* Do I miss something?
* Is there a system level setting missing?

... as I cannot believe that this is really what Atlassian sees as production ready code.

Yours truly

Peter

Bill Bailey · Answer

I hear you. Fortunately I get to type on a proud American keyboard. ;-) I do have a client who is on the Cloud, and it can be sluggish at times. And so many tricks I know, just don't apply.

I have also seen a few users here, where the Cloud lag is really bad, and they think what they are doing is not working, because the database is so slow to refresh.

I also run my own personal server, and I will probably mothball it at the latest version available Feb 2024.  And then run it for 3 years or so until I retire. ;-)

Peter Hochstrasser · Answer

Condolences accepted, @Bill Bailey but not being the guy with the money, I have been in a passenger role in that transition, and it is final. So, we have to make do, until we find a more attractive package, and the management sees that working hours are also costing money, not just license cost - and frustration costs employees.

My favourites these days are:

* if you don't have a US ASCII keyboard, your keyboard shortcuts are likely gone mostly or completely, as for instance European keyboards often use the Alt key to produce a third character for the keys on the top row (numbers etc.), so, moving  heading shortcuts from Ctrl-1 to Alt-Ctrl-1 is akin to removing the shortcut key. Atlassian has problems seeing that, and more to the point, did not have other keyboards on their radar
* unable to migrate existing pages to new editor
* unable to precisely control the size of graphics
* displayed size of graphics is different in edit mode than in read mode
* graphics placement is severely limited (if you don't put the graphic onto a bulleted line, it aligns at the center of the page)
* Speed is an unkown word, think in geological timeframes.
* it's not unlikely that you can see content in edit mode, but not in read mode...

The list goes on and on, code block -> code snippet + expand is just one of the many examples.

Bill Bailey · Answer

Hello @Peter Hochstrasser , first let me offer my deepest condolences on moving to the Cloud. ;-) I spent some time evaluating if we could move to the Cloud when Atlassian started forcing server customers to the Cloud. But I quickly came to the conclusion that if you were using the power and features of the Server version, you would be greatly disappointed in the Cloud version.

Besides breaking all of our workflows, one my biggest concerns then was lack of configuration control, that Atlassian could (and would) at any time change how it works, remove macros, change their function for "improved customer experience", which really means, cheaper to maintain.

So my suggestion is if you can resurrect your server version, do that. Because it will only get worse over time with the Cloud version. Yes in 2 years time, you may be stuck on the last version, but you have control. And maybe maybe by that time, Atlassian will make the Cloud a complete product.

To summarize, here are what I see are the shortcomings of the Cloud version:

* No custom domains -- open request for 10+ years, and "promised" for 2023
* No custom CSS -- so can't brand your site
* No user macros -- breaks existing solutions and gives you no easy workarounds
* No configuration control
* Removal of many macros (and they remove new ones all the time)