How Confluence Query Language (CQL) can simplify Navigation for your team

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If you've ever spent too much time clicking around Confluence trying to find a page you know exists, you're not alone. Efficiently navigating Confluence remains a challenge in large teams. If you oversee multiple Confluence Spaces, you are probably struggling from:

• Lack of Nested Spaces – Confluence doesn't support a hierarchical structure for spaces, making it difficult to group related content. This often leads to either an overwhelming number of separate spaces or bloated, hard-to-navigate spaces.
• One-Size-Fits-All Navigation – Every team organizes content differently, but  everyone has to use the same default navigation, which rarely fits everyone's needs.

A Smarter Solution: Custom Navigation Bar with CQL

The good news is that Confluence Query Language isn't just for searching—it can also be used to create custom navigation menus that dynamically surface relevant content for individual users without them having to input CQL themselves. With the right app, administrators can build tailored menus that make it easier for teams to find what they need without endless clicking.

How to configure CQL-powered Navigation Menus:

• Define a CQL Query – Identify the content you want displayed as results, such as all pages with a certain label or recently updated pages within a space. Generate the CQL query for this with the help of the extended support guide from Atlassian. I, personally, often have to review content on pages I am mentioned on. The following CQL query would help several product marketers like myself with content reviews:
  

  mention = currentUser() AND label = needs_review
  

• Set Up a CQL Menu Item – Link the query to a custom menu item that updates automatically as content changes. With the Navigation Menus app for Confluence Cloud, admins can just enable the CQL toggle and input their query. This ensures each end-user sees personalized, real-time results with just one-click. As pages are updated, so does the menu.
  
• Assign Menu to User Groups – Customize navigation based on Atlassian user groups or by space categories, ensuring that each group sees only the most relevant content. 
  
• Enhance the UI – Organize menus with categories, submenus, background images, and icons to improve usability. 
  

 

How are CQL powered Navigation Menus better than Shortcut Links in Confluence?

While Confluence allows users to create shortcuts to frequently accessed pages, these shortcuts are static and manually maintained. CQL-powered navigation menus offer several advantages:

• Dynamic Content – ​​These menus automatically update as content changes, while shortcuts remain fixed.
• Role-Based Customization – Admins can create different menus for different teams instead of forcing a single navigation structure for all users.
• Automated Content Surfacing – CQL-based menus dynamically pull in the most relevant content, reducing the need for manual updates.

Unlike the static sidebar, custom menus can include categories and nested items, making navigation more intuitive. We recommend you stop relying on inefficient search and turn Confluence into a tool that supports productivity rather than hindering it. Start your free trial of the app, today.

 

What CQL Query would make your Confluence Navigation Easier?

The beauty of CQL-powered navigation is that it's completely customizable. Whether you want to see the latest meeting notes, watched pages, or all pages tagged with a specific label, you can build a menu that works for you. What CQL query do you think would make your navigation struggles a thing of the past? Let me know in the comments.

Gabriele Hantzsch

 

I think it's a great way to display my starred pages in the navigation menu.