How to use the decisions blueprint

Question

This question is in reference to Atlassian Documentation: Decisions Blueprint

So I added a decision page. When I edit it, the "Status" field is free text. Some people set it to "DECIDED" in green, some set it to "COMLPETE" or "DEICED" in green, some just leave it grey and change the text.
Isn't there some way to limit it to the 3 valid statuses and map the correct colours when you choose a status?
Some people complete the tasks and record an outcome but forget to change the status.
Some record the outcome and change the status but forget to tick off the tasks.
Why do you even need to choose a status, when there is a task outstanding  and one complete it is "in progress" when all tasks complete and there is an outcome recorded, it is "decided". When no tasks are complete it is "not started".

Am I missing something? This is literally just a page template that you could put any inconsistent entries into.

Robert Reiner _smartics_ · Answer

You may use the (commercial) projectdoc Toolbox to define a range of valid values with document instances and employ the Name List Macro to allow users to select one of these values.

It is quite easy to add a visual style (via CSS) to each of the valid values.

The current version of the projectdoc Toolbox has some limitations since it (yet) does not strictly enforce the selection of a value from the range. But it does support users to get to know the list of valid values quickly. Maybe this suits your use case?

There is a tip on the homepage of the add-on that provides details (with screenshots) to use this feature: Define Status Tags

Biased alert: Please note that I'm one of the authors of the add-on.

Surevine · Answer

Oh, I do want the status, but IMHO, if it's free text then it's not really a status, it's just free text with a background colour... 
I would never have thought a "Choose one of these 3 status options" would be described as "serious data collection" worthy of Jira. 
Even the automation of setting the status based on a different field seems like a function that shouldn't require a heavyweight ticket management system like Jira.
I'm accepting your comment as the answer, but I feel disappointed Confluence doesn't offer more.

Steven F Behnke · Answer

That is how page templates work in Confluence. You can customize the blueprint to remove the status option for instance, if you don't want it.

The status macro is always free form, and there's not much to do about that. If you're looking for serious data collection you should consider JIRA.