How do you write a new Confluence macro?

[Jeremy Largman]

Does this require building a plugin?

[DanielG · Accepted solution]

The answer to the question is maybe, and depends what you want your macro to do, so you might want to put more information into this question.

If you are thinking that you will need to create a plugin, start with: http://confluence.atlassian.com/display/CONFDEV/Writing+Confluence+Plugins

For user macros you can start with this tutorial: http://confluence.atlassian.com/display/DEVNET/Plugin+Tutorial+-+Writing+Macros+for+Confluence

...and keep the following cheat sheet handy: http://www.slideshare.net/GoAtlassian/no-coding-necessary-building-confluence-user-macros-cheat-shee-atlassian-summit-2010

[Sherif Mansour]

Alternativly, you can write a macro as a plugin for Confluence. For more information about this, see the Macro Plugin Module type.

[Jeremy Largman]

With administrator access you can write a User Macro. There's a treasure trove of good ones in the Confluence Community Space.

[Brendan Patterson]

If you can achieve what you need with Atlassian's amazing new SpeakEasy extension system it is the way to go:

http://blogs.atlassian.com/news/2011/05/personalize_atlassian_products_in_15_minutes_with_speakeasy.html

http://confluence.atlassian.com/display/DEVNET/Speakeasy+Overview

Once SpeakEasy itself is installed no admin access required.

Keep an eye out for Don Brown's presentation video to be posted in a couple weeks which is typically brilliant.

[Jeremy Largman]

You can't edit until you earn enough karma. Editing someone's post requires 400 karma.

I fixed up the typo.

[Jed Wesley-Smith]

spelling mistake in the question title and I can't edit it