Comparing Confluence Databases, Pages, and Vectors FAQ App: Which Is Best to Manage FAQs?

[Fares Laroui_Vectors_]

Is it better to build FAQ hubs using native Confluence features or third party apps? This is a question I often get asked during product demos. My answer often depends on a variety of factors: your specific use case, expertise with Confluence, scalability, of course, budget, and much more. 

So what are your options? Confluence databases, regular Confluence pages, and a dedicated app such as FAQ for Confluence. Think of this post as a totally non-biased battlecard, where I will try to compare all three options and help you choose which one works best for you.

1. Confluence Databases: 

Ideal for: Teams needing a structured FAQ that can be highly customizable.

Pros:

• Customization: With databases, you can make FAQs your own. You’ve got complete control over fields. You can choose from a variety of types including text, tags, users, and more.

• Embed Databases within Confluence Pages: Confluence allows you to embed database views directly into your pages with the Embed Database macro. This means your FAQs can be displayed and accessed within any Confluence page or space. You can embed an entire FAQ or just a single entry. 

• Automation Potential: Lately Confluence has introduced automation triggers and actions based on databases. The only downside though is the feature is only available for Premium and Enterprise customers. Check out this dedicated community post to learn more about Confluence database automations.

Cons:

• Learning Curve: Databases are quite new in Confluence which obviously requires some time for users to get accustomed to it. Beginners might find the database interface a little intimidating compared to standard pages.

• Setup and Maintenance: Although designed to be tailored for a host of use cases, databases are not specifically designed for FAQs. This means you’ll be starting from scratch with a bit more setup time, customization, and expertise. Keeping databases up to date also demands considerable effort, especially for a dynamic FAQ section.

How to Get Started:

To create an FAQ using a database, hit “Create”, from either the top or left navigation menu. Of course, you can start by leveraging a host of templates, but they’re not really that necessary at least at the start. 

Instead you can start from scratch and the key is to keep things simple. Add columns for questions, answers, tags, related pages, and owners. Of course, choose the right field type for each column.

2. Confluence Pages: 

Ideal for: Teams with a small set of FAQs or teams who need a quick and easy solution for FAQs without a lot of complexity.

Pros:

• Easy to Set Up: Using Confluence pages to create and manage your FAQs is highly effective due to its user-friendly interface and shorter learning curve. Whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned expert, you can quickly get up to speed.

• Flexible and Customizable: You can format FAQ pages however you like. Use headings, bullet points, tables, expands, and any other macro.

Cons:

• Not Scalable: Without a solid structure, pages can quickly become chaotic, especially if you have a growing number of FAQs.

• Limited Organization: Unlike databases, pages don’t have fields to categorize or tag questions in a way that’s intuitive. You’d need to create tables from scratch, for example, and include fields (which is basically recreating a database). Or, you’d need to rely on page trees, which can get complicated with larger FAQ sections. If, for example, every page should act as a category, the more categories you’ve, the more long and complicated your page tree becomes.

• Limited Search: Although Confluence search is strong, there are fewer filtering and categorization options when using just pages. Over time, the FAQ can get longer and harder to navigate.

How to Get Started:

There’re a variety of ways to use Confluence pages as FAQ sections. The most popular one, or maybe the more straightforward, is the expand macro. So basically, you access your page, hit /expand. Enter the question as the expand title and then add your answer within the body. This is for a simple question. 

How about categories? You can have one single page as your FAQ section, use headings for each category. Or you can create a new page for each category and rely on page trees for organization. But if your FAQ grows quickly, you might need a different approach.

3. FAQ for Confluence: Purpose-Built for FAQs

Ideal for: Teams looking for a dedicated FAQ setup with less manual input and more advanced features.

Pros:

• Quick Import: FAQ for Confluence allows you to quickly import large volumes of questions and answers you might already have within other platforms such google sheets, and others. There is also a dedicated template you can choose to easily classify your questions upon import.

• Specifically Designed for FAQs: You don't need to manually tailor your databases or confluence pages. The app is created for FAQs, which means it’s optimized for displaying and organizing frequently asked questions. It comes with a variety of different views all designed to facilitate navigation including FAQ pages and categories.

• Embed FAQs within Confluence Pages: Similar to databases you can embed your FAQs within pages using the FAQ Listing macro. 

• Streamlined Search: FAQ for Confluence integrates seamlessly with Confluence advanced search. With the click of a button, you can look for specific questions, answers, categories and FAQ pages.

• Turn Confluence Pages into Questions and Vice Versa: In case a question needs more details, it can be seamlessly expanded into a Confluence page, and then displayed as a knowledge article within JSM. On the other hand, if you’ve already got an existing Confluence page, you can include it within your FAQ hub within a few simple steps.

Cons:

• No Automation Capabilities (yet): At this point, the app doesn’t offer automation options. In the future, triggers based on webhooks will be introduced to further integrate the app with Confluence.

• Limited Customization Compared to Databases: As a specialized app, FAQ for Confluence doesn’t offer the wide array of field types offered by Confluence databases. This was done on purpose to prevent users from overcomplicating their FAQ entries. Still, for more customization when it comes to fields, you can always opt for databases. 

How to Get Started:

Once you’ve installed the FAQ app, you can access it from the left navigation menu, specifically the apps section. If you’re just getting started, you’ll have a default FAQ. Of course, you can rename it and add a description.

To add your first question, hit Add question. A drawer will appear where you’ll have to add a category, the question, and answer. If your question needs its dedicated page for more details, you can hit “Expand to Confluence page”. The latter will be added to your space by default and then you can change its exact location. 

Which Option Should You Choose?

• Go with Databases if you’re all about customization and don’t mind a bit of upfront setup and maintenance.

• Stick to Confluence Pages if you need a fast, and straightforward solution and aren’t dealing with a huge volume of FAQs.

• Try FAQ for Confluence if you want to avoid manual customization, looking to scale, and you’re after an app with pre-built views and advanced FAQ features.

Ultimately, the best FAQ solution for your team comes down to balancing ease, structure, and the specific needs of your users. Whichever option you choose, remember to keep in mind important best practices when you’re managing your FAQs: Keeping things simple, work with categories, and more. To learn how you can create and manage your FAQs, make sure to check out this community post I wrote a while back.