Add & edit template to an existing page

[Laura Meijers]

Hi all,

We are looking for a possibility to add one or more template to an existing page. (CMS principle) These templates should be able to edit in the page where they are added without changing the template itself or information at another page. Of course we have investigated the possibilities and also suggested the copy paste method, but that's a no go for now.

We are curious about the suggestions from your side.

Laura & Sander

[Kishan Sharma]

Hi @Laura Meijers 

Page templates are used only when adding a page. It is not possible to apply a template to an already-existing page as you can edit the page itself once it is created from a template.

Once a page has been added using a template, the template is no longer linked to the page. All further editing is performed as if the template was never used.

Some Marketplace apps provide enhanced template functionality. I would suggest you to explore Atlassian Marketplace to see if any third party add-ons/plugins meet your requirements.

[Kishan Sharma]

Hi @Laura Meijers 

Instead of replying on your answer, will reply here - I think you can create your own template by using Excerpt Include and Excerpt macro to achieve this. 

Create a page and add "Excerpt macro" which will be used to mark part of this page's content for re-use.

Then Excerpt Include macro can used to display 'excerpted' (that is, a segment of) content from the page created earlier. (You can add this macro in your template)

For example I created a template and added 3 excerpt include macro's in it, which will pull some segment of information from other pages, here's how it looks like -

Excerpt Macro page -

Sample published page using the template -

You can try it and see if that meets your requirement. 

[Laura Meijers]

Hi Kishan,

Thank you for the comprehensive description.
Unfortunately this functionality doesn't match our expectations;

1. Yes it includes information from another page 
2. No, we are not able to edit the information in the ''excerpt include'' macro (the page where the information is added) 
   
   1. Side note: we want to edit the information in the page where it's added, but we don't want to change the information of the original template

So basically it's more like a copy and paste functionality, but we don't want to do this manually by ourselves. Ideally we want to do this by a button/macro/template/add-on functionality.

Laura & Sander

[Kishan Sharma]

Hi @Laura Meijers 

You are right in that you won't be able to edit the information in "excerpt include" macro. 
You can explore "ConfiForms - Data Forms & Workflows" add on through which you can make your reusable content be replicated automatically and managed in one place by using page template easily made with ConfiForms. 

[Laura Holton]

Hi @Laura Meijers 👋

When you add a new page you can base your it on a template – a Confluence page with predefined content. Some templates are provided by blueprints or add-ons, and you can even create your own templates.

However, you can't apply a template to an already-existing page. Once a page has been added using a template, the template is no longer linked to the page.

I've filtered the search on the Atlassian Marketplace for you to make it easier. You can take a look here.

I hope this helps but if you have any other questions just ask away 😃

All the best,

Laura

[Laura Meijers]

Hi all,

Our question is still relevant.
If someone know another solution we would be very interested in it!

Kind regards,

Laura & Sander

[Laura Meijers]

Hi Kishan and Laura,

Thank you for both replies. We know how the template functionality works and are also familiar with the Marketplace. What we are looking for is if someone has experience with an add-on that makes our request possible: Add one or more template to an already existing page with information as ''extra''. 

We have already explored the following application, but what we are missing is the possibility to edit the text in the Confluence page.

https://marketplace.atlassian.com/apps/1222146/content-template-macro-for-confluence?hosting=cloud&tab=overview

Laura & Sander