Questions and Feedback about new implementation of database (entries and backlinks)

[Hendrik Hillus]

Hi all,

this is mainly for the Atlassian team, but I would also be interested in the answers of community members, if you had the same challenges.

Some info:

• We got migrated yesterday evening/night. (Databases now appear in the page tree). Before that I still had the old Alpha implementation of databases.
• We use Confluence as a wiki. For 98% of the company, Confluence is not a focus in their daily work, so we aim to make it as easy as possible for users to create pages that
  • a) inform the reader
  • b) have a consistent look and feel across the wiki

---

Implemenation of Database Entries

A very simple, yet extremly useful usecase for Databases was to implement a "contact" for every page.

Basically we have a 3 field database consisting of: topic [Text], Name [Text], and Teams Link [Link]). This database is used to map a topic to a person and provide a way to contact the person. This is useful for us, because we do not have to go into every page and change the contact person, in case the contact person changes. Instead we just have to adjust 1 database entry. This database also allows us to "search" for a topic and find the contact.

The database is used in every template that is used in our Confluence site, by including a database entry macro.

Here is an example of how it looks / looked:

Feedback

Current Implementation

Pros

• more unified look

Cons

• database entries in templates are now useless
  • unable to change databases or entries when using this in a template. This could be because of the bug I am experiencing
  • Bug: /database embed macro is not functional (atlassian.com)
• Every entry has a header (see 1)
• link name does not seem to work (see 2)
• “Add field” is now visible. Adding a field is never needed.
  • This could be, because of my rights or because I need to change the configuration. I have yet to check and understand the new rights and permissions

Implementation before yesterday evening

Pros

• cleaner look,
  • less vertical space used
  • more usable horizontal space (no border)
• I can configure what I want to be able to see and do
  • Maybe I can do this with the current implementation too, but I cannot check (see bug above)

Cons

• could be confusing if you use this for the first time

Questions

• How can the usecase of "selecting an entry from a database to embed at a page, without a greater understanding of macros and databases" be implemented in a template?
  • Basically only clicking
• Is there an option to hide the title (see screnshot (1)) at least when only showing an entry?

---

Database Backlinks

These databases were showing Elements (=Add Ons) and if they are included, available or not compatible with the different Versions of certain Products that my company sells.

Since 1 Add-On can be available for multiple Products, we implemented this with Entry Backlinks (Kind of like a Lookup in an Excel sheet). Creating different views allows me to show only the relevant data for each product while storing all information in one database.

This just broke...

--> We could have done this in a plain table, but the backlink features save a lot of time and make sure that information are only stored once.

Screenshots:

General Feedback

It seems like Atlassian is only removing features or changing the UI / Interaction concept of existing features. For me this is quite frustrating. As pages just break I personally participated in an Interview regarding the database topic last year and so far most usecases I showed just broke with this new update.

[Divya Sriram]

Hey folks, our whole team is investigating what's happening with entry links (connected databases) and working to resolve this atm and find a solution ASAP. 

Thank you for reporting!

[Filip Callewaert]

I was also in Alpha, and all field values that link to other databases have been lost this morning. 

It is a fact that Beta had less features than Alpha, but as I understood it, these lost features would all come back - I do hope that!

[Matthias Gaiser _K15t_]

I'm experiencing the same problem here. The value macro only returns now in edit mode.

"Error loading the extension"

[Matthew Machuca]

Hi @Hendrik Hillus  would you be able to provide your sitename? Also if you have not already have you happened to file a ticket with support?

[Hendrik Hillus]

Hi @Matthew Machuca , I can share the sitename and approve access in a ticket. Since I have touched on multiple topics in this post, what do you want me to create a ticket for?

I have since rebuild all Views (those that I could remember) and have manually restored all the entry links and backlink fields.

The views however only work when not embedded as macro/smart link. They sometimes work through randomly adding and removing filters. I have (through testing) identified that the problem is the "contains" filter (the "equals"/"is" filter never worked with page links)

[Matthew Machuca]

@Hendrik Hillus 

We have identified an issue regarding the EAP -> beta migration surrounding "entry links".

Currently, there is a rollback mitigation available if you wish to reach out to support and file a ticket. I will note though, that the rollback will bring you back into the EAP experience, and databases created in the beta experience (those that are in the content tree) will become view-only while we work to resolve the issue.

If your issue isn't specifically related to entry link fields failing to migrate (or you manually repaired them yourself), I wouldn't recommend asking support to be rolled back.

[Hendrik Hillus]

@Matthew Machuca I don't think I will ask for this as we are talking about the "productive" site in my case (got this as an K15t app). I have repaired most databases anyways.

Can you confirm that entries not showing up when applying filters in views is a seperate problem bug?

[Matthew Machuca]

Can you confirm that entries not showing up when applying filters in views is a seperate problem bug?

I tried reproducing this, and did not seem to find the same issue. Would you be able to provide any screenshots of the issue.

• I created an "entry link field"
• Added values from another database to display
• created a custom view, and applied a filter to that custom view
• my entry links continue to display normally

[Hendrik Hillus]

Hi @Matthew Machuca

Please find the screenshot below.

I'll describe what I do here:

1. I open the "database page" (works as intended)
2. I switch to a custom view (works as intended)
3. I access the custom view via URL (no entries found)
4. Same as 3. --> No entires found in a normal page with the custom view embedded
5. On the normal page I switch to "all entries" and back to the custom view --> entries show up filtered

• Last 2 pictures (accidently messed up the numbering): Proof that same filters are the same

More info:

• (1) I am filtering entries that are a page
  • One cannot filter with"is", as it never works.
  • Therefore I filter with "contains" and narrow it down so the filter acts like "is"
• The field type is is "Entry details"
• (2) The other filter is just filtering tags

[Matthew Machuca]

thanks for all the details @Hendrik Hillus 

I have someone from the team looking into this, but they themselves are unable to reproduce. The ask is, are you able to file a support ticket, and include everything you shared there. From there, support will likely ask for access to investigate your site specifically.

Thanks!

https://support.atlassian.com/contact