Adding instructional text to templates

Jincy Chacko May 24, 2018

I see that the guides say I have to choose "Template" then "Add instructional text" from the toolbar. But i do not see these options when i try to create the template. Is there another way to add instructional text into the template? 

7 answers

4 accepted

15 votes
Answer accepted
Victor Mutambuki
Rising Star
Rising Star
Rising Stars are recognized for providing high-quality answers to other users. Rising Stars receive a certificate of achievement and are on the path to becoming Community Leaders.
May 24, 2018

Screen Shot 2018-05-24 at 10.15.27 PM.png

Jincy,

Click to EDIT on the template --> click on Page Layout (as shown in image) --> Then Instruction Text.

Victor

Victor Mutambuki
Rising Star
Rising Star
Rising Stars are recognized for providing high-quality answers to other users. Rising Stars receive a certificate of achievement and are on the path to becoming Community Leaders.
June 28, 2018

Jincy,

Did this work for you?

Victor

Like Rajesh Viswanathan likes this
Jincy Chacko August 24, 2018

Yes. Thank you. 

Like Rajesh Viswanathan likes this
Victor Mutambuki
Rising Star
Rising Star
Rising Stars are recognized for providing high-quality answers to other users. Rising Stars receive a certificate of achievement and are on the path to becoming Community Leaders.
August 24, 2018

Jincy,

Good to hear. Please accept the answer or vote for it so that other users can use this information.

Victor

Like Rajesh Viswanathan likes this
J. Pablo Fernández December 16, 2019

This is no longer valid, that toolbar doesn't look like that anymore.

Like # people like this
Colleen April 22, 2021

I have the layout icon but I don't have that informational text button that is in between the graph and the insert. Is there an updated answer to this question?

Like # people like this
Katja Kanngiesser March 1, 2022

I don't have this sophisticated toolbar, only a very limited choice of options. How can I still insert/change instructional texts?

Bildschirmfoto 2022-03-01 um 11.28.50.png

Like # people like this
12 votes
Answer accepted
Corissa Bowman
I'm New Here
I'm New Here
Those new to the Atlassian Community have posted less than three times. Give them a warm welcome!
May 5, 2021

Note: Placeholder text is ONLY available if you're editing a template ... not a standard page.

Patrick Leal May 6, 2021

Thanks! 

Like Rajesh Viswanathan likes this
jean eudes
I'm New Here
I'm New Here
Those new to the Atlassian Community have posted less than three times. Give them a warm welcome!
November 4, 2022

Hi has this changed? I'd love to add a placeholder for our group document

9 votes
Answer accepted
Kote Khutsishvili June 25, 2019

Is this still available? I can't see the functionality

Christian Wuerdig July 7, 2019

Yes, but it apparently got renamed to "Placeholder Text" and has been moved to the "Insert" menu. See this answer: https://community.atlassian.com/t5/Confluence-questions/Adding-Instructional-Text-onto-a-New-template-using-new-style/qaq-p/1018770

Looks like the documentation hasn't been updated yet

Like # people like this
Matt Lovett October 7, 2019

The new editor and associated documentation is a master class in how to drop the ball.

Like # people like this
Patrick November 20, 2019

Amen brother. 

OK, here comes the rant...

I mean really just amazing poor documentation.  I'm trying to make use of Confluence as a central hub of knowledge for our company while trying to learn it (previous experience was with a much older hosted version) and just can't believe how much the documentation is just wrong all over the place. 

It would be great if Atlassian would add more pictures to the instructions so we can at least realize right out of the gate the documentation is out of date.  Just saying things like...

To insert instructional text:

  1. Choose Template > Instructional Text in the toolbar

... without an image to clue you into the outdated material causes the user to hunt trying to find where you have gone wrong in the interface until you realize the documentation is just wrong.  

Images or something like will likely greatly increase maintenance but it will also immediately let your customers know the state of the documentation.  I'd take that over customer anger/frustration anytime.

Like # people like this
Jerry Geyer November 26, 2019

Placeholder Text does not behave the same way that Instructional Text did and I don't even understand it's use case. I cannot select and edit the text when I create a new page from the template.

Like # people like this
J. Pablo Fernández December 16, 2019

I cannot find any of these things, I cannot find the Template menu, nor variables, nor placeholder text, nothing. :(

Like # people like this
Callum_Hepburn
I'm New Here
I'm New Here
Those new to the Atlassian Community have posted less than three times. Give them a warm welcome!
February 10, 2020

There's also supposed to be additional functionality to it in the same outdated doc (https://confluence.atlassian.com/confcloud/blueprints-and-user-created-templates-724764985.html), but there's no obvious way of changing the "placeholder" to different options besides text;

You can also change the placeholder type from Text to either:

  • User mention – Opens the user mention dialog.
  • Jira Macro – Opens a dialog that allows you to create a new Jira issue, or search for one or more Jira issues to include on the page.
Like # people like this
Maria Hauer February 18, 2020

just to add some more things to the list that I've tried and haven't been working:

* select a written text ==> click on placeholder text ==> text disappears, placeholder box appears ==> same behaviour with a placeholder text which was initiallly created (you enter the text, click somewhere else and the box is gone for good)

* copy an old instructional text from an old template with the old editor still showing ==> only comes out as italic text in the new template

 

I saw some suggested solutions that include variables and a tiny bit of code, so not too bad. But to be honest I just want a functionality that is working properly and is described properly.

Like # people like this
Maria Hauer February 18, 2020

ahhh sorry - it was not obvious to me that I had to hit enter after entering the text in the box....so nevermind me, sorry for the confusion. This works as expected.

Like # people like this
Jaine Steer
I'm New Here
I'm New Here
Those new to the Atlassian Community have posted less than three times. Give them a warm welcome!
March 15, 2020

Yes - that simple carriage return and it works.

Like Rebekah Nguyen likes this
0 votes
Answer accepted
Rajesh Viswanathan
Community Leader
Community Leader
Community Leaders are connectors, ambassadors, and mentors. On the online community, they serve as thought leaders, product experts, and moderators.
November 17, 2021

Easy to understand and learn. Thanks for sharing. 

1 vote
Joshua Mathews
I'm New Here
I'm New Here
Those new to the Atlassian Community have posted less than three times. Give them a warm welcome!
February 3, 2023

Macro is /placeholder text.

0 votes
Robert_Rosskopf January 31, 2024

It'd be way more useful if the text is shown only in edit mode, no matter if it has been replaced. Or at least if clicking on the non-replaced placeholder directly opens an edit box for this area.

0 votes
Colleen March 2, 2022

See Brant's response with screen shots on the below link. You need to use the SPACE TOOL to have the 'Instructional Text' option. 

https://community.atlassian.com/t5/Confluence-questions/Edit-Informational-Text/qaq-p/1671819

Suggest an answer

Log in or Sign up to answer
TAGS
AUG Leaders

Atlassian Community Events