Changing page types

[Doris Dunn]

How do I change the type/format of a page from "blank" to "How To"?

[AnnWorley · Accepted solution]

Hi Doris,

You may choose the How To page template from the ellipses ( ... ) menu when creating a new page. 

Please see Page Templates for tips on how to use them.

Note: There is no way to apply a template to an existing page. A workaround is to create a new page using the How To template and then copy/paste the content from the existing page.

Thanks,

Ann

[Doris Dunn]

My question was in regard to changing an existing page. I assumed there wasn't an easy solution, so I created a new page. Thanks.

[Toni Muller]

It would be nice if it were possible to change the page type later.

[Matt Flaherty]

It's even worse than others have described, because a page created from a template loses all connection to that template. Changes to the template have no effect on existing pages, which are not aware that they come from a template. This is not what we mean in content management when we use the term "template". Templates in Confluence save some time and help create consistency initially when creating pages, but they do not respect that page design and layout will often have to change later. These are not templates at all. They are one time kick starts. It's beyond disappointing. From the docs cited above:

Page templates are used only when adding a page. It is not possible to 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. All further editing is performed as if the template was never used. Some Marketplace apps provide enhanced template functionality.

No. The concept of page templates is decades old and designers understand how they are meant to work. If anything should be out of the box in a content management system, it is this.

[Ricky Seagraves]

This isn't really solved...is there a way to update the page type after it's been created? 

[Katie Gutrich]

With the new editing experience, we are looking to edit our pages with the new layouts. This is an issue we need to find out if there is a resolution rather than re-creating all of our legacy pages. Hoping someone is able to help! 

[Roman Wünsche]

We are having the same issue. Old pages looks complete different than the new layout which seems percent based. Font size looks really big in the new layout compared to the legacy pages...

[Florin Spataru]

Not solved at all.

[Aaron Beals]

So this won't change the format of a page, but it will change the type for purposes of showing up in the default page-list widgets (e.g. How-Tos, Decisions, etc).

Simply apply a label to a page to make it show up as a different page type.

For instance:

if you have a normal page, hit "l" to bring up the label menu, add the label "kb-how-to-article" (and don't forget to hit "Add", because bad UX). You'll now see that page in the default "How-to articles" page that's created whenever you add how-to pages to a space.

To figure out the label name you need, go to one of the list pages, edit it, and then inspect the widget that auto-displays the list of pages. In that widget config will be the label you want to apply.

[UPWT]

This did exactly what I wanted.  I had an informational page that wasn't a How-To and copied it and made the parent the How-To page.  Then I just edited the copied pages Tags and ut the kb-how-to-article tag on the page and gave the system time to update the links and the new page appeared in all the correct link locations.

Thanks!