HTML Macro for Confluence Cloud

[Ole André Bech]

This question is in reference to Atlassian Documentation: HTML Macro

Will this be added? I want to embed styled components, interactive mock ups etc in my design guidelines. Do I actually have to have an external link to these? This makes the design guidelines less usable...

Nowhere in the GUI communicates that this function is not supported. The user can find the macro but it just doesn't show anything. This is confusing! I thought I was doing something wrong when inserting my code. It took too much of my valuable time to figure out this!

[Robert Massaioli _Atlassian_ · Accepted solution]

Maybe the HTML Macro for Confluence Cloud is what you want? https://marketplace.atlassian.com/plugins/biz.artemissoftware.confluence.html.HtmlMacro/cloud/overview

Let me know if that is what you are looking for. That add-on uses the Atlassian Connect framework to bring back a safer version of HTML Macro for Cloud.

If this is not sufficient (and since you have HTML / JS / CSS skills) then you could use our Developer Platform to build an App for your site that does meet your needs: https://developer.atlassian.com/

[Joe Bloggs]

but why is it a paid addon - it was in many ways easier to have a free instance on premise (for individual user). And I wouldn't mind paying for cloud actually, but as every little bob you could do previously is now paid the pricing adds up and is thus non-transparent ... give me 5$ a month all-you can eat option for 2-3 users and I'm yours again. Otherwise, it's a winter of discontent amongst historically loyal users. 

[Nic Brough -Adaptavist-]

It's a restricted function because it allows users to embed stuff that can easily break Confluence.  Support people don't need to be wasting time fixing this sort of preventable error, so the function is turned off.  It's extremely unlikely to be enabled (unless a new version arrives that prevents any chance of you breaking stuff)

(Edited to correct original mistake)

[Ole André Bech]

Likely or unlikely, which do you mean? 

If I want to embed a styled html button from bootstrap to show how a button should work / look. Is there any other alternatives? 

[Nic Brough -Adaptavist-]

So sorry, I didn't reread it carefully enough.

The macro is extremely unlikely to ever be enabled on Cloud.

[Julia Ziobro]

This is quite disappointing. We have professional designer/editors who are capable of not breaking Confluence with simple HTML. iframes are a bear.

[Courtney Smith]

Had to comment on this because the answer is ridiculous - Products Like Microsoft Dynamics have always enabled you to add scripting etc. to the pages.  The scripting only applies to your instance and if you break your own page then it's your fault and wouldn't affect others anyway.

To not have this function in Confluence Cloud and push a paid per user per month macro from the store is ridiculous.

[Nic Brough -Adaptavist-]

That's not true, if you break something with a dodgy script a lot of people will go to support, which then means you ARE affecting others.  Plus of course, you've broken things for all of your users, not just the person getting the script wrong.

If I offered a support service, I would turn off the ability for people to break stuff so that they don't do this.

Can you not see how ridiculous it is to let people break stuff and waste your time with support for something you could stop them doing?

(I'm not being lighthearted here - I've lost count of the times that people adding javascript to the systems I look after have broken things and totally wasted my time and hence their money)

[Courtney Smith]

Sorry but that's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard in many years of development and support.  

It is a basic function to enable Javascript and HTML and something pretty much every system has - just check out Dynamics CRM from Microsoft.

If it is so terrible then how is it possible to have paid add-ons in the store to provide this function. Surely they would break the system and cause the end of the world by that logic.

Sorry - but this is just a feature that is missing because the cloud product is not designed well and they assume everyone will pay for the abililty.

Anyone adjusting the system would have a basic ability to create Javascript.

Additionally you cannot stop idiots from raising suprious support cases.  I'm not being light hearted here but that philosophy is dangerous, naive and downright stupid.

[Nic Brough -Adaptavist-]

The paid add-ons all shift their support to other people who are willing to take the risk, or explicitly state that they will not support the breakages that people do.

I'm not averse to this - I've been very well paid for fixing those when they go wrong.

I don't understand why you think "don't give people the rope to hang themselves with" is a bad thing?  Could you explain that?

[Courtney Smith]

Most definitely it's a bad thing.  Otherwise they should remove Control Panel from all PCs and just make it so no one can adjust anything.

While we're there lets go back to using notepad instead of Confluence as it's easy and things can't go wrong.

It just doesn't make sense to dumb down a product because some people MAY do the wrong thing and MAY contact support.

If we followed that way of  thinking nothing would ever advance... things would be kept as simple and feature-less as possible.

A technical user should be able to adjust the common experience without being pushed to an add-on which somehow makes everything work ok.  And for support people would still go to Atlassian if their site stopped working - there's no way they would think their script could be the cause.

Many companies handle the key support very easily.

[Nic Brough -Adaptavist-]

Nope, nope, nope.

It doesn't make any sense to let people break things in ways that are known to be not useful.  It's a complete waste of their time, plus the time of the people who then have to fix it.

I have been one of those having to fix stupid things like this for a very long time.  It's boring, expensive and dull.  Not one of the times I've had to fix something stupid has ever looked to being some form of "advance".

Can you explain why "let people do stupid things, make a mess and then have to pay other people to clean up" is a good thing?

[Courtney Smith]

Because a product has to have basic functionality or else it is useless.

I'm sorry but your perspective is just crazy.  Because people may do something wrong lets take away all of the options. Why is that a good thing?  

People may crash so lets take away all cars.

Electricity may electrocute, lets ban electricity.

Very sound logic....

[Nic Brough -Adaptavist-]

The product has basic functionality otherwise it wouldn't be there.

I don't understand why you think I'm crazy?  Please could you answer the question I've asked several times?

How is it a good thing to let people do stupid things, make a mess and then have to pay other people to clean up when they could be off doing more interesting things?

[Courtney Smith]

As per my response with your crazy logic that would also result in:

People may crash so lets take away all cars.

Electricity may electrocute, lets ban electricity.

Computers can create viruses, lets ban them.

People need certain functionality.

We need to adjust Javascript and HTML in our confluence which is why we abandoned the Cloud version and went for Server only.  After 20+ years in IT I'm qualified to insert some basic javascript without the world ending.

[Nic Brough -Adaptavist-]

This does not answer the question. 

Your car analogy is wrong - taking cars away is not what is being done here.  Do we not have laws that try to stop people doing stupid things like crashing?  And safety features?

Same with electricity - have a look at a plug socket - can you insert any conductive object you want into it so you can do a stupid thing like electrocute yourself?  Do you see a lot of bare conducting metal wires in your house you can grab?

Computers is even worse - they do not create viruses, humans do.  There's a massive debate in the field of AI about how we might stop an AI from doing malicious things like virus writing, but we haven't yet got computers that could do it.

So, again, if you want to say I'm crazy, you're going to need to answer the question:

How is it a good thing to let people do stupid things, make a mess and then have to pay other people to clean up when they could be off doing more interesting things?

Please, not with bad analogies or examples.  Please, I have to assume that deep down you have understood that you are wrong, unless you can answer that question directly.

[Courtney Smith]

I'm sorry you don't seem to be able to draw the same conclusion from your argument.

The basis of your hypothesis is that people shouldn't be given certain powers/features just in case they can't use them.

As I have shown that argument makes entirely ZERO sense.

Why not let someone with decades of experience update some Javascript - it is not rocket science.

And if by your argument that it is so bad there shouldn't be add-ons that can do it.

Please don't respond with your same non-sensical argument that "becuase some people may use it incorrectly" as per my arguements that is absolutely rubbish and even more humerous that you find them to be bad examples - they are just as crazy as what you suggest.

In terms of your response Javascript doesn't create problems- people do.. yes exactly...

Banning scripting is like banning electricity and any power point can potentially kill you... If you studied basic electrical engineering you would know that even an RCD does not offer 100% protection.

I'm sorry but this kind of thinking is why people can't have shiny things.. take them away in case they are used wrong.

I ask you to take a look at an enterprise product from Microsoft.. miraculously they let you adjust javascript.   Amazing!  Even putting HTML content.. I know..unbelievable...

I'm sorry but you can't give any kind of justification on why it cannot be provided.

[Nic Brough -Adaptavist-]

Could you please read what I've said before properly?  And stop misrepresenting it in your own words too.  Your last comment totally misrepresents what I've said and I want it to be clear that it is your misreading that is the problem.

And you still have not answered the question:

Why is it a good thing to let people do stupid things when you don't have to?

[Courtney Smith]

You still have not provided justification of your argument.

Why not let qualified people make the adjustments needed?

[Nic Brough -Adaptavist-]

Please see the points made before.  And try answering the simple question I've asked.

[Courtney Smith]

In terms of your queries before - If you are refering to the electricty queries.  Then yes - people do try to do their own renovations and end up electrocuting themselves.  So lets take away electricity for all.  Computers can be used for good or bad by people.  Javascript can be used for good or evil support.

You still haven't answered the fundamental question from my first post- 

Why not let qualified people make the adjustments needed?

[Nic Brough -Adaptavist-]

<sigh> Your electricity analogy still fails you, but I'll expand on it as you don't seem to want to read the rest of what I've said.

Electricity is useful, so we use it.  We protect people from its dangerous sides with things like insulation, covering or hiding wires, having sockets which make it hard to electrocute themselves and so-on.  We are not talking about taking electricity away, we are talking about not letting people make dangerous mistakes.  Your people who do their own renovations are going around those things aimed at preventing that.

So.  Why is it a good idea to expose live wiring to people who are going to touch it?

[Courtney Smith]

We expose it because we need to plug things into it.  I assume you have GPOs in your house?

<sigh>

Just answer the basic question - 

Why not let qualified people make the adjustments needed?

I know you ignore this as your argument is pathetically weak.

[Nic Brough -Adaptavist-]

It's not "not accepting other opinions", I was questioning it because it makes no sense to me. 

As Courtney refused to answer the clarification question so many times, I gave up on the conversation. 

Maybe you could answer the question instead, as you seem to hold a similar opinion?

[Courtney Smith]

I pretty clearly answered your question Nic.  I would suggest you read the comments.

It's simple - I want to adjust the HTML or scripting - for things like Table of Contents or hiding HTML elements that I as an Admin should have control over.

The arguments that it would break are complete nonsense.  Other products do provide this  - e.g. Microsoft Dynamics since ~2007 from memory.

And if it is so terribly dangerous - why is it possible in a paid add-on????

[Nic Brough -Adaptavist-]

I'm afraid you did not answer it.  Sorry, but nowhere I can find is there a clear answer to my question.  If there had been, I would not have asked it so many times.

The question you have now posed again has already been answered, both in my original answer and several times in the comments.

[Courtney Smith]

The Clear Answer is an Admin I need to be able to edit HTML / HTML Dom via Javascript.

You have NEVER answered why this should not be possible.

Your comments are a complete waste of time.  I am not sure why you cannot grasp a simple need for Javascript - pretty sure most web pages use it these days!

[Nic Brough -Adaptavist-]

It was the very first sentence in my original answer. 

[Courtney Smith]

That doesn't answer it at all.  Please check the question if you think that's an answer.

As you should be aware the Javascript would only run for my instance - not everyones - so there's no reason at all.

[Nic Brough -Adaptavist-]

I'm sorry, but it does.  The comments are a lot of exposition on it, but that's the answer to the question.

[Nar Kumar C_ - Narva Software]

There is HTML macro available in Marketplace for exactly this purpose:

HTML & Iframe Macro for Confluence

You can add custom HTML, CSS and Javascript. You can also embed external web pages, forms and visualizations. Give it a try.

PS. I am add-on developer.

[Akros Informatik]

No, it's not free at all.

[Akros Informatik]

In fact, no Atlassian add-ons are free. It's always just a question of months until most add-ons get commercial.

[Stephen Deutsch]

I think your best bet would be to host the details on an simple external server and use the iframe macro to show the data within an iframe on the page.  Atlassian Connect plugins work in the same way, so I think that's your best bet.