How to make sure users follow Confluence blueprint or template?

[Tim Yeung]

I defined some template / blueprint in Confluence for users to use.

But I see 2 problems currently:

(1) After a user created a page from a template, he / she is able to edit the page so that it does not look like the template anymore. Are there any ways to block users from editing the "template stuff" on the page?

(2) If the template is updated, pages created from it are not updated with the changes. Are there any ways to bulk update the pages created from the template?

Basically my objective is to keep every pages created from a template look consistent.

Are there any solutions to the problems above or it is a known issue?

Thank you in advance!

[Nic Brough -Adaptavist- · Accepted solution]

It's by design really. A template/blueprint really is what the dictionary says - a starting point, from which you can do what you want, including binning the whole lot.

Confluence has no way of knowing what parts of a page came from a template, and it's pretty irrelevant anyway. The idea is that the *body* of the page belongs to the editor and they can do what they want with it. The shape of the *space* is where you should be doing standardisation. It's just useful to have a template to help them get started, and guide them, not restrict them in any way.

[LUC FILION]

Hello Tim,

Obviously everobody can do a CTRL-A /Delete after a new page is created and start over. Also, it would also a dangerous operation to rescan et update created documents, after a template change.

The only way to do what you want is to have a review process of the documents before they are delivered. This is a small addition to your design process that would ensure that documents are per company's standard.

Besides, I draw your attention to the Gaia for JIRA plugin, which is an extension to Confluence as well that allows you to create Confluence spaces based on a complete "template space", or from a predefined set of pages/templates. This might be a more convincing way to make sure that your follow the right track.

Good luck!