Problem with public link for public wiki and different functions

[Sascha Schäfers]

Hello Community!

Two functions of Confluence external Wiki does not work in the view of the external person (Link to B2B-Wiki):

- Searchbutton (upper) // Translation: "You are not allowed to see this content"

-Info-text (lower) // Translation: "You are not allowed to see this content"

I had a look in the settings of Confluence and – as you see – I created a public link and there are no restrictions…

I really don't know how to fix it. Maybe somebody can help :-)

Best regards

Sascha

[Kristian Klima]

Hello @Sascha Schäfers 

Let's look at the issue the other way round - try to describe what are you trying to accomplish, what is your use case.

The idea is that way we can offer you a how-to solution.

That way you'll be able to compare your set up (which gives you problems) with the suggested setup and either correct it or modify it.

BTW, I'd start with checking the following

• each Confluence space (Bereich) needs to be set up for anonymous access separately (been there, done that :) ) 
• public links are enabled for the entire Confluence site

[Sascha Schäfers]

Hello Christian,

thanks for your reply!

As a B2B-Customer (not a user of Confluence and not part of our company) I want to receive a link in order to read different information like wikipedia.com.

As the creator of this page I:

- created a new page (Bereich) 

- filled all information the customer wants to read

- created a public link

- set public link to "allowed"

- set annonymous user to "allowed" in page

- set annoymous user to "allowed" in general settings

Best regards

Sascha

[Kristian Klima]

Ah so...

Your public confluence site seems to be modified - make sure you are not unintentionally hiding the search option. Also, the upper search field in confluence search the entire Confluence site and since you share only one space... perhaps it's hidden because of that (just a conjecture). 

As for the info text - is it actually located on a page from the displayed space? If you're sharing anything from a non-anonymous space, it will not get displayed (page inclusion, excerpt...) Isn't the page itself restricted?

Public links

These are generally good share a single page for a specific purpose (you want to share a preview of the docs for a new feature with a specific client). The main use-case here would be to share a single page from a space that doesn't have anonymous access available.

Public links are always 'individual' so there's no sense of coherence even if you share them all. 

Anonymous access

This displays everything that's in the space except for pages/content that you designate as restricted. Mind, though, that a public link overrides restrictions placed on a given page.

Generally speaking, if you enabled anonymous access to the entire space, you don't need to use public links.

Using a marketplace app to create your public doc site

To make managing your content easier (faster, more predictable, more advanced), you can use an app that will make your content look much better. And it hides the Confluence furniture.

In both apps I'm referring to, you can customize the layout and other features.

We're using Scroll Viewport by K15t to create this site https://docs.emplifi.io/ from a private Confluence space. It's completely independent of Confluence.

@Laura Campbell _Seibert Media_ would recommend Spacecraft which is similar but for public site requires a space with anonymous access enabled.

Last word

Speaking from experience, using a dedicated app to create the presentation layer for your public documentation saves a lot of time, nerves, effort... and ultimately money. Those sites serve customer better if consuming information is the goal.

[Sascha Schäfers]

Hello Kristian,

thanks for your reply!

Your public confluence site seems to be modified - make sure you are not unintentionally hiding the search option. Also, the upper search field in confluence search the entire Confluence site and since you share only one space... perhaps it's hidden because of that (just a conjecture). 

--> I have just chosen the "B2B-Wiki" for searching - not the other sites. And where I can "hide" the option?

As for the info text - is it actually located on a page from the displayed space? If you're sharing anything from a non-anonymous space, it will not get displayed (page inclusion, excerpt...) Isn't the page itself restricted?

--> Yes it is a standard feature of Confluence - via "+" and "Info-Panel" - there is no ther page restricted I would say.

Public links

These are generally good share a single page for a specific purpose (you want to share a preview of the docs for a new feature with a specific client). The main use-case here would be to share a single page from a space that doesn't have anonymous access available.

Public links are always 'individual' so there's no sense of coherence even if you share them all. 

-->In this case its working: Ecoturn GmbH - B2B - Kundenwiki - Ecoturn GmbH Intranet (atlassian.net) But: There is the sidebar on the left so I would prefer the annoymous link.

Using a marketplace app to create your public doc site

--> For this easy site we wouldnt use an application to reach our aim to inform the customer with basic information. It should be possible with confluence' tools as well... 

Best regards

Sascha

[Laura Campbell _Seibert Media_]

@Sascha Schäfers as Kristian has explained, if you enabled anonymous access to the entire space, you don't need to use public links. I see you want to hide the sidebar on the left, but natively that is not possible in Confluence. Either you can share the entire space to anonymous users (with those native display options), or you share each page individually with a public link. But then you cannot search anything because each page is an island, shared on it's own.

Or as Kristian explained, you will need the help of an app. There are many customizations for Confluence (and Jira) that are only possible with the help of apps.

[Sascha Schäfers]

@Laura Campbell _Seibert Media_ @Kristian Klima 

Hello togehter,

I just want to share the whole Wiki as a standalone page - not more and not less. The content I want to share is allowed to be seen of everybody who gets the public link - why is it that difficult to show just the search function and the Infopanel? This must be possible without any other app :-) 

And moreover Kristian mentioned different bullet points where I had some questions - I am not sure that I adjusted it correctly...

Best regards
Sascha 

[Kristian Klima]

Hi @Sascha Schäfers 

It is possible.

This a public space from my private Confluence and it displays all the pages.

My space settings are ALL - VIEW for Anonymous users. Stock theme and color settings. I do allow public links but none of the pages has one activated.

In this view, you can see all the spaces.

As you see, the search works.

It's Confluence Standard.

I guess you're looking for a home page that would act like a proper Documentation Portal for all spaces....

[Sascha Schäfers]

Hello together,

got it now - took the normal URL of the Page and it is public - so everybody can open it (tried it already). But it is not the perfect solution - the view via public link is smarter - there is no sidebar. Changed the site now, that the sidebar filled with content :-)

Best regards

Sascha

[Laura Campbell _Seibert Media_]

Hi @Sascha Schäfers ,

You mention an external wiki, so I'm going to assume you mean one or more Confluence spaces that have been made accessible to anonymous users through the space settings. However you also are mentioning the public link; can you clarify how you are making content available? Is it as a space level, or is it page by page with public links?

If you are sharing content page by page with public links, you should know that visitors to a public page will see a safe, view-only version of the page that was shared which hides any content outside of the shared page (page tree, macros, etc.). You can learn more about what is hidden from visitors on public pages here https://support.atlassian.com/confluence-cloud/docs/how-secure-are-public-links/#What-is-hidden-from-visitors-to-public-pages

If you are sharing content by making a space available to anonymous users, take a look at the space permissions to see what is set. Here is some documentation on space permissions https://support.atlassian.com/confluence-cloud/docs/manage-global-permissions/#Manage-anonymous-access

[Sascha Schäfers]

Hello Laura,

thanks for your answer and please send best regards to Paul from Seibert ;-)

As you see on the picture, I created a full new "Bereich" - area? page? - I am not sure how atlassian calls it in english.

I also had a look in the settings for space permissions and I deleted the old link and created a new one...

So as you see - anonymous are allowed to see all of "B2B-Wiki". But still both functions are not working...

Best regards

Sascha

[Laura Campbell _Seibert Media_]

I did a quick search and I'm seeing a number of issues/bugs on JAC:

https://jira.atlassian.com/browse/AI-910

https://jira.atlassian.com/browse/AI-900

https://jira.atlassian.com/browse/AI-348

Perhaps one of those is related to your issue? Are you trying to make this space available to JSM customers?

You mentioned deleting the old link and creating a new one, but individual public links are different and independent from making a space available to anonymous users and they may show content differently. 

[Sascha Schäfers]

Hello Laura,

this is too complex or this is not that what i was looking for...:-(