all I want to do is change the default landing page in Confluence

[Antigone K]

I need the old style ... one that shows USEFUL things like the branding, a search box, a list of favorite spaces.

The users don't give a flying eff about their or other people's activities ... they want to actually DO stuff, and this crap gets in their way.

how the heck do I fix this mess?

[Shannon S]

Hi Antigone,

By branding, I assume you mean the site logo, icon, and title. If I am incorrect in my assumption, please let me know, but you can still change this. Have a look at Changing the Site Logo:

To change the site logo:

1. Click Settings in the Confluence sidebar

2. Choose Site Logo and Favicon
3. Click Browse to upload a new logo
4. Choose Show Logo Only or Show Logo and Title depending on whether you wish the Site Title to display
5. Hit Save

The search is also still in the sidebar. You can see it in the top left-hand corner. A tip: you can type / to quickly bring up your search. Here's how it appears in my instance so you can have a look:

Lastly, to set a site homepage, you can determine where Confluence lands by default, and if you add a space to My Spaces, it will appear on the sidebar as your favorite spaces.

I hope this helps, but do let me know if you have any trouble.

Kind Regards,
Shannon