discard unsaved changes?

[Andreas Schnederle-Wagner]

Hey there,

how to discard unsaved changes in confluence cloud?
Alt Text on "Close Button" tells me "keep draft or discard changes" - but when I click on close it will always keep the changes ... never asking me if I want to discard them?

any idea on that?

thx

Andreas Schnederle-Wagner

[Stephen Sifers]

Hello Andreas,

Confluence Cloud is an ever evolving product. With this said, there are 2 options to remove when it comes to drafts (Discard or Delete). Closing a page will save the page as a draft and not publishing the changes. Here is how to complete a discard or delete within Confluence cloud.

Discarding unpublished changes

If you make changes to a published page, then change your mind, you can discard all changes by reverting to the last published version of the page. This will discard all unpublished changes made by you and any others who have edited the page since the last time it was published.  

Before you revert to the last published version you should:

• Check who else has edited the page since last publish - their avatars will be shown at the top of the editor.
• In the editor, go to *** > View changes to see all changes that have been made since last publish. The changes won't be attributed to individual users.

Once you've checked to make sure you aren't going to inadvertently discard someone else's changes, go to *** > Revert to last published version to discard all changes.

Delete a draft

To delete a draft go to *** > Delete unpublished page.

Because drafts have never been published, you'll be deleting the entire page or blog post. Discarded drafts are not sent to the trash.

Drafts in Confluence are shared, meaning other people can work on them with you. If you delete a draft that other people have worked on, you're deleting their changes too.

Source document: Drafts

Hopefully this will clarify your options for removing a draft.

Regards,
Stephen Sifers

[Andreas Schnederle-Wagner]

Hi Stephen,

thank you for your Answer - but how do I discard only MY CHANGES when I don't want to keep/publish them? (I can't discard all changes of other People ... that's kinda crazy)

Example:

- We got a Page where all Employees writes down their conversation wishes for Meetings

- so there are lot's of unpublished Changes on this Page (colaborative editing) - published once a Week

- now I change a few things, add a few new Points to the List and a few moments later I notice that my Points are already on the List ...

- now I simply want to leave the Page WITHOUT SAVING - essentially discarding all of MY CHANGES I made ...

Don't tell me in such a major piece of Software like Confluence there isn't such a BASIC Functionality?

And if really not: Could you please add this as a Feature Request with indescribable urgency ... ?!?

thx. bye from snowy Austria

Andreas Schnederle-Wagner

[Stephen Sifers]

Hello again Andreas,

Drafts are shared with others who have access to edit the page. Meaning, if you are editing the page and someone else adds additional information to the page, you are now both sharing a draft.

Another solution for your published page would be to set page restrictions to others can’t see your page until you have finished all edits (saving the page after editing instead of using the draft). Once the page is ready, remove the page level restrictions to others may see this page. You can find more about Page Restrictions and how this can work to your advantage.

There are some best practices when using drafts and ensuring you have multiple points of history. Here are some of the best practices:

We recommend only keeping your work as a draft when it's in a very early stage. This is because changes can't be tracked in a draft, and you can't roll back to previous editing sessions - both of which you can do for published pages.  

Instead, it's recommended you publish your page even while it's in mid-work, and do one of the following:

• Use a status macro to mark your page work-in-progress: You can also change this to say under review, done, needs revising, looking for feedback, or any other step of your workflow.
• Move your pages as you work: If you've got an external facing site, or if your team is writing something like policies for the rest of your organisation, you can work on them in your team space, and then move them to an external facing space once they're done. Alternatively, you can work on something in your personal space, and then once it's been polished, move it to the official space that it needs to be under.
• Lock down pages until ready: Working on something that you don't want everyone to know about until it's ready? Lock down your page while you work on it, and only change the page restrictions once it's ready to go public.

Source document: Create, edit, and publish

There are add-ons available which may assist with your versions without publication. You can find more within the Atlassian Marketplace.

As far as a feature request goes, there is a feature request already present to allow you to discard your own changes. For cloud: CONFCLOUD-45721 and for server: CONFSERVER-45321. We would suggest you vote and watch these feature requests to receive updates as they progress.

Enjoy the snow! It’s just cold over here in Texas with clear skies.

Regards,
Stephen Sifers

[AhmadDanial]

Hello, Andreas.

For Confluence Cloud, can you please click on the ... button to bring up the menu and choose the option highlighted in the screen shot below?

That should enable you to discard the unsaved changes made to the page. Please let me know how it goes on your end. Thanks.

[Andreas Schnederle-Wagner]

Hey Ahmad,

I guess this will also discard unpublished changes made by other contributors of this Page, right?
I want only to discard the changes I made ... :-/

thx
Andreas

[AhmadDanial]

Hi, Andreas.

Understood. In this case, I believe that @Stephen Sifers has provided an extensive explanation on the best way to handle the scenario. Feel free to share any questions as you give the suggestions a shot. Thanks.