Tricks that can take your Confluence template creation methods to the next level 🔼
Teams rave about having a system in place for everything, but how many of them actually have a documented system for creating Confluence templates? We’ll leave it to you to answer.
But here’s the truth: creating Confluence templates is straightforward but some tricks will save you a few more minutes and your team members, a few headaches.
We at Meetical have been hard at work taking Confluence productivity to the next level with calendar integrations, automation for recurring meetings, and meeting templates. So we thought why not assemble a one-stop guide for template creation and explain all the steps involved, the moving parts, and the macros? It’s ideal for anyone starting out or planning to brush up on their Confluence template knowledge.
You can read it here: How to Create a Template in Confluence - The Ultimate Guide
It’s exhaustive (we won’t lie) but we’re mighty proud of how helpful it has turned out to be for users. But if you don’t want to read everything now, here’s a short list of obvious but oft-ignored tricks that will improve how you create and manage templates:
1. It starts with a name
You’d be surprised to know how many templates start with poor naming conventions, allowing them to get lost in a sea of similar-looking documents. Include terms at the beginning that reflect the function of the template (such as, “sales reports” for sales teams).
Be descriptive and precise enough to stand out from other templates. And don’t use the word “template” because it just wastes precious real estate.
2. Don’t ignore descriptions
Descriptions are super important for templates because they are intended to be used by a lot of people. Clear descriptions not only help people understand the template use cases but also explain when it doesn’t work.
Image: Don't rush and choose a good name and a great description, aligned with your other templates.
You should also include additional details such as label disclaimers and page locations in reports.
3. Create from Template button
Instead of simply using the template library, use the “Create from Template” macro to organize pages. This way, all the pages will be created under the current page and you will have clear parent pages and organized sub-pages in specific locations.
Image: You can use multiple create-from-template macros to help users create great content that follows your standards.
Our Meetical Meetings Confluence App has similar functionality for meeting notes. Just use the “Create from Meeting Calendar” macro and you’re good to go.
4. Starting out? Try personal space templates
It’s a good idea to work with the space templates or even your personal space when you’re just starting out.
Image: How to Create Space Templates
We advise this for two reasons: 1) spaces help you stay organized in large organizations where teams create an enormous amount of content every day and 2) space templates can be promoted to help users find them easily.
5. Labels!
Labels are super cool tags in Confluence and will help you quickly find templates and pages. When you create pages from a template, all the pages will have the same labels applied. This makes any reporting and searches much easier.
Image: Use labels to easily find content, create list and use smart reports
We recommend you add at least one label to each page created from a specific template. This way, you can connect the pages to the template later on and stay on top of reporting macros.
6. Know when placeholders work better
Trying to make it easier for users to insert specific data? Use placeholder texts over template variables. Variables are wonderful don’t get us wrong but you cannot @mention in text-based variables or add new status without modifying the template.
Image: The Placeholder Macro in Confluence, only available in the template editor
This is how Confluence is designed because at the end of the day, you have the freedom to organize your database however you want. Hopefully, we see some feature upgrades to template variables from the Confluence team in the future. But with the current limitations in place, placeholders used on templates are your friends.
What’s your favorite?
Let us know if you found these tricks helpful! We’re sure you have some cool tips that you use while creating templates. Share your thoughts by commenting below.
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Lukas Gotter _ Meetical
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