What's the difference between Gliffy for Confluence Cloud, Server, and Data Center?

[#1]

Spoiler alert: not much!

Through the lens of a user, Gliffy is just Gliffy wherever you use it. The editor and all its drag-and-drop drawing functionality won’t take any re-learning at all if your organization changes its deployment.

But, we know that Atlassian’s announcement to sunset its server offerings over the next few years means a lot of teams are re-evaluating their tools and where they work. So, here’s a detailed breakdown of what’s different as you move between Cloud, Server, and Data Center.

Installation and Updates

On Cloud, Gliffy is installed and updated automatically — you’ll always have the latest and greatest. On Server and Data Center, you’ll manually install Gliffy and update the app when you’re ready. (This may seem obvious, but I’m trying to be thorough, here! 😉 )

Adding Diagrams to Confluence Pages

Atlassian’s new Confluence Cloud editor functionality makes adding a diagram a breeze. To quote one of Atlassian’s awesome Sr Product Marketing Managers, @Jessica Taylor, from this video about the new editor:

“If you learn nothing else today, the most important thing is the slash command. It’s the most powerful feature in the editor.”

She’s right. Adding a Gliffy diagram to a Confluence Cloud page just takes typing “/gliffy” to add the macro. It couldn’t be easier.

To add a diagram to a Confluence page on a server or data center instance, you’ll just need a few more clicks. Track down the Insert more content icon (+) and select “Gliffy Diagram,” then you’re off to the diagramming races.

Once you’ve added the macro, it’s the same diagramming experience you know and love, regardless of whether you’re in Cloud, Server, or Data Center.

Managing Drafts

Are you guilty of leaving tons of drafts behind as you work through your ideas? I am. 😅

In Server and Data Center instances, users can view, remove, and download all their drafted diagrams by clicking on their Confluence profile, then selecting Gliffy Diagrams. When you edit a confluence page with unpublished diagram drafts from over a month ago, you’ll also see a pop-up in the upper right that gives you the ability to review, delete, and download those drafts. 

Otherwise, Gliffy is the Tool You Already Know

There’s not much more to cover. If your team makes the switch from Server to Cloud or Data Center, your diagrams will stay intact throughout that move. Confluence’s new cloud editor means the way that you interact with macro on a Confluence page may change slightly here and there, but when it comes to important Gliffy features like embedding diagrams, searching text within a diagram, and working with revision history, you’ll have it all at your fingertips.

For the past year or so, the Gliffy team has worked hard to build that type of product parity into all three deployment options. We’re in great shape for Atlassian’s increased focus on Cloud, and we hope to be one less line item to worry about if your team is considering migration in the next few years. We’ll be sharing any updates regarding the server EOL changes on our resource page, here.

I’m always around the community if you have any questions!

Samie

[Pramodh M]

Thank you, @Samie Kaufman - Your Gal at Gliffy for the content.