Welcome to the 12 Days of Confluence Elements! Each day you’ll learn how to use common elements we use in our Confluence instance. Along with the text you add to a page, elements are the building blocks that help you organize and present information in the way you want.

What are elements?

All the items that can be inserted onto a page are elements. Elements include panels, dividers, emojis, macros. We’ll learn more about macros soon.

Adding an element

Elements can be added by clicking the Insert menu from the toolbar, or from the slash command menu.

In our instance

We use elements such as panel, divider, emoji, expand, and heading, and macros. You can see examples of many of these elements at Graduation & Commencement.

What are macros?

A macro is a type of element that allows you to extend the capabilities of your Confluence pages, allowing you to add extra functionality or include dynamic content. For example, use the Attachments macro to list files attached to a page. Macros can also be used to create visual interest.

Add a macro to your page

To add a macro:

1. When editing, select the Insert icon.

   

2. Find the macro by name and select it

3. Configure it as needed

To edit a macro:

1. Select the macro placeholder.

2. Select the Editicon to open the configuration panel.

   

3. Configure the parameters. Your changes are saved as you go.

4. Resume editing the page, and the panel closes.

Macro parameters

Many macros have optional parameters you can use to control the macro's output.

With the Attachments Macro, for instance, you have two optional parameters allowing you to:

• Specify the file formats of the attachments displayed

• Choose whether or not you want old versions of the attachments displayed

Macro placeholders

Macro placeholders are displayed in the editor where you have added a macro to the page.

When editing a page, you can:

• Double-click a macro placeholder (or click the placeholder and choose Edit) to open the macro dialog window and edit the macro's parameters

• Select a macro placeholder to cut, copy and paste the macro

Use the Children Display macro to insert a list of a page’s child pages, and their descendants. People viewing the page will only see the links for pages they have permission to view.

By default, the list will show the child pages of the page the macro is on — but you can also select a different parent page when configuring the parameters. The macro can display the child and descendant pages of whatever parent page is specified.

When would you use Children Display macro?

This is useful, for example, if you want to create navigation links on a parent page to its nested pages.

Where is this used in our instance?

You can find Children Display macros on section landing pages such as Graduation & Commencement under “In this section”.

Add the Children Display macro

To insert a macro:

1. When editing, select Insert from the toolbar

2. Find the macro by name and select it

3. Configure it as needed

To edit a macro:

1. Select the macro placeholder.

2. Select the Editicon to open the configuration panel.

3. Configure the parameters. Your changes are saved as you go.

4. Resume editing the page, and the panel closes.

The page links are dynamic — if additional child pages are published or the page titles are edited, those changes will automatically be reflected in the list.

Configure the parameters

Parameters are options that you can set to control what and how content from the macro appears on the page. 

If the parameter name used in Confluence Cloud storage format or wikimarkup is different than the label used when inserting macros using the browser or the slash command, it will be listed below in brackets (example).

The Content by Label macro is used to display lists of pages, blog posts or attachments that have particular labels.  

When would you use Content by Label macro?

It's great for collecting related pages together and filtering out content that you don't want to see.

For example, you could use this macro to display a list of all pages that have the label 'feature-shipped' and include the word 'Blueprint', or to list any pages with the label 'meeting-notes' that you've been mentioned in.

Here's how the macro looks on your page:

Where is this used in our instance?

Many articles include the Content by Label macro to drive users to related content. Our configuration ranges from displaying all content with a selected label to displaying only 5 articles with a link to additional related content. You can see it in action on Graduation & Commencement, and this macro can be used on any page where it makes sense to provide additional related content.

Use the Content by Label macro

To add the Content by Label macro:

1. When editing, select Insert from the toolbar

2. Find the macro by name and select it

3. Configure it as needed

To edit the Content by Label macro:

1. Select the macro placeholder.

2. Select the Editicon to open the configuration panel.

3. Configure the parameters. Your changes are saved as you go.

4. Resume editing the page, and the panel closes.

CQL filters

CQL (Confluence Query Language) is a query language developed for Confluence, which you can use in some macros and the Confluence search. Confluence search and CQL-powered macros allow you to add filters to build up a search query, adding as many filters as you need to narrow down the search results. To add a filter to your query, select the Add a filter link.

You can use the following CQL filters:

AND, OR, and NOT operators

• For an OR search, specify multiple values in the same field.
  So to show pages with 'label-a', 'label-b' or both you'd put 'label-a' and 'label-b' in the same Label field, like this:

• For an AND search, add more than one filter and specify a single value in each.
  To show only pages with label-a and label-b you'd put 'label-a' in one label field, then add a second Label field to the macro, and put 'label-b' in the second one, like this:

Put simply, OR values are entered in the same filter, AND values are entered in different filter. 
Only some filters support AND. If the filter doesn't support the AND operator, you won't be able to add that filter more than once.  

• For a NOT search, enter a minus sign (-) before the label. This'll exclude everything with that label.

• This field is required in CQL-powered macros.

** You can add these filters in CQL-powered macros but in search they're part of the standard search filters, so they don't appear in the Add a filter menu.

Macro display options

These options control how the macro appears on your page.

The Table of Contents macro scans the headings on the current Confluence page to create a table of contents based on those headings.

When would you use Table of Contents macro?

This helps readers find their way around lengthy pages, by summarizing the content structure, and by providing links to headings. A rule of thumb is to use the Table of Contents macro when your article requires scrolling past the “fold” of a page. Users generally familiar with the page may be looking for a specific section, and the Table of Contents macro can help them navigate to the specific content they’re looking for.

Where is this used in our instance?

An example of the Table of Contents macro is found on Viewing and maintaining a student's academic standing (SHAINST/SGASTDN). Rather than using a formatted heading for “On this page”, we use bolded Normal text to prevent the heading from pulling into the macro.

Use the Table of Contents macro

To add a Table of Contents to your page: 

1. From the editor, select Insert from the toolbar to bring up the insert menu.

2. Find the Table of contents macro and select it. You can also type /tableofcontents to select this macro from the insert menu right in the body of your page.

3. Upon selection, the Table of Contents placeholder will appear in the body of your page.

4. Your table of contents won’t be visible while editing. When you preview the page or publish it, you’ll be able to see an auto-generated table of contents based on the page’s headings.

To configure your Table of Contents: 

1. From the editor, select the Table of Contents placeholder.

2. Select the Edit ()icon to open the configuration panel.

3. Customize the parameters of your table of contents in either Basic or Advanced mode.

4. Your selections won’t be visible while editing. When you preview the page or publish it, you’ll be able to see how your customized table of contents looks.

5. As you continue editing the page, the configuration panel will close.

Parameters

Parameters are options that you can configure to control exactly how your table of contents appears on the page. 

To customize your table of contents, you can configure its basic and/or advanced parameters, depending on your needs and preference.

Basic parameters

Basic parameter	Default	Description	Example
Display as	Vertical list	Vertical list — produces a typical list-type table of contents. Horizontal list — produces a flat, horizontal menu-type series of links.
Bullet style	Bullet	This parameter applies to vertical lists only. Select from any of the following values: None — no bullets are displayed Mixed —  the bullet style is a mix of shapes, filled and open Bullet — the bullet style is a filled circle. Circle —  the bullet style is an open circle Square — the bullet style is a filled square Numbered — the list is numbered (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
Separate sections by	Bracket	This parameter applies to horizontal lists only. Select from any of the following values: Bracket — Each item is enclosed by square brackets: [ ] Brace — Each item is enclosed by braces: { } Pipe — Each item is separated by a pipe: |
Include heading levels from [#] to [#]	1-6	Select the minimum and maximum heading levels to include in your table of contents.
Include section numbers	Unchecked	Select the checkbox to apply outline numbering to your headings. (Example: 1.1, 1.2, 1.3)

Advanced parameters

Create a collapsed section that reveals more information for the people who seek it. This is a useful formatting element when the amount of info on a page is overwhelming at first glance. Using the expand element accommodates different learners by hiding images/content for those who just need a nudge but keeping them accessible for novices.

Type /expand to quickly add this element from the slash command, or click the Insert icon in the toolbar.

You can see an example of how we use the expand element at Graduation & Commencement.

Format text to represent the hierarchy of information on a page. Once headings are created, you’ll be able to use the Table of Contents Macro to generate a list of links pointing to the headings on the page. The list of links appears wherever you add the macro, and it automatically updates each time someone changes the wording of a heading or the heading level. We’ll be learning about macros starting tomorrow.

You can also link to specific content on a page by clicking on the link icon next to a heading.

Image Added

Type /heading to quickly see the options and add this element from the slash command or use the toolbar to select a heading.

Emphasize information by choosing a preset panel type to consistently communicate ideas like info, note, error, success, and warning. The preset types include an emoji and a background color.

In addition to the five preset panel options, you can customize panels by choosing one of the 20 background colors available. Panels can have emojis, or you can remove the emoji to meet the needs of your content. The emojis available to you are the same set that you already use in Confluence; this includes custom emojis you and your teammates have added.

Type /panel to quickly see the options and add this element from the slash command or select the Insert icon and search for panel.

You can see an example of how we’ve used panels to create visual interest on an FAQ page and how we’ve integrated panels with headings on Responding to students' registration questions