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JIRA 4.0 is the first major Atlassian application that can incorporate OpenSocial-compliant gadgets, such as Confluence gadgets onto its dashboard. This page explains how to add a Confluence gadget to the dashboard of a JIRA 4.0+ installation.

To add a Confluence gadget to a JIRA dashboard, complete the sections below in order.

On this page:

Create an Application Link Between Confluence and JIRA

If your Confluence gadgets need to access user-restricted Confluence data, then your Confluence administrator must first establish an Application Link between your Confluence site and the JIRA site. For more information about configuring an Application Link between Confluence and other web applications, refer to Configuring OAuth Authentication for an Application Link.

If you only need to access anonymously accessible Confluence data, then you can proceed to Finding a Confluence Gadget's URL, below.

Finding a Confluence Gadget's URL

The Confluence gadget's URL is the gadget's XML specification file. These URLs look something like this:

To find a Confluence gadget's URL:

  1. Choose Browse > Confluence Gadgets. The 'Confluence Gadgets' window will open.
    The 'Confluence Gadgets' window displays a list of available Confluence gadgets in your Confluence installation, as shown in the screenshot below.
    (info) By default, Confluence only includes a few gadgets. However, if your Confluence administrator has installed more Confluence gadgets (typically as Confluence plugins), these will also appear in this list. If a scrollbar is available, use it to find the gadget you want.
  2. After finding your gadget, use the Gadget URL link to copy the gadget's URL to your clipboard. Many operating systems and browsers allow you to do this by right-clicking the Gadget URL link and copying it using the context menu.



Screenshot: Finding a gadget's URL

Adding a Confluence Gadget to a JIRA server's Gadgets Directory

To add a Confluence Gadget to the Gadgets Directory in JIRA:

  1. Go to the dashboard by clicking Dashboard at the top left of the screen.
  2. The dashboard will appear. Click Add Gadget.
  3. The 'Add Gadget' screen appears, showing the list of gadgets in your directory. See screenshot 1 below. Click Add Gadget to Directory.
    (info) You will only see this button if you have administrator permissions for your dashboard.
  4. The 'Add Gadget to Directory' screen appears. See screenshot 2 below. Paste the gadget URL (which you copied to your clipboard above) into the text box.
  5. Click Add Gadget.
  6. The gadget appears in your gadget directory. (It will be highlighted for a short time, so that you can see it easily.)



Screenshot 1: Gadget directory with 'Add Gadget to Directory' button




Screenshot 2: Adding a gadget to the directory

Adding a Confluence Gadget to the JIRA Dashboard

In the procedure below, 'your Atlassian dashboard' and 'your Atlassian application' refers to the JIRA Dashboard and application, respectively.

You can add a gadget from the directory of gadgets that are available to your Atlassian application.

To add a gadget to your Atlassian dashboard,

  1. Go to the dashboard by clicking the 'Dashboard' link or the 'Home' link at the top left of the screen.
  2. The dashboard will appear, looking something like screenshot 1 below. Click 'Add Gadget'.
  3. The 'Add Gadget' screen will display a list of available gadgets in your gadget directory, as shown in screenshot 2 below. Find the gadget you want, using one or more of the following tools:
    • Use the scroll bar on the right to move up and down the list of gadgets.
    • Select a category in the left-hand panel to display only gadgets in that category.
    • Start typing a key word for your gadget in the 'Search' textbox. The list of gadgets will change as you type, showing only gadgets that match your search term.
  4. When you have found the gadget you want, click the 'Add it Now' button to add the gadget to your dashboard.


Screenshot 1: An Atlassian dashboard




Screenshot 2: Adding a gadget from the gadget directory

Adding a Gadget to the Directory of Available Gadgets

You need to have administrator privileges to add a gadget to the list of available gadgets. If you have permission to add gadgets to and remove gadgets from the directory itself, you will see the 'Add Gadget to Directory' and 'Remove' buttons on the 'Add Gadget' screen. Please refer to the Gadgets and Dashboards Administration Guide.

Related Topics

All Atlassian gadgets

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  1. Jan 03, 2011

    Chad Ostrowski

    How do I find the URL for a Gadget in Confluence? When in the Gadget browser, it does not give a link to the "Gadget URL" as shown in that screenshot (is that a screenshot of JIRA's Gadget browser?).

    Oh, nevermind. I was confused by the presence of two separate Confluence gadget browsers, one of which is tucked away up under that confusing "Browse" menu.

  2. Jan 24, 2011

    Anonymous

    I've followed these instructions verbatim and am running into a really annoying bug/problem.  I'm to the point where I'm actually able to insert the Confluence Page gadget on my JIRA dashboard.  Then I go to configure the gadget.  I started typing in the name of the Confluence space I wanted to limit the search to.  I paused for just a moment and I got the "loading progress bar" and an "Login & Approve" button.  Kinda clunky, but ok I login and press the "Approve" button.  That window disappears and puts me back on the JIRA dashboard.  It doesn't offer any options to pick from, so I continue typing, and I do so quickly so I get the full space name in there.  Then I start typing the name of the page I want to display when the same thing happens!  "Login & Approve" button.  This goes on ad nauseum.  Why isn't this working properly?

    1. Feb 12, 2011

      Adam Saint-Prix

      I seem to recall in the past with JIRA/Confluence integrations such as this that rely on Trusted Apps as an integration point assume that you are using a common userbase (i.e. usernames in both systems have to match):

      Here's an excerpt from the documentation on Trusted Apps Prerequisites:

      Common user base recommended
      It is highly recommended that your JIRA and Confluence instances share a common user base, rather than two separate user bases with duplicated usernames. You will receive an error if Confluence passes JIRA a username which JIRA cannot recognise. Also, with separate user bases you run the risk that the same username may be used by two different people. The trusted application does not supply the user's password, so the trusting application will assume the username belongs to the user registered in the trusting application's own user base.

      It sounds to me like you might be experiencing the problem mentioned above. I'd check to make sure your username in Confluence also exists in JIRA, not sure if the passwords also have to match, but that might be worth a look also if usernames alone doesn't fix it.

      Cheers,

      Adam Saint-Prix