Confluence 2.8 Beta Release Notes

28 March 2008

Confluence 2.8 will be launched in a few weeks' time. These release notes apply to Confluence 2.8 Beta, which is currently undergoing internal testing. These release notes show the highlights of the upcoming release, although we have not included all the enhancements and bug fixes. We'll publish the final and complete release notes with the release of Confluence 2.8.0.

If you are interested in trying out a developer's release, please take a look at the information and warnings in Development Releases.

What's Coming in Confluence 2.8

 Page Ordering

• One of the most popular feature requests is now reality — Confluence allows manual page ordering.
• You can choose the order in which wiki pages are displayed.
• Use a dynamic tree view to drag and drop your pages into the right position.
• Page order is reflected in all tree views for a space or a page family, including the PageTree macro and exports to PDF, HTML and XML.
• Read the documentation.
  

 Dynamic Menus and Simplified Editing

• Drop-down menus replace tabs and links.
• Grouping of functions is more intuitive.
• Features are more visible than before — you may even come across things you didn't know Confluence had!
• Simplified screen design allows you to focus on editing the page content.
• There is more space for entering text.
• See an overview of the new menu structure and what's changed.
  

 Collapsible Comments

• We've beautified the display of comments on pages and news items.
• You can collapse comments to a single line — just click the subject line of a single comment, or 'Collapse All'.
• It's easier to keep track of multi-level comment threads.
• When collapsed, a comment shows a single-line excerpt.
• The time stamp is relative for recent comments — for example, it might say 'less than a minute ago'.
• The new 'permanent link' icon makes it easier to link directly to a comment from another page.
  

 Multiple Label Filter

• Combine more than one label in your label searches.
• Use '+' and '-' links to add or subtract labels from your search.
• Browse labels simply by typing in a URL, such as:

  http://CONFLUENCE_HOSTNAME/label/fedex+ideas

• Read the documentation.
  

 And Lots More

• Enhanced Dynamic Tasklist.
• An installation wizard for Confluence Standalone edition on Windows and Mac.
• Significant performance improvements.
• More administration, management and monitoring tools.
• Plenty of bug fixes to keep everyone happy.