This documentation relates to Confluence 3.1.x
If you are using an earlier version, please view the previous versions of the Confluence documentation and select the relevant version.

Confluence Notation Guide Overview

Confluence pages are stored internally in a simple content-formatting language called Wiki Markup, based on Textile.

The Wiki Markup Editor allows you to edit Confluence pages directly in wiki markup language. This has the advantage of being faster than the Rich Text Editor for some formatting tasks.

A quick notation guide, Notation Help, appears beside the edit screen when you choose the Wiki Markup edit tab. You can then click the full notation guide link in the help window to view the full Notation Guide. This shows you the entire list of formatting and other complex operations that Confluence's notation permits, along with the markup detailing how to perform them.

Try it now
Because wiki markup is designed to be simple to learn, the quickest way to learn wiki markup is to edit an existing page, switch to the wiki markup editor and experiment.

Below are some links to more information on wiki markup editing:
Full Notation Guide
Working with Headings
Working with Text Effects
Working with Text Breaks
Working with Links
Working with Anchors
Working with Images
Working with Lists
Working with Tables
Working with Macros
Confluence Emoticons

What does the Notation Guide contain and why is it not part of the Confluence User Guide?

The Confluence Notation Guide is included as part of the Confluence code and is dynamically generated when you view it. Its contents depend upon:

  • the macro plugins available in the Confluence installation
  • the documentation included by the plugin developer for the installed version of the plugin.

If you view the Full Notation Guide from the Atlassian Confluence site, you will see the information for the macro plugins currently installed on this site. If you view the Full Notation Guide from your own Confluence instance, you will see information for the macro plugins installed on your site.

The plugin developer writes the help file and includes it in the macro code.

Examples of Markup

Here's a short example of some typical markup:

What you type What you get 
h4. Confluence Markup

Ideally, the markup should be _readable_ and even *clearly understandable* when you are
editing it. Inserting formatting should require few keystrokes, and little thought.

After all, we want people to be concentrating on the words, not on where the angle-brackets
should go.

* Kinds of Markup
** Text Effects
** Headings
** Text Breaks
** Links
** Other


Confluence Markup


Ideally, the markup should be readable and even clearly understandable when you are
editing it. Inserting formatting should require few keystrokes, and little thought.

After all, we want people to be concentrating on the words, not on where the angle-brackets
should go.

  • Kinds of Markup
    • Text Effects
    • Headings
    • Text Breaks
    • Links
    • Other

Here, in comparison, is how that would look if you had to edit the page in HTML: 

<h4>Confluence Markup</h4>
<p>Ideally, the markup should be <em>readable</em> and even <strong>clearly understandable</strong>
when you are editing it. Inserting formatting should require few keystrokes, and little thought</p>
<p>After all, we want people to be concentrating on the words, not on where the angle-brackets should
go.</p>
<ul>
   <li>Kinds of Markup
     <ul>
      <li>Text Effects</li>
      <li>Headings</li>
      <li>Text Breaks</li>
      <li>Links</li>
      <li>Other</li>
     </ul>
   </li>
</ul>


RELATED TOPICS

Full Notation Guide
Rich Text Editor Overview
Writing Confluence pages
Creating a New Page
Working with Macros

Take me back to Confluence User's Guide

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Comments (10)

 

  1. May 26, 2009

    Christian Bering says:

    How do I remove the notation guide from being displayed on the side of the editi...

    How do I remove the notation guide from being displayed on the side of the editing screen? My users will mainly be editing in the rich text editor and the notation guide is taking up valuable screen space from those with low screen resolution.

    1. Jun 02, 2009

      Zed Yap [Atlassian] says:

      Hi Christian, As far as I know, I think this might be related to this bug repor...

      Hi Christian,

      As far as I know, I think this might be related to this bug report:

      Also, could clarify that which theme are you using?

      Best rgds,
      Zed

      1. Jun 02, 2009

        Christian Bering says:

        Hi Zed Using the left navigation theme. The notation guide/help tips is constan...

        Hi Zed

        Using the left navigation theme. The notation guide/help tips is constantly displayed when using the editor.

        1. Aug 09

          Zed Yap [Atlassian] says:

          Hi Christian, You might want to edit the Custom HTML Via Confluence Admin >&...

          Hi Christian,

          You might want to edit the Custom HTML Via Confluence Admin >> Custom HTML.
          At end of the HEAD paste the following code:

          <style>
div.rightpanel
{
display:none;
}

div#content
{

width: 1200px;
}
</style>

          NOTE: This method will also hide the notation guide in Wiki Markup editing mode. To avoid this you might want to
          add the following code in the left navigation jar file.

          Hope that helps,
          Best rgds
          Zed

  2. Jun 08, 2009

    Anonymous says:

    When making a new template using the Wiki Notation, the notation guide/tips is n...

    When making a new template using the Wiki Notation, the notation guide/tips is not displayed on the right side. How does one get it up as per when editing?

    Thanks!

    1. Jun 14, 2009

      Zed Yap [Atlassian] says:

      Hi, I am afraid that the feature requested is not available yet. However, there...

      Hi,

      I am afraid that the feature requested is not available yet. However, there is feature request being raised in JIRA:

      Please add your comments to the discussion, vote on it and add yourself as a watcher for future updates. Also, please bear in mind the following document on how we schedule features for inclusion in our products: Implementation of New Features and Improvements.

      Hope that helps.
      Best rgds,
      Zed

  3. Sep 10

    Anonymous says:

    When editing the existing page using wiki markup, the "Help tips" section is not...

    When editing the existing page using wiki markup, the "Help tips" section is not shown but when adding a new page using the wiki markup, the "Help tips" section is shown. Any solutions how to show "Help tips" also when editing the page? Or is this a bug?

    1. Sep 14

      Giles Gaskell [Atlassian Technical Writer] says:

      Hello there, Can you verify that you are using the Wiki Markup editor when edit...

      Hello there,

      Can you verify that you are using the Wiki Markup editor when editing an existing page (and that the default editor settings have not been changed to the Rich Text Editor)?

      I have verified on Confluence 3.0.1 that the Help Tips section does appear on the right-hand side of the Wiki Markup editor when either adding a new page or editing an existing one.

      If this is not the issue with your Confluence installation, can I suggest that you lodge a Support request and on it, please indicate which version of Confluence you are using, the operating system it's running on and the browser you're accessing it on.

      Regards,

      Giles Gaskell
      Technical Writer
      ggaskell@atlassian.com
      ATLASSIAN - http://www.atlassian.com

      1. Jan 05

        Anonymous says:

        I'll second the above comment by Anonymous. When using wiki markup in Confluence...

        I'll second the above comment by Anonymous. When using wiki markup in Confluence 3.0.2 (Firefox 3.5.6, OSX 10.5.8) the right hand panel is not shown (I have tried several Themes, including the default one), also setting the Wiki Markup as my default in the editor.

        Apologies for my anonymity, but I´m away from the office and my login details.

        Thorarinn Stefansson

        1. Feb 01

          Anonymous says:

          Hello, I had the same issue and I fixed it using this link: http://www.ada...

          Hello,

          I had the same issue and I fixed it using this link: http://www.adaptavist.com/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=31589113

          Hope this helps,

          Tejas

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