Confluence 7.8 beta release notes
Development releases are not production ready. Development releases are snapshots of the ongoing Confluence development process. While we try to keep these releases stable, they have not undergone the same degree of testing as a full release, and could contain features that are incomplete or may change or be removed before the next full release.
No upgrade path. Because development releases represent work in progress, we cannot provide a supported upgrade path between development releases, or from any development release to a final release. You may not be able to migrate any data you store in a Confluence development release to a future Confluence release.
Atlassian does not provide support for development releases.
Issues with this beta?
Please raise an issue to tell us about it.
Highlights of 7.8.0-rc1
Released 22 September 2020
We've added a new startup check that will prevent you from upgrading to 7.8 if you are using H2. This will protect your existing data and give you a chance to migrate to a supported external database.
Highlights of 7.8.0-beta1
Released 14 September 2020
Capture more end-user activity in the audit log
For DATA CENTER
The audit log can now record when someone performs a search. The event captures the search terms entered in the search field, advanced search, and in search macros such as Livesearch and Page Tree Search.
The 'Search performed' event is included in the Full coverage level, which is available with a Data Center license. If you don't want to collect search term data, you can disable this event using a system property.
Increased label limit for Page Properties Report macro
For: SERVER DATA CENTER
The Page Properties Report macro relies on labels to organize pages across multiple spaces. The macro had a limit of 20 labels which restricted your space and page design.
We’ve increased the limit so you can enter a maximum of 60 labels in the macro browser. Now it’s easier to have all your pages properly reporting.
Disabled macros will preserve your content
For: SERVER DATA CENTER
Macros are one of the most powerful Confluence features. Previously, when macros with body content were disabled, the content would be lost. We now support disabled macros to keep their body content and display it in the editor.
In view page mode, disabled macros still show a placeholder image (Unknown macro). If you switch the disabled macro to a different macro in the editor, the body content will be preserved and display in view mode.
Allowlist and blocklist replace whitelist and blacklist
For: SERVER DATA CENTER
The words we choose are the building blocks that hold our diverse teams together. Terms such as “blacklist” and “whitelist” reinforce the concept that black and white are opposed, and one is bad while the other is good.
'Allowlist' and 'blocklist' are clearer, more direct terms that now replace 'whitelist' and 'blacklist' in the Confluence user interface. There are no API changes, so whitelist and blacklist remain in the codebase.
Upgrade notes
Cannot upgrade to 7.8.0 directly if you use the H2 database
In this release we've upgraded the embedded H2 database, which is often used when evaluating Confluence. This is a significant upgrade which contains some breaking changes.
If you attempt to upgrade a Confluence site running on the embedded H2 database, the upgrade will fail and your site will not be accessible. Rolling back after a failed upgrade involves considerable effort, so we recommend you check your database before upgrading.
Check whether you are using H2
To check whether you're using the embedded database go to Administration 
> General Configuration > Troubleshooting and support tools and make sure the database health checks are passing. If you are using the H2 database, the Embedded database check will fail.
Alternatively you can go to Administration > General Configuration > System Information and check the Database name row.
If you are using H2 in production
If you are using H2 in production, you will need to migrate to a supported external database before upgrading to Confluence 7.8.
See Migrating to Another Database for a step by step guide.
If you are using H2 for test purposes
If you're using H2 in a test site, or you're still evaluating Confluence, you should install Confluence 7.8 from scratch and import your content.
- Go to Administration > General Configuration > Backup and restore and perform a full XML export of your site. See Back up a Site for specific steps.
- Install Confluence 7.8. This should be a fresh installation with a new installation and home directory. Do not attempt to upgrade your existing site.
- Once your new Confluence 7.8 instance is running, import your site backup. See Restore a Site for specific steps.
Once you've confirmed your new test site is running, and all your content is accessible, you can remove your previous installation.
Word and Excel conversion now handled by the external process pool
For: DATA CENTER
In Confluence Data Center, many memory and CPU intensive tasks are handled by the external process pool.
From Confluence 7.8, the HTML conversion that's required to display a Word or Excel file using the Office Word and Office Excel macros (provided by the Office Connector) will be handled by the external process pool.
Supported platforms changes
No platform changes planned for this release.
Infrastructure changes
Confluence 7.8 contains changes that may affect apps. Head to Preparing for Confluence 7.8 to find out how these changes will impact app developers.