Feedback on Confluence Storage Format

When upgrading from Confluence 3.x to Confluence 4.x, the underlying storage format for your content will be migrated from a wiki markup-based format to a new XHTML-based format. This page describes the new storage format, and provides an opportunity for people to discuss the storage format and related ideas.

On this page:

Comments welcome

This page has attracted a lot of interest and a number of very valuable comments. Please have a read, to see the ideas that people have proposed.

Notes about the storage format

You can view the Confluence storage format for a given page by choosing Tools > View Storage Format. This option is only available if one of the following is true:
- You are a Confluence administrator.
- Your Confluence site has the Confluence Source Editor plugin installed and you have permission to use the source editor.
If you would like to edit the storage format for a page, your Confluence system administrator will need to install the Confluence Source Editor plugin.
Clarification of terminology: If you choose Tools > View Source, you will see the format used within the editor panel, not the storage format of the page.
We refer to the Confluence storage format as 'XHTML-based'. To be correct, we should call it XML, because the Confluence storage format does not comply with the XHTML definition. In particular, Confluence includes custom elements for macros and more. We're using the term 'XHTML-based' to indicate that there is a large proportion of HTML in the storage format.

Under consideration

Provide an XSD - "an XSD could make on the fly validation for persons having an editor supporting it (e.g. Visual Studio), and since an XSD would be a way to validate your input. CONF-24884 - Getting issue details... STATUS

Macros

See Confluence Storage Format for Macros.

Headings

Format type	In Confluence 3.5 and earlier	In Confluence 4.0 and later
Heading 1	`h1. Heading 1`	<h1>Heading 1</h1>	Underlined in the Documentation Theme
Heading 2	h2. Heading 2	<h2>Heading 2</h2>	Underlined in the Documentation Theme
Heading 3	h3. Heading 3	<h3>Heading 3</h3>
Headings 4 to 6 are also available and follow the same pattern

Text effects

Format type	In Confluence 3.5 and earlier	In Confluence 4.0 and later	What you will get
strong/bold	strong	<strong>strong text</strong>	strong	<b> will also work but get converted to <strong> upon saving
emphasis	_emphasis_	<em>Italics Text</em>	emphasis	<i> will also work but get converted to <em> upon saving
strikethrough	-strikethrough-	<span style="text-decoration: line-through;">strikethrough</span>	~~strikethrough~~	<s> and <del> will also work
underline	+underline+	<u>underline</u>	underline
superscript	^superscript^	<sup>superscript</sup>	^superscript
subscript	~subscript~	<sub>subscript</sub>	_subscript
monospace	{{monospaced}}	<code>monospaced</code>	`monospaced`
preformatted	n/a	<pre>preformatted text</pre>	preformatted text
block quotes	bq. block quote or {quote} block quote {quote}	<blockquote><p>block quote</p></blockquote>	block quote
text colour	{color:red}red text{color}	<span style="color: rgb(255,0,0);">red text</span>	red text
small	n/a	<small>small text</small>	small text
big	n/a	<big>big text</big>	big text
center-align	n/a	<p style="text-align: center;">centered text</p>	centered text
right-align	n/a	<p style="text-align: right;">right aligned text</p>	right aligned text

Text breaks

Format type	In Confluence 3.5 and earlier	In Confluence 4.0 and later	What you will get
New paragraph	Paragraph 1 (empty line) Paragraph 2	<p>Paragraph 1</p> <p>Paragraph 2</p>	Paragraph 1 Paragraph 2
Line break	Line 1 \\ Line 2	Line 1 <br /> Line 2 Note: Created in the editor using `Shift + Return/Enter`	Line 1 Line 2
Horizontal rule	----	<hr />
— symbol	---	—	—
– symbol	--	–	–

Lists

Format type	In Confluence 3.5 and earler	In Confluence 4.0 and later	What you will get
Unordered list – round bullets	* Round bullet list item	<ul> <li>round bullet list item</li> </ul>	Round bullet list item
Unordered list – squarebullets	- Square bullet list item	<ul style="list-style-type: square;"> <li>square bullet list item</li> </ul>	Square bullet list item
Ordered list (numbered list)	# Ordered list item	<ol> <li>numbered list item</li> </ol>	Ordered list item

Links

Format type	In Confluence 3.5 and earlier	In Confluence 4.0 and later	What you will get
Link to another Confluence page	[Link to another Confluence page\|Page Title]	<ac:link> <ri:page ri:content-title="Page Title" /> <ac:plain-text-link-body> <![CDATA[Link to another Confluence Page]]> </ac:plain-text-link-body> </ac:link>	Link to another Confluence page
Link to an attachment	[Link to an attachment^atlassian_logo.gif]	<ac:link> <ri:attachment ri:filename="atlassian_logo.gif" /> <ac:plain-text-link-body> <![CDATA[Link to a Confluence Attachment]]> </ac:plain-text-link-body> </ac:link>	Link to an attachment
Link to an external site	[Atlassian\|http://www.atlassian.com/]	<a href="http://www.atlassian.com">Atlassian</a>	Atlassian
Anchor link (same page)	[Anchor Link\|#anchor]	<ac:link ac:anchor="anchor"> <ac:plain-text-link-body> <![CDATA[Anchor Link]]> </ac:plain-text-link-body> </ac:link>	Anchor Link
Anchor link (another page)	[Anchor Link\|pagetitle#anchor]	<ac:link ac:anchor="anchor"> <ri:page ri:content-title="pagetitle"/> <ac:plain-text-link-body> <![CDATA[Anchor Link]]> </ac:plain-text-link-body> </ac:link>	Anchor Link
Link with an embedded image for the body	[!google.png!\|pagetitle#anchor]	<ac:link ac:anchor="Anchor Link"> <ac:link-body> <ac:image><ri:url ri:value="http://confluence.atlassian.com/images/logo/confluence_48_trans.png" /></ac:image> </ac:link-body> </ac:link> For rich content like images, you need to use `ac:link-body` to wrap the contents.

A note about link bodies

All links received from the editor will be stored as plain text by default, unless they are detected to contain the limited set of mark up that we allow in link bodies. Here are some examples of markup we support in link bodies.

An example of different link bodies

<ac:link>
  <!-- Any resource identifier --> 
  <ri:page ri:content-title="Home" ri:space-key="SANDBOX" /> 
  <ac:link-body>Some <strong>Rich</strong> Text</ac:link-body>
</ac:link>
<ac:link>
  <ri:page ri:content-title="Plugin developer tutorial stuff" ri:space-key="TECHWRITING" />
  <ac:plain-text-link-body><![CDATA[A plain <text> link body]]></ac:plain-text-link-body>
</ac:link>
<ac:link>
  <ri:page ri:content-title="Plugin developer tutorial stuff" ri:space-key="TECHWRITING" />
  <!-- A link body isn't necessary. Auto-generated from the resource identifier for display. --> 
</ac:link>

The markup tags permitted within the <ac:link-body> are , , , , <code>, <tt>, , , and .

Images

Format type

In Confluence 3.5 and earlier

In Confluence 4.0 and later

What you will get

Attached image

!atlassian_logo.gif!

<ac:image>
<ri:attachment ri:filename="atlassian_logo.gif" />
</ac:image>

External image

!http://confluence.atlassian.com/images/logo/confluence_48_trans.png!

<ac:image>
<ri:url ri:value="http://confluence.atlassian.com/images/logo/confluence_48_trans.png" /></ac:image>

Supported image attributes (some of these attributes mirror the equivalent HTML 4 IMG element):

Name	Description
ac:align	image alignment
ac:border	Set to "true" to set a border
ac:class	css class attribute.
ac:title	image tool tip.
ac:style	css style
ac:thumbnail	Set to "true" to designate this image as a thumbnail.
ac:alt	alt text
ac:height	image height
ac:width	image width
ac:vspace	the white space on the top and bottom of an image
ac:hspace	the white space on the left and right of an image

Tables

Format type

In Confluence 3.5 and earlier

In Confluence 4.0 and later

What you will get

Two column, two row (top header row)

||Table Heading Cell 1||Table Heading Cell 2||

              |Normal Cell 1|Normal Cell 2|

<table>
<tbody>
  <tr>
    <th>Table Heading Cell 1</th>
    <th>Table Heading Cell 2</th>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Normal Cell 1</td>
    <td>Normal Cell 2</td>
  </tr>
</tbody>
</table>

Table Heading Cell 1	Table Heading Cell 2
Normal Cell 1	Normal Cell 2

Two column, three rows, 2nd and third with merged cells in first row

N/A

<table>
<tbody>
  <tr>
    <th>Table Heading Cell 1</th>
    <th>Table Heading Cell 2</th>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td rowspan="2">Merged Cell</td>
    <td>Normal Cell 1</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td colspan="1">Normal Cell 2</td>
  </tr>
</tbody>
</table>

Table Heading Cell 1	Table Heading Cell 2
Merged Cell	Normal Cell 1
Merged Cell	Normal Cell 2

Page layouts

Confluence supports page layouts directly, as an alternative to macro-based layouts such as those using the section and column macros. This section documents the storage format XML created when these layouts are used in a page.

Notes:

Page layouts were introduced in Confluence 4.2, and are not available in earlier versions of Confluence.
The word {content} in the layouts below indicates where further XHTML or Confluence storage format block content would be entered, such as  or <table> tags.

Layout Type	In Confluence 4.2 and later
Two columns	<div class="contentLayout" data-atlassian-layout="{"name":"pagelayout-two-simple","columns":["",""]}"> <div class="columnLayout twoColumns"> <div class="cell "> <div class="innerCell"> {content} </div> </div> <div class="cell "> <div class="innerCell"> {content} </div> </div> </div> </div>
Left sidebar	<div class="contentLayout" data-atlassian-layout="{"name":"pagelayout-two-simple-left","columns":["aside","large"]}"> <div class="columnLayout twoColumns"> <div class="cell aside"> <div class="innerCell"> {content} </div> </div> <div class="cell large"> <div class="innerCell"> {content} </div> </div> </div> </div>
Right sidebar	<div class="contentLayout" data-atlassian-layout="{"name":"pagelayout-two-simple-right","columns":["large","aside"]}"> <div class="columnLayout twoColumns"> <div class="cell large"> <div class="innerCell"> {content} </div> </div> <div class="cell aside"> <div class="innerCell"> {content} </div> </div> </div> </div>
Three columns	<div class="contentLayout" data-atlassian-layout="{"name":"pagelayout-three-simple","columns":["","",""]}"> <div class="columnLayout threeColumns"> <div class="cell "> <div class="innerCell"> {content} </div> </div> <div class="cell "> <div class="innerCell"> {content} </div> </div> <div class="cell"> <div class="innerCell"> {content} </div> </div> </div> </div>
Two columns with header and footer	<div class="contentLayout" data-atlassian-layout="{"name":"pagelayout-two","columns":["",""],"header":true,"footer":true}"> <div class="header"> <div class="innerCell"> {content} </div> </div> <div class="columnLayout twoColumns"> <div class="cell "> <div class="innerCell"> {content} </div> </div> <div class="cell "> <div class="innerCell"> {content} </div> </div> </div> <div class="footer"> <div class="innerCell"> {content} </div> </div> </div>
Left sidebar with header and footer	<div class="contentLayout" data-atlassian-layout="{"name":"pagelayout-two-left","columns":["aside","large"],"header":true,"footer":true}"> <div class="header"> <div class="innerCell"> {content} </div> </div> <div class="columnLayout twoColumns"> <div class="cell aside"> <div class="innerCell"> {content} </div> </div> <div class="cell large"> <div class="innerCell"> {content} </div> </div> </div> <div class="footer"> <div class="innerCell"> {content} </div> </div> </div>
Right sidebar with header and footer	<div class="contentLayout" data-atlassian-layout="{"name":"pagelayout-two-right","columns":["large","aside"],"header":true,"footer":true}"> <div class="header"> <div class="innerCell"> {content} </div> </div> <div class="columnLayout twoColumns"> <div class="cell large"> <div class="innerCell"> {content} </div> </div> <div class="cell aside"> <div class="innerCell"> {content} </div> </div> </div> <div class="footer"> <div class="innerCell"> {content} </div> </div> </div>
Three columns with header and footer	<div class="contentLayout" data-atlassian-layout="{"name":"pagelayout-three","columns":["","",""],"header":true,"footer":true}"> <div class="header"> <div class="innerCell"> {content} </div> </div> <div class="columnLayout threeColumns"> <div class="cell "> <div class="innerCell"> {content} </div> </div> <div class="cell "> <div class="innerCell"> {content} </div> </div> <div class="cell"> <div class="innerCell"> {content} </div> </div> </div> <div class="footer"> <div class="innerCell"> {content} </div> </div> </div>
Left and right sidebar with header and footer	<div class="contentLayout" data-atlassian-layout="{"name":"pagelayout-three-sidebars","columns":["sidebars","large","sidebars"],"header":true,"footer":true}"> <div class="header"> <div class="innerCell"> {content} </div> </div> <div class="columnLayout threeColumns"> <div class="cell sidebars"> <div class="innerCell"> {content} </div> </div> <div class="cell large"> <div class="innerCell"> {content} </div> </div> <div class="cell sidebars"> <div class="innerCell"> {content} </div> </div> </div> <div class="footer"> <div class="innerCell"> {content} </div> </div> </div>

Emoticons

Format type	In Confluence 3.5 and earlier	In Confluence 4.0 and later
Emoticons	:)	<ac:emoticon ac:name="smile" />
	:(	<ac:emoticon ac:name="sad" />
	:P	<ac:emoticon ac:name="cheeky" />
	:D	<ac:emoticon ac:name="laugh" />
	;)	<ac:emoticon ac:name="wink" />
	(y)	<ac:emoticon ac:name="thumbs-up" />
	(n)	<ac:emoticon ac:name="thumbs-down" />
	(i)	<ac:emoticon ac:name="information" />
	(/)	<ac:emoticon ac:name="tick" />
	(x)	<ac:emoticon ac:name="cross" />
	(!)	<ac:emoticon ac:name="warning" />

Resource identifiers

Resource identifiers are used to describe "links" or "references" to resources in the storage format. Examples of resources include pages, blog posts, comments, shortcuts, images and so forth.

Resource	Resource identifier format
Page	<ri:page ri:space-key="FOO" ri:content-title="Test Page"/> Notes: `ri:space-key`: (optional) denotes the space key. This can be omitted to create a relative reference. `ri:content-title`: (required) denotes the title of the page.
Blog Post	<ri:blog-post ri:space-key="FOO" ri:content-title="First Post" ri:posting-day="2012/01/30" /> Notes: `ri:space-key`: (optional) denotes the space key. This can be omitted to create a relative reference. `ri:content-title`: (required) denotes the title of the page. `ri:posting-day`: (required) denotes the posting day. The format is YYYY/MM/DD.
Attachment	<ri:attachment ri:filename> ... resource identifier for the container of the attachment ... </ri:attachment> Notes: `ri:filename`: (required) denotes the name of the attachment. the body of the `ri:attachment` element should be a resource identifier denoting the container of the attachment. This can be omitted to create a relative attachment reference (similar to [foo.png] in wiki markup). Examples: Relative Attachment Reference <ri:attachment ri:filename="happy.gif" /> Absolute Attachment Reference <ri:attachment ri:filename="happy.gif"> <ri:page ri:space-key="TST" ri:content-title="Test Page"/> </ri:attachment>
URL	<ri:url ri:value="http://example.org/sample.gif"/> Notes: `ri:value`: (required) denotes the actual URL value.
Shortcut	<ri:shortcut ri:key="jira" ri:parameter="ABC-123"> Notes: `ri:key`: (required) represents the key of the Confluence shortcut. `ri:parameter`: (required) represents the parameter to pass into the Confluence shortcut. The example above is equivalent to `[ABC-123@jira]` in wiki markup.
User	<ri:user ri:username="fred"/> Notes: `ri:username`: (required) denotes the name of the user.
Space	<ri:space ri:space-key="TST"/> Notes: `ri:space-key`: (required) denotes the key of the space.
Content Entity	<ri:content-entity ri:content-id="123"/> Notes: `ri:content-id`: (required) denotes the id of the content.

Template variables

This screenshot shows a simple template:

The template contains the following variables:

Variable name	Type	Values
$MyText	Single-line text
$MyMulti	Multi-line text	Size: `5 x 100`
$MyList	List	List items: `Apples,Pears,Peaches`

The XML export produces the following code for the template:

<at:declarations>
  <at:string at:name="MyText" />
  <at:textarea at:columns="100" at:name="MyMulti" at:rows="5" />
  <at:list at:name="MyList">
    <at:option at:value="Apples" />
    <at:option at:value="Pears" />
    <at:option at:value="Peaches" />
  </at:list>
</at:declarations>

<p>This is Sarah's template</p>
<p>A single-line text variable:&nbsp;<at:var at:name="MyText" /></p>
<p>A multi-line text variable:&nbsp;<at:var at:name="MyMulti" /></p>
<p>A selection list:&nbsp;<at:var at:name="MyList" /></p>
<p>End of page.</p>

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