Confluence 4.0 has reached end of life
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This quick-reference guide is for people who regularly used the wiki markup editor in earlier versions of Confluence. It shows you how to use the new editor to do the things you have always done. And more.
The editor offers a number of options in the toolbar. But did you know...?
- You can use autocomplete and autoformatting shortcuts instead of the toolbar.
- The trigger characters for autocomplete and autoformatting are derived from wiki markup.
- You can add macros, links and images by typing the entire wiki markup element. As soon as you close the macro, link, or image, Confluence will convert it to rich text format and add it to the page.
Hints to get you started quickly
- Type wiki markup into the editor. Confluence's autocomplete and autoformat will convert the wiki markup as you type.
- Learn the keyboard shortcuts. Click the help icon on the editor toolbar to see a list of keyboard shortcuts.
- Undo the autocomplete and autoformat actions. To undo something that autocomplete or autoformat has done, press Backspace on your keyboard. Alternatively, press Ctrl+Z (Windows) or Cmd+Z (Mac).
Before and after guide for wiki markup fans
Below are the most commonly used autocomplete and autoformatting triggers.
Using wiki markup
What you did before | What to do now |
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Typing wiki markup: | Start typing wiki markup – try it and see what happens! |
Pasting wiki markup: | Click 'Insert' > 'Wiki Markup' on the editor toolbar. Note: Confluence will convert the wiki markup to rich text as soon as you add it to your page. The wiki markup will not be available for editing after that. Example: |
Adding macros
What you did before | What to do now |
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Adding a macro to your page: {blog-posts} | Type '{' and start typing the macro name to see a list of macros that match your text. Press the arrow keys to select the macro you want. Example: |
Formatting text
What you did before | What to do now |
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Bold text: *Surf's Up* | Type an asterisk '*', your text, then another asterisk. Confluence autoformat will convert the text to bold immediately. Example:
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Heading levels: h2. Midnight at the Lost and Found | Type the heading level and a full stop. Autoformat will convert the line to the appropriate heading immediately. You can continue typing your heading text immediately. Example:
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Underlining, italics, superscript, subscript: | Type the wiki markup just as you did before. Autoformatting will convert it as you type. |
Left, centre and right alignment: | Click the left, centre and right alignment buttons on the editor toolbar: This can also be used to align images independently of text. |
Indentation: | Click the left and right indentation buttons on the editor toolbar: |
Line break: | Press Shift + Enter to force a line break without a paragraph break. This is a line break with no extra space. |
Quotation: {quote}Life is a lemon.{quote} | Use the Quote style – select 'Quote' from the style dropdown menu or use the keyboard shortcut. Example: Or type bq. in the editor |
Colour: {color:green}Bat out of Hell.{color} | Click the colour options on the editor toolbar. Example: |
Adding symbols and emoticons
What you did before | What to do now |
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Smiley: :) | Type the globally-recognised markup for a smiley face (colon and round bracket), a wink (semicolon and round bracket), and so on. Autocomplete will convert it as you type. Example:
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Tick or check mark: (/) | Type a forward slash in round brackets. Autocomplete will convert it as you type. Example:
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Linking text
What you did before | What to do now |
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Linking to a Confluence page: [Modern Girl|Modern Girl song lyrics] | Type a square bracket '[' and start typing the page name to see the suggested pages to link to. Press the arrow keys to select the page you want. Example: |
Linking text to a web page: [Modern Girl|http://www.example.com/song] | Type a square bracket '[' and select 'Insert Web Link', then paste the URL into the link dialog. Example: |
Linking to a page that does not yet exist: [Future of the Modern Girl] | Type a square bracket '[' and the name of the non-existent page, then select 'Insert Link to Create Page'. Example: |
Linking to an attachment: [^attachment name] [Page Name#^attachment name] | Type a square bracket '[' and start typing the attachment name to see the suggested attachments to link to. Press the arrow keys to select the item you want. Example: |
Linking to an anchor within a page: {anchor:index} | To create the anchor: Add an anchor macro using wiki markup. Confluence will convert the macro to rich text format and add it to the page. For example, to create an anchor named 'index', type the following: {anchor:index} To create the link: Use wiki markup too. Type the link, including the alias (if required), the hash character
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Using bulleted and numbered lists
What you did before | What to do now |
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Adding bullets: My list: * Bad Attitude | Type an asterisk '*' followed by a space. Autoformat will convert the line to a bulleted list. You can continue typing your text immediately. Example: To add another line of text to an entry without creating a new list item, press Shift + Enter at the end of the line. |
Adding numbered items: My list: # A Time for Heroes | Type a hash or pound '#' followed by a space. Autoformat will convert the line to a numbered list. You can continue typing your text immediately. Example: To add another line of text to an entry without creating a new list item, press Shift + Enter at the end of the line. |
Adding line breaks in a numbered/bulleted list: // | Press Shift + Enter. |
Using tables
What you did before | What to do now |
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Adding a table: || || Title || Owned || | 1 | 45 seconds of ecstasy | Y | | 2 | Amnesty Is Granted | | | Type a series of pipe characters '|' then press Enter. Autoformat will convert the pipes to a table. Example – to create a table with three columns:
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Editing a table: | Learn the keyboard shortcuts for table editing. Click the help icon on the editor toolbar to see a list of shortcut keys. |
Displaying images
What you did before | What to do now |
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Displayed an image attached to the page: !NoMatterWhat.png! | Type an exclamation mark '!' and start typing the image name to see the suggested images to insert onto the page. Press the arrow keys to select the item you want. Example: |
Displaying an image attached to another page: !Home By Now^NoMatterWhat.png! | Exactly the same as when the image is attached to the same page, or use the new "Search" tab in "Insert" > "Image" |
Aligning images:!NoMatterWhat.png|align=right! | Click on the image and then: Click the left, centre and right alignment buttons on the editor toolbar: This can also be used to align images independently of text. |
Embedding multimedia files
What you did before | What to do now |
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Embedding a video, movie or audio file into a page: !HotPatootie.mov! | Use the Multimedia macro. Type an exclamation mark '!' and select 'Insert Other Media'. Example: Or type '{' and start typing the macro name 'Multimedia'. Example: |
Functionality that is no longer available
This section contains a list of things you could do in in earlier versions of Confluence, but can no longer do in Confluence 4.
- Edit a page in Microsoft Word. See FAQ entry.
- Edit, copy or view the wiki markup source of a page. This is because content is no longer stored in wiki markup format.
New source editor plugin
The Confluence Source Editor plugin allows users to edit the XHTML-based storage format of the page. You need Confluence 4.1.5 or later to use the plugin.