Your trial is set up and you're ready to go.  You have administrator permissions for your OnDemand trial.

Throughout this tutorial we will highlight whether a feature is available to all users or requires specific permissions.

 All users can do this

 Only Administrators can do this

Space Administrators can do this

We'll point out where there are differences between our OnDemand and Installed versions of Confluence with this icon  (warning).

In this step you will create a space, create some pages and add content to a page, including images, links and macros. 

Create a space

Let's jump in with both feet and create a space.  Spaces are where you create pages, blogs and collaborate with your team. 

Later in this tutorial you will look at customising the look of your space, but for now, let's create some content.

Create some content

Pages are where you create your content.  You can create a blank page, a blog post, or use a blueprint to solve the blank page problem. 

In this example you will use the Meeting Notes blueprint to create some meeting notes in our new project space. 

To create meeting notes: 

  1. In your project space choose Create.
     
  2. Choose Meeting Notes and Create.
  3. The meeting notes page appears, enter some content.
  4. Choose Save. 

Confluence creates a link for all the meeting notes in your space on the Sidebar. 

Blueprints provide you with ways to create common content quickly. The best way to learn about them is to try some out.  They contain instructions and wizards to guide you through the process.  

Create a blank page

In the next step we will take a closer look at the editor and the types of content you can add to your pages. 

Edit the content of a page

In this example you will edit your new 'Project Background' page and add some content. 

More about Macros

Macros extend what's possible on a Confluence page.  There are macros for navigation, for special formatting, for reporting and adding media - there are even macros that integrate with other Atlassian products like JIRA. 

To add a macro to a page:

  1. Edit your page.
  2. Choose Insert > Other Macros. 
  3. Choose a macro from the macro browser - you can use the categories or search field to help you find a macro.
  4. Enter any parameters the macro might need. 
  5. Choose Insert.

The macro appears as a placeholder in the editor. Select the placeholder to edit or remove the macro.  Once you save your page you will see the macro content in all its glory.

Check out these great macro examples:

The Widget Connector macro allows you to display a wide range of web content on your Confluence page such as video, twitter feeds, slideshows. In this example we will add a YouTube video.

To add a YouTube video to your page the fast way:

  1. Go to YouTube and grab the URL for the video (hint: use the 'Share' option, not the page URL).
  2. Paste the URL on to your page.
  3. Confluence recognises the URL and adds the Widget Connector macro for you.

You can add more than just videos, you can content from Twitter, Flickr, SlideShare, Scribid, Vimeo and many more.

A Confluence demonstration video is shown here - using the Widget Connector macro.

The View File macros allow you to display PDF and Office documents that are attached to your page.

To use the macro the fast way:

  1. Grab a PDF or Office document that is saved on your computer.
  2. Drag it into the editor.
  3. Watch while Confluence attaches the file to your page and adds the macro.

A Powerpoint macro showing a sample presentation attached to this page is shown here:

The JIRA macro allows you to display a list of JIRA issues. Use the wizard or your own JQL query to populate the Macro with issues.

You'll need JIRA linked to Confluence to use this macro.

We won't be using the macro in this example, but here is an example from our Release Notes showing what the macro looks like. Click to see the larger version.

Pages vs Blogs

Before you move on, let's talk about the difference between a blog, a blueprint and a blank page.

Blogs are pages that play by blog rules.  Blog posts cannot be restricted or moved, they are visible to other users as soon as you post, and have their own watch and notification settings. Blog posts appear under the 'Blogs' link on the sidebar, whereas pages appear under 'Pages' on the sidebar.  

Blueprints are pages that are created from special templates, and are designed to make it easy for you to add common types of content to your pages. Many blueprints appear under their own link on your space sidebar.