Confluence 4.0 Editor FAQ

With the release of Confluence 4.0, currently planned for early 2011, we will introduce a new editor that is entirely WYSIYWG ('what you see is what you get').We first made this announcement at Atlassian Summit in June 2010 (see video below).

People are already asking important questions, which we will answer below as soon as we can and in as much detail as is available. We are publishing these FAQ as early as possible, as soon as we have information that will be useful to you. The content is not final, but it is as correct and authoritative as we can make it. We will update it on an ongoing basis, as we get closer to the release date of Confluence 4.0.

Please watch this page if you would like Confluence to send you an email when we update the page. Sign up for a username on this documentation wiki if you do not already have one, then open the 'Tools' menu and click 'Watch'.

On this page:

Why is Atlassian introducing a new editor?

The editor is the single most important feature in Confluence. Currently, Confluence has two editors: the rich text editor and the wiki markup editor. Each has its strong points and its weak points.

• The rich text editor in particular has problems in stability and consistency, because it has to convert all content from rich text to wiki markup before storing content on the database. This leads to the so-called 'round-tripping' problems, where the page looks different in display mode than when created in edit mode.
• Many people find the wiki markup editor hard to use, particularly for long pages and complex layouts.

Many customers have given us great feedback on the shortcomings of the current editors and the things they would like to see in a Confluence editor. We are introducing a single new editor to replace both the wiki markup editor and the rich text editor. The new editor will help us to solve the problems mentioned above and will provide stable platform on which we can build high-demand features in future releases.

What about features that were previously only available in wiki markup?

Atlassian has identified all these features and will be adding support for them in the new editor.

So you are basically eliminating the wiki markup editor and keeping the rich text editor?

No. While the new editor is WYSIWYG like the current rich text editor, it has a completely different architecture based on XHTML and is thus faster and significantly more reliable.

When will the new editor appear in Confluence?

The new editor will be in Confluence 4.0, currently scheduled for release in early 2011.

What are the features of the new editor?

The editor is a WYSIWYG editor that provides:

• All features of the existing Confluence rich text editor including:
  • Autocomplete for links, attachments and macros
  • The link browser
  • The macro browser
  • The image browser
  • Editor keyboard shortcuts
  • Drag and drop
  • Editing in Office
  • Import from Office
  • Properties panel
  • Context menu
• Full-screen editing
• A new editing toolbar
• Easy-to-use macro placeholders in the editor itself
• Improved table editing
• Improved stability and consistency between editor mode and display mode
• Additional browser support
• A stable platform on which we can build high-demand features in future releases

What does the new editor look like?

The new editor is still evolving. You can take a look at the new editor prototype demonstrated at Atlassian Summit in June 2010.

• View the video embedded at the top of this page or:
• Watch the same video here

Will Confluence still have a wiki markup editor?

No. However, we plan to support one-way entry of basic wiki markup code. (For example, this may be useful if you take meeting notes in a basic text editor and want to paste them into Confluence. Or if someone sends you some wiki markup code via email.)

There will be an option in the editor where you can select 'Insert Wiki Markup' and then enter or paste wiki markup code into a popup dialogue box. When you click 'Insert' to submit your code, Confluence will convert the wiki markup to XHTML and place it on the page. You will not be able to edit it in wiki markup mode after the initial insertion.

Will you be able to edit the source XHTML code directly?

Yes. You will be able to switch to a source view (XHTML view), which will give you access to the source XHTML for your page. However, the source view is intended to be used only for tweaking content entered via the editor. The source view is not designed for use as a fully-featured editing mode.

What format will Confluence use to store its page content?

XHTML. Up to now, Confluence has stored its content in the database as wiki markup. In Confluence 4.0, the content will be stored as XHTML. Basically, XHTML is like HTML but complies with stricter formatting rules. Where HTML is based on SGML, XHTML is based on XML, which is a subset of SGML. Because XHTML documents need to be well formed, they can be parsed using standard XML parsers.

Will there be a tool to convert existing content from wiki markup to the new XHTML format?

Yes. Where possible, Confluence will automatically upgrade existing content into the new XHTML storage format. There will be some API changes but we are trying to keep them to a minimum and we will provide facilities to convert wiki markup to XHTML. We will document and publish the API changes well before the release of Confluence 4.0, to give developers enough time to give us feedback about the changes and to adopt the new APIs.

Will the Office Connector support the new XHTML format?

Yes. When you edit a wiki page in Word and save it to Confluence, the Office Connector currently translates what you have created in Word (with some limitations) into wiki markup. In Confluence 4.0, the Office Connector will convert the content to XHTML. We are working to ensure all our existing plugins work in the new editor and the new storage format at the time we release Confluence 4.0. This includes the Office Connector.

RELATED TOPICS

Planning for the New Editor in Confluence 4.0