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- Created by Robert Reiner, last modified on 02. Jan 2024
projectdoc Toolbox
List of tips to use Confluence with the projectdoc Toolbox and fun! Tips address users of different experience levels.
This collection of tips help new and proficient users to learn new aspects of projectdoc. Users may read one tip a week or browse the list of tips occasionally. Therefore learn projectdoc one tip at a time.
The tips provide links to resources to read more about the topics of the tip.
The list of topic is ordered by their date of publishing. The latest tip is the first in this list.
| Name | Short Description | Level of Experience | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| (Not) Using Templates with Variables | Shows what to expect when using variables in 'User Created Templates' or 'Global Templates'. | Advanced Beginner | |
| Referencing Property Values | Shows how to render the value of a document property with a display macro. There are actually three variants of this macro that we are discussion in this short article. | Advanced Beginner | |
| Identify Document Elements | In case an author requires to identify document elements to readers, for instance a numbering of paragraphs or sentences, the Content Marker Macro allows to employ a page-related auto-numbering and provides means to specify the format for these consecutive numbers. | Competent | |
| Merge Content | Shows how content can be decomposed and merged. This feature can be used to allow transclusion of single sentences and render all sentences in a single paragraph. | Competent | |
| Compact Columns for Tour Macros | The Display Table Macro allows to render the values for a collection of properties for compact tables. With Version 4.5 this feature is also supported by the Tour Macro. This tip shows how to use it. | Competent | |
| Empty Content | Introduces to the concept of content to be considered to be empty. | Competent | |
| Toggle Views | Shows how to use the Wiki Link Macro based on Remote Controls to alternate between two different views on a single document. | Proficient | |
| Deep Links in Queries | Deep links can be used on both sides of predicates in a Where Clause. | Competent | |
| Remote Controls for Transclusion | Alter the rendering of macros of transcluded content with remote controls. | Competent | |
| Filter on Table Rows | The projectdoc Toolbox for Confluence provides a macro to merge tables. The macro also allows to filter on table rows. This tip provides a short overview. | Competent | |
| projectdoc Bulk Changes to Documents | The Web API Extension for the projectdoc Toolbox can be employed to make bulk changes to documents. Since there is no safety net, these actions need to be take with care. This tip introduces a way to conduct this task. | Expert | |
| Hide projectdoc Tools within Browser | The projectdoc Toolbox installs a lot of macros and additional doctype add-ons install a lot of doctypes. This tips shows ways that allow to remove the projectdoc tools from the current page. | Advanced Beginner | |
| Bookmarklets for projectdoc | A short overview on how to use bookmarklets in your browser to add additional features using the projectdoc Toolbox for Confluence. | Proficient | |
| Reporting | A short introduction on compiling projectdoc documents in dynamic lists using constraints. | Novice | |
| Using Variables | Using document and space properties as variables in the projectdoc Toolbox for Confluence. | Advanced Beginner | |
| Search Functions | Using functions to run searches with the projectdoc Toolbox. | Advanced Beginner | |
| Changing Names | A name in projectdoc used to identify a document is not considered a hard reference. When changing the name of a particular document, the references to the original name do not automatically change. This is by design. It may also by the cause of annoyance. This tip provides information how to deal with this. | Expert | |
| Support Recalling | Links allow readers to find related information. Autocomplete allows authors to recall the names of related information. Let's have a closer look on the Autocomplete Feature of the projectdoc Toolbox! | Competent | |
| Space Groups | The projectdoc Toolbox supports organizing collections of spaces. Some of these spaces provide general information, some are specific for a product, a project, or a team. Teams may organize their spaces in groups with shared configuration and information. | Expert | |
| Using Aspects | Add a document as a child and automatically make supplied properties and sections available in the parent. A short walk-through to use the Aspect Feature in your information architecture. | Expert | |
| Aspects light | Add a document as a child and automatically make supplied properties available in the parent. | Expert | |
| Search Filter based on Properties | Show how to use document properties to filter on searches. | Advanced Beginner | |
| Linking to Glossary Terms | Show how to use the Name List Macro to render links to glossary terms. | Competent | |
| Supply Documents | Show how to import properties from other projectdoc documents into a projectdoc document. | Expert | |
| Use Context Controlled Macros | A collection of macros supports dynamic parameters that may be controlled remotely or by their context. This tip provides some information on context controlled macros. | Proficient | |
| Transclusion References | Keeping track of transclusions using artificial properties. | Competent | |
| Using Heading Numbers | A short introduction to use heading numbers with the projectdoc Toolbox. | Competent | |
| Materialize Properties | Using existing properties from other documents. | Advanced Beginner | |
| Web of Documents | The projectdoc Toolbox makes it easier to create links for navigation for users to browse the documentation. This tip explains some the concept in the context of organization, person, role, and stakeholder. | Advanced Beginner | |
| Impersonator - using Live Templates | A short introduction using the impersonator feature of the projectdoc Toolbox. In this example we examine what to do to reuse a layout defined in another document. | Competent | |
| Import Properties for Transclusion | Shows how to import properties from another document to be applied to placeholders in transclusions. | Proficient | |
| Rescue Confluence Pages | Rescue and restore data of a Confluence page that does not render anymore. | Competent | |
| Compacted Lists | Discard unwanted references in manually compiled lists with the projectdoc Toolbox on Confluence. | Advanced Beginner | |
| Annotate Dynamic Lists | It is pretty easy to annotate dynamic lists with the projectdoc Toolbox on Confluence. | Advanced Beginner | |
| Identifiers with Dots | Writing page blueprints includes to configure wizards for easy page creation. If the field identifier contains dots there is a problem with a simple solution. | Advanced Beginner | |
| No dynamic Property Values | The projectdoc Toolbox does not support dynamic values as property values. Use sections to render dynamic values and select the contents of this section instead of property values. | Advanced Beginner | |
| From a Table to Views | Short introduction on using data tables or using views on data. | Advanced Beginner | |
| Create Doctypes with a Model | A short introduction the the Doctype Maven Plugin to generate Confluence Blueprints for projectdoc Doctypes based on an XML description. | Expert | |
| Navigating Documentations | Categories provide easy navigation. The category page documenting the category automatically lists all documents tagged with this category. A defined set of categories has per default no such homepage. | Competent | |
| Support Browsing | Tools from the projectdoc Toolbox to allow users to browse for information. | Advanced Beginner | |
| Modularization | Using sections and modules to organize and reference content. | Advanced Beginner | |
| Learning projectdoc | Getting started with the projectdoc Toolbox is not easy. Some basic concepts are more than just good-to-know and the number of macros and doctypes may be simply overwhelming. This tip gives some advice on how to get started. | Novice | |
| Parent Property of projectdoc Documents | projectdoc documents typically provide a property named 'Parent Property'. This property refers to a logical parent. This tip shows what this is all about. | Novice | |
| Compact Columns | Tables often require a lot of space to be rendered. This tip shows how to reduce the demand of space. | Novice | |
| Search Space for Index Spaces | Define the default search space for index spaces. | Competent | |
| Remote Control | Changing the rendered contents of a projectdoc document dynamically for each request. | Competent | |
| Colored Sections and Boxes | Colored sections or boxes – like the Confluence panel macro – support authors to emphasize their content. | Novice | |
| Merging Tables and Lists | References listed in tables and lists may come from different sources. The Table Merger Macro allows to render a number of tables (or lists) as one table (or list). | Novice | |
| Two central Use Cases for the projectdoc Toolbox | The projectdoc Toolbox provides a lot of macros to create documentation. It also replaces two macros provided by Confluence. The Excerpt Macro and the Page Properties Macro. | Novice | |
| Ancestor Queries | The projectdoc Toolbox makes it easy to search for documents with a given set of constraints in an ancestor context. | Competent | |
| Using Spaces | A short introduction on using spaces with the projectdoc Toolbox for Confluence. | Advanced Beginner | |
| Confluence as the Information Hub | Tools from the projectdoc Toolbox to import from and export to other information systems. | Competent | |
| Subtree Queries | The projectdoc Toolbox makes it easy to search for documents with a given set of constraints in a document tree with a given root. | Advanced Beginner | |
| Heading Level Transposition | Reusing sections typically includes the transcluded content to match the document structure of the transcluding document. The projectdoc Toolbox does this automatically. | Advanced Beginner | |
| Transclude transcluded Sections | Shows how to transclude transcluded content. | Competent | |
| Control Column Width with Display Table Macro | The Display Table Macro provides a quick fix feature to control the width of the table columns. | Novice | |
| Increasing the Document Cache | If you have lots of projectdoc documents then the in-memory properties cache might not perform optimal. | Competent | |
| Monitoring Confluence | Have you ever experienced performance problems with your Confluence on premise (Server) installation? This tip might help you. | Expert | |
| Rendering Navigation Links | There are basically five ways to render navigation links with additional properties with the projectdoc Toolbox. | Novice | |
| Using Commas in Property Values | Property values are inherently considered to be a list of strings. Typically this a good thing since it makes working with list of names very easy. Sometimes it makes things more difficult. | Novice | |
| Topic is not meant to be multi-purpose | Despite the name of the Topic Doctype, it is not supposed to be used for any topic. Use the Generic Doctype or the Section Doctype for general purposes. | Novice | |
| HTML Title as Link Text | The Information Systems Extension for the projectdoc Toolbox allows to render a link with the HTML title as label via autoconvert of the pasted URL. | Advanced Beginner | |
| Being a Pretender | Authors occasionally need to have a look at a page as if they where in the role of a reader. The pretend-being-a user space property supports switching roles. With the use of the Web API Extension and the Bookmarklets Extension switching roles is now really easy! | Competent | |
| Think big, start small | Starting with the projectdoc Toolbox might be intimidating at first. So start small using the basic features and add what is needed, when it is needed. | Novice | |
| The hidden Section | The Content Marker Macro identifies content that can be displayed using the Display Table Macro. This is a short tip on how to transclude content from a projectdoc document. | Advanced Beginner | |
| Selection Boxes on ad-hoc Doctypes | Define a doctype on document instances to select from its set of values. | Advanced Beginner | |
| Using Placeholders | An overview over features employing placeholders to create a modular documentation. | Competent | |
| Specify Doctype Homepage | It is easy to define the default homepage for a given doctype in a space. | Competent | |
| List related Pages | Listing related pages to a page is quite easy using the projectdoc Toolbox. | Advanced Beginner | |
| Additional Properties | Sometimes you need to add properties to a set of documents in a given context. This can be handled in two ways: add the property to each document or use the Tour Macro. | Novice | |
| Accessing projectdoc Space Properties with cURL | Learn how to access projectdoc space properties via REST API with cURL. | Advanced Beginner | |
| Accessing projectdoc Properties with cURL | Learn how to access projectdoc properties via REST API with cURL. | Advanced Beginner | |
| REST Login to Confluence with cURL | To access Confluence via its REST API with cURL you typically need to authenticate. Learn how to login with cURL and avoid some common security pitfalls. | Advanced Beginner | |
| Living Documentation | Integrate information from different sources into your documentation using Confluence and the projectdoc Toolbox. | Competent | |
| Views on Topics | projectdoc makes it easy to create a modular documentation and provide multiple views on topics. | Advanced Beginner | |
| Think Repositories | To organize your documentation place documents in a typed repository and add additional views on demand. | Advanced Beginner | |
| Agile Documentation | Agile documentation is not another buzzword. There is actually a set of rules to follow which will lead to meaningful documentation. Writing helpful documentation is not easy, but it gets a lot easier with the agile mindset - and with the projectdoc Toolbox. | Advanced Beginner | |
| List all Properties | projectdoc provides a number of artificial properties for documents. Spaces may inherit properties from delegate spaces. All properties can be accessed by macros of the toolbox. | Novice | |
| Document Properties as Data | We like to think of document properties as metadata. But in some contexts it is natural to think of them as data for the entity described by the document. | Novice | |
| Section in Action | Use the Section Macro to define sections. This tip introduces the macro by listing its features. | Novice | |
| Content Reuse | The projectdoc Toolbox provides a number of features to help teams to reuse content. Content can be transcluded individually or in form of a multitransclude. Authors can even transclude content from multiple documents in the wiki, effectively combining transclusion with automatic lists. | Advanced Beginner | |
| Define Status Tags | Doctypes and the Name List Macro allow to specify a range of valid tokens for a value. These values can be rendered by applying specific CSS styles. | Advanced Beginner | |
| Using Space Properties | Space properties are defined for spaces and are accessed via the Space Property Macro. This tip goes into detail in how to use space properties with inheritence and extension pages. | Advanced Beginner | |
| Overwhelmed with Blueprints? | Templates are a great tool to make creating and maintaining documents very easy. Blueprints support authors to create documents based on templates. But a large number of blueprints may make it difficult for authors to select the appropriate template. Here are a few tips on dealing with larger amounts of blueprints. | ||
| Tasks as Property Values | Properties may represent an editable boolean value. Use Confluence tasks to define the value for those properties. | ||
| Information for Audiences | You may want to provide information for specific audiences. | ||
| Add HTML Meta Tags | Add HTML meta tags to your Confluence pages. This is for the search engine optimization (SEO) for your website as well as adding semantics for machine reading. | Proficient | |
| Automatic Lists | Automatic lists are part of every Confluence instance. Especially the Dashboard lists all recent changes automatically. And there are macros to list documents by label and other properties. The projectdoc Toolbox supports queries on any properties defined for your documents. This allows you to provide lists of references to your readers that are relevant in a given context. | Competent | |
| Employ the Autolist Feature with Categories | Categories, tags, and others allow to organize the pages in your wiki. First define categories pages with display table macros. Second tag your pages with these categories. With this two-step process it is easy to have multiple views to link to your information in your wiki. | ||
| Use Display Table for Transclusion References | It is easy to list all pages that transclude a section from the current page. This allows you, as an author, to check quickly if changes to a document that is transcluded, needs changes to the transcluding documents. | ||
| No need to render the Section Title | It is often obvious that the introduction text is a description of the information of the document. Therefore the title 'Description' or 'Summary' may be irrelevant. You may suppress the rendering of the title easily. | ||
| Use Display Properties Macro for List Items | If you want to list a reference to a document with name and short description, use the Display Properties Macro. If you specify no property names, it defaults to Name and Short Description. | ||
| Use Quotes in Resources and Excerpts | Quotes automatically collect information provided in resources or from an associated excerpt of a resource. This makes it easy for you to quote text. Simply add the Quote Macro, set the page. Associating the metadata of the resource to form a quote is taken care of by projectdoc. |
Resources
More information on projectdoc:
- Hands-on Tutorial
- Get started with the projectdoc Toolbox: learning by doing
- Compare with built-in Features
- Compare the features provided by the projectdoc Toolbox with features that come with Confluence out-of-the-box.
- Introduction for new Users
- Provides information to get new users of projectdoc get started with projectdoc documents and spaces.
- projectdoc in Action
- Screencasts to introduce to the concepts and workings of projectdoc. Users get an impression on how projectdoc works and find information on its concepts.
- Basic Concepts and Conventions for projectdoc
- Concepts central to projectdoc. Things users have to understand to get the most out of using projectdoc.
- Search Tips
- Tips on specifying search queries for Lucene. This also applies to projectdoc's query macros.
