The heuristic mode is based on naming conventions of internationalization (I18N) keys. This is the default search mode.

The mode is based on a few quick and fast lookups. But the heuristic mode is not reliable. In case there is an index page, the heuristic assumes that there are document instances of the given type. This may not be true.

I18N keys are specified in resource bundles, typically in a properties file, that is deployed as an app (formally known as plugin or add-on) to a Confluence server.

The homepage for a given doctype needs to have a I18N key of the following format:

<any-chars>.content.<doctype>.home.title

The index page for doctypes is assumed to be referenced by the following I18N key:

<any-chars>.content.<doctype>.index.all.title

<any-chars> may actually contain any chars that are valid for an I18N key. <doctype> is a placeholder to represent the identifier of a doctype.

In case all documents are removed, the index page needs to be removed manually.

projectdoc.content.requirement.home.title
projectdoc.content.requirement.index.all.title

com.example.myorg.content.fancy-report.home.title
com.example.myorg.content.fancy-report.index.all.title

A reliable way to determine if there are documents of a given type in a given space is to execute a search. If the search result is empty, there are none. The drawback is that there is an additional search for each link on a page.

The doctype is derived from the I18N key.

projectdoc.doctype-home, projectdoc.all, projectdoc.related.doctype.<doctype>

The children check iterates over the children of a the referenced homepage and checks if at least one of them is of the desired doctype.

The doctype is derived from the I18N key.