An index space is a Confluence space that stores information in form of documents that are relevant for all other spaces. There is only one index space per Confluence instance. The index space is a tool for information reuse.

An index space allows to specify space properties that are used as defaults for all depending space.

1. The Core Doctypes Add-on provides the index space blueprint.

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   Version Box
   until 8.x
   Prior to version 9.0 of the Core Doctypes: Select the Agile Project Space space blueprint for the creation of your index space.

   
   

2. Choose IDX for the space key of your index.

   

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   If you cannot use IDX as the space key, use any other key. The only drawback is that you have to set the index space for all your spaces explicitly. All spaces delegate to the space with key IDX per default. To switch off this default behaviourbehavior, set use-default-space Use Default Space to false. For more information refer to: delegate-space Delegate Space.

   
   

3. Have a look at the new index space (for versions prior to 9.0)
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1. index space:
   
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   You can see the organizing doctypes on the left side: 

   • Subjects
   • Categories
   • Tags

   These categorizing doctypes are used on all doctypes. The types on the right side are doctype specific, but serve the same purpose: categorizing.

   • Levels of Experience
   • Module Types
   • Resource Types
   • Topic Types and more

   Each of the document instances of these types list all documents that are categorized by the type. So the index space is helping users to browse your documentation. A type on one document links to the type document, which lists more documents of this type. Users may find related information easily this way. 

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   title For versions prior to 9.0
   Prior to version 9.0 the index space was based on the Agile Project Space and looked like this. Image Added The index space was on big space that housed not only the indexing documents (like subjects, categories, and tags), but also worked as a repository for various documents. This could still be a valid approach, especially for small teams. But having separate, dedicated spaces for your glossary, library, and address book usually is not much more work, but has many advantages (for instance access control and search restriction). Expand title Explain the screenshot ... Section title Types The box labelled with Index contains references to homepages for the following types Subjects Categories Tags Types Levels of Experience Module Types Resource Types Topic Types The Team & Stakeholdes box contains a reference to Roles that are used globally. Section title Repositories Repositories are defined in the Documentation, Project Library, Team & Stakeholders, and For Authors box: Documentation Tours - group material for readers in a given context FAQs - a corporation-wide FAQ repository Topics - information relevant for all users Glossary - a corporation-wide glossary Project Library Resources - a corporation-wide library Quotes - a corporation-wide repository of inspiring quotes Team & Stakeholders Stakeholders - list of persons with their functions Persons - a corporation-wide address book Organizations - a corporation-wide repository of partner and customer corporations For Authors Modules - a corporation-wide repository of reusable page fragments to be reused with transclusion

   
   

The space property extract-short-description-from-metadata-table Extract Short Description From Metadata Table controls whether a short description is rendered within the properties table of a document or in front of it.