This page last changed on Oct 27, 2009 by ggaskell.

Macros perform programmatic functions within a page and can be used to generate complex content structures or dynamic content.

Macros allow you to add extra functionality or include dynamic content in a page. For example, the Attachments macro will list a page's attachments in the page itself, so that readers do not have to visit the Attachments tab.

On this page:

Including a Macro in your Page

There are two ways to include a macro in your page. You can add macros using the visual Macro Browser, or by manually typing a macro command into the editor.

Including Macros with the Macro Browser

To insert a macro into a page using the Macro Browser,

  1. Open your desired Confluence page, then click the 'Edit' button. The 'Edit Page' mode opens.
  2. Next, click the Macro Browser icon on the editor toolbar. The Macro Browser will open in the middle of the screen.
  3. In the Macro Browser, type the name of your desired macro into the search box at the top right of the window. Macros with a matching name will appear in the centre pane. Click on the desired macro to see its options screen. Here, you can set the macro parameters then click 'insert' to put the macro into the page.

Once you've found the macro you want, click 'insert' to add it to your page.

Including Macros with the Confluence Editor

In the Confluence editor, a macro is simply a command wrapped inside curly braces {...}.

For instance, the Attachments Macro is written as:

{attachments}

Macro Parameters

Many macros allow you to include optional parameters to control the macro's output.

With the Attachments Macro, for instance, you have two optional parameters:

  • To specify the file formats of the attachments displayed.
  • To choose whether or not you want old versions of the attachments displayed.

These optional parameters are included within the curly braces, following a colon, like this:

{attachments:patterns=.*jpg}

When specifying more than one parameter within the same macro, use the pipe symbol ('|') to separate one from the other, like this:

{attachments:old=true|patterns=.*jpg}

Case Sensitivity in Macro Parameters

Macro parameters are case sensitive. In most cases, the macro will expect its parameters to be in lower case. Make sure you follow the documentation for the specific macro and match the expected case, otherwise the parameter may be ignored.

For example, this code correctly has the parameter 'patterns' with a lower case 'p' as expected by the Attachments Macro:

{attachments:patterns=.*jpg}

This code will not work, because the parameter 'Patterns' has an upper case 'p', which the Attachments Macro will not recognise:
Invalid macro code:

{attachments:Patterns=.*jpg}

Macros Shipped with your Confluence Installation

When you download your Confluence installation file, many macros are shipped with the download. Below is a list of the macros currently shipped with Confluence. Click a macro name for details of the usage, including optional parameters and examples.

Attachments Macro Displays a list of attachments belonging to the current page.
Blog Posts Macro Lists the most recent news items in the space.
Bookmarks Macro Includes a list of bookmarks on a Confluence page.
Change-History Macro Displays a history of updates made to a page.
Chart Macro Displays a chart based on tabular data.
Cheese Macro Displays the words "I like cheese!"
Children Display Macro Displays the children and descendants of the current page.
Code Block Macro Displays code in your document with the appropriate syntax highlighting.
Color Text Macro Changes the colour of a block of text.
Column Macro Used with the Section Macro. Defines columns within the page.
Content by Label Macro Renders a list of content associated with specific labels.
Create Space Button Macro Renders a create space button linked to the create space page.
Tasklist Macro Displays a dynamic task list which can be modified in 'view' mode.
Edit in Word Link Macro Displays an 'Edit in Word' icon on your page.
Excerpt Macro Allows you to define a part of the page as the page's 'excerpt' which is then used by other macros to summarise a page's content.
Excerpt Include Macro Allows you to display an excerpt from another page within the current page.
Favourite Pages Macro Displays a list of your favourite pages.
Excerpt Include Macro Includes one page's excerpt in another.
Gallery Macro Forms a thumbnail gallery of all images attached to a page.
Global Reports Macro Renders a list of links to global reports within a table.
HTML Macro Renders your specified HTML code within the current page.
HTML Include Macro Includes the content of an external HTML file into a Confluence page.
IM Presence Macro Displays graphically when a contact is online.
Include Page Macro Inserts the contents of the specified page into the current one.
Info Macro Displays a block of text in a blue highlight box.
JIRA Issues Macro Displays a list of JIRA issues in a page.
JIRA Portlet Macro Displays a JIRA dashboard portlet in Confluence.
JUnit Report Macro Display a summary of JUnit test results.
Livesearch Macro Add a dynamic search box to a wiki page.
Loremipsum Macro Display a few paragraphs of pseudo-Latin text.
Navmap Macro Renders the list of pages associated with a specified label as a navigable map.
Noformat Macro Displays a block of text in monospace font.
Nolink and nl Macros Prevents the browser from automatically hyperlinking a URL.
Note Macro Displays a block of text in a yellow highlight box.
Panel Macro Displays a block of text within a fully customisable panel.
Pagetree Macro Displays a dynamic, hierarchical list of pages starting from a specified parent (root) page.
Pagetree Search Macro Adds a search box to your Confluence page and searches a hierarchy of pages starting from a specified parent (root) page.
Recently Updated Macro Displays a list of recently changed content (pages, news items, comments, etc).
Recently Used Labels Macro Lists labels most recently used in a specified scope (Global, Space, or Personal)
Related Labels Macro Lists labels frequently appearing on the same pages as the current page's labels.
RSS Feed Macro Displays the contents of an RSS feed.
Search Macro Searches Confluence, and includes the results in the page.
Section Macro Used with the Column Macro to define columns within the page.
Space Details Macro Includes the summary of a Confluence space in the page.
Spaces List Macro Displays a list of all spaces visible to the user.
Tip Macro Displays a block of text in a green highlight box.
Userlister Macro Displays a list of Confluence users, from an optional group.
View File Macro Embeds an Office document into your Confluence page.
Warning Macro Displays a block of text in a red highlight box.
Web-Widget Macro Same as the Widget macro.
Welcome Message macro Includes the Confluence site welcome message.
Widget Macro Displays videos, slide shows, twitter chats, documents and more, sourced from other web sites and displayed on your Confluence page.

Information about Other Macros

Other macros are available as plugins or as user macros, and can be installed by your Confluence administrator.

Customers using Adaptavist macros or plugins might be interested in the Adaptavist's Confluence user guide.

Some examples are:

Writing your own Macros

To learn how to write your own macro, take a look at the following documentation:

  • User macros are simple template-like macros that allow you to create simple formatting macros using the Confluence web interface. Read more about User Macros.
  • The Confluence Plugin Guide tells you how to develop a plugin for Confluence.
RELATED TOPICS

Confluence Notation Guide Overview
Confluence Plugin Guide
Plugin Index
User Macros

Take me back to the Confluence User Guide.

Document generated by Confluence on Nov 05, 2009 23:35