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Create the best Confluence pages: the ultimate guide
Everything you need to create beautiful and engaging pages in Confluence.
Is your Confluence content a mess? Got a vision but can't quite execute it? Looking for design inspiration and practical steps to whip your space into shape? This is the guide you've been looking for. You'll find everything you need to create the best Confluence Cloud pages to engage your audience. Let's get started:
Table of contents
Design basics
Improving Confluence pages
What is Confluence?
A quick refresher: Confluence is an online collaboration platform that teams use to share knowledge and work together digitally. Its wiki-style functionality means multiple users can contribute to and edit content simultaneously, making it ideal as a team workspace and knowledge management tool.
Confluence is currently available on Atlassian Cloud and Data Center. In this guide, we're focusing on Confluence Cloud.
✏️ Note: some functionality is only accessible to Space Administrators. If you can't perform some of the steps below, it may be because you don't have permission within Confluence.
What can I use Confluence for?
Confluence can help your team share information and work together, no matter where they are in the world. It can be integrated with Jira to add more information about projects and enhanced with third-party tools to extend its functionality.
Common use cases include:
How can I organise my Confluence content?
Organising your Confluence instance doesn't have to be daunting. Start by sorting your existing content into main themes, and move any outlying pages to the right Confluence spaces. You might want to sort by project, team, or maybe even by different work processes. Once that's done, you can create new, related subpages to fit.
In this process, you might find that some of your old pages are outdated or no longer needed. If you're confident you won't need them any more, you can delete these Confluence pages to help keep your spaces clean and clutter-free.
What are Confluence macros?
Confluence macros allow you to add extra design elements and functionality to your pages and spaces.
Macros are add-ons that you can insert into your page to extend Confluence's standard functionality and allow for improved customisation. You can use them to change your page's colours and design elements, insert extra features like videos and spreadsheets and change the format and layout of content.
Confluence macros fall under two categories:
- Native macros, which are automatically available within Confluence.
- Third-party macros, which are developed externally and can be added to Confluence from the Marketplace.
How do I add a Confluence macro to a page?
Adding a native macro
To add a native macro to Confluence, simply:
- Make sure you're in editing mode (click on the pencil icon in the right-hand corner, or press E on the keyboard).
- Click the + (insert) symbol on the toolbar.
- Browse through the macros and select the one you want to insert.
- Edit the macro to suit your requirements. Different macros will have different parameters and editable fields.
👉 Pro tip: Looking for a shortcut? Simply type / and you'll bring up the same macro list you'd see by navigating through the toolbar. You can even type the macro name (e.g. /panel) to quickly add a specific macro.
Adding a third-party macro
To add a third-party macro to Confluence:
- Download your desired macro app from the Atlassian Marketplace (learn more about adding third-party macros).
- Ensure you're in edit mode by clicking the pencil icon or pressing E on the keyboard.
- Click the + (insert) symbol on the toolbar or type / followed by the name of the macro (e.g. /button).
- Click on the macro.
- Edit the macro to suit your requirements. Different macros will have different parameters and editable fields.
If you're unsure how to edit your macro, refer to its documentation. Click here to read more about editing the macros included with Mosaic for Confluence.
How to make Confluence pages look better: colour and design
Once you've mastered the art of adding macros, you're ready to discover how to make Confluence pages look good. You can achieve this using both Confluence's native functionality and third-party add-ons.
Here are a few of our favourite ways to add design flair to your pages:
Change the colour and style of Confluence text
While you can't change the style of the main page heading, you can enter edit mode (press E) and use the toolbar to update the style and colour of text throughout your Confluence page.
- Click the A button to change the colour of your text and the highlight colour (the colour of its background).
- Click the 'Normal text’/’Heading' drop-down to change the size and style of the text.
- You can change your text to bold, underlined, and italic with the B, U, and I buttons.
- Find more formatting options, such as Superscript and Strikethrough, by clicking the arrow button beside the I.
Learn more: How to format text in Confluence Cloud
Learn how to use Confluence to improve enterprise collaboration
Confluence is a powerful collaboration platform - find out how to use it to supercharge how larger teams work together.
Adding emojis
To add an emoji to the body of your Confluence page, navigate to the smiley face icon on the toolbar. You can then search from the library of emojis or add your own.
👉 Pro tip: You can also add custom emojis to your Confluence site! Just click + Add your own emoji in the emoji library, give it a name, and upload your image.
Learn more: Add emojis to Confluence pages
Adding a Confluence background colour
Confluence's native design functionality can feel limiting, but there are ways to add more colour to your pages. The Background macro, included Mosaic for Confluence, lets you quickly add a background colour or image to sections of your page. You can add images, text, and even other macros to the Background sections, or keep them as is to act as colourful page banners and design features.
👉 Pro tip: Mosaic Advanced Edition lets you set colour schemes across your Confluence site, helping you quickly add brand colours to your backgrounds in just a few clicks.
Learn more: How to add a Confluence background colour
Adding images and video to pages
Images and videos don't just make pages more visually attractive; they can also add vital context.
Add a header image
- Make sure you're in edit mode by clicking the pencil icon or pressing E on the keyboard.
- Hover your cursor over the title of your page, then select 'Header image'.
- Browse the Unsplash library or upload your own file.
- Reposition your image and click Apply.
Add an image to a Confluence page
To add an image to the body of a Confluence page, navigate to the toolbar and click on the image icon:
Click Upload to open up a window with your downloaded and saved files, from which you can select the image you're looking for. Then, click Open. When your image appears on your page, you can resize and reposition it.
Alternatively, you can copy and paste your desired image or drag it directly onto your page when you're in edit mode.
Adding GIFs
While there's no built-in GIF library in Confluence Cloud, you can manually upload GIFs you've saved as files.
Either create your own or save one from the internet (make sure the file type/extension is .gif!) and follow the same steps to upload it as you would upload an image to your Confluence page. You can also type ‘/image’ when you’re editing a Confluence page, then select ‘Image, Video, or File'.
Adding video to a Confluence page
Uploading a video to Confluence works the same as adding an image.
To upload a video, you can either:
- Drag the video file directly onto your page.
- Click the Image icon in the top toolbar and manually select the video you want to upload.
- Type '/video' on your page, select Image, video, or file from the dropdown, and upload your video.
Ready to make your Confluence pages more beautiful?
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Adding a video from a link
To add a YouTube video:
- Type the link into your Confluence page and hit the ‘enter’ key, or paste it.
- The link will immediately show as an embedded video.
- You can click the menu options to display in other ways if you like.
- Publish your page, and you'll see your video!
How to make Confluence pages more interactive
It's one thing to design a beautiful Confluence space and another to get people to engage with it. Interactive design features can encourage users to navigate your pages and give them something to 'do' while reading content.
Here are some easy and effective ways to encourage interactivity on Confluence pages:
Adding links to text
In-text links add context and provide users with additional information. Use them in Confluence to direct people to other Confluence pages, sections or comments on your page, or send them to useful external sites and resources.
To insert a link in Confluence:
1. Highlight the text you want to attach the link to, then click the Link button in the toolbar.
2. Search for a link, or paste one in.
- You can link to various sources, including external pages, internal Confluence pages, page comments, inline comments, anchor macros, email addresses, attachments, and even Jira issues.
3. If you like, you can change the link's display text.
3. Enter the link destination and click 'Enter'.
You can change the link's destination or unlink it if you need to.
Learn more: How to link to another Confluence page
Adding an Anchor macro
The Anchor macro is native to Confluence and lets you link to a specific part of a page from another part of the page. Readers can then quickly jump to relevant sections, particularly useful when you've got long documents and want to help your users navigate content.
To add the anchor macro:
- In edit mode, type '/anchor' next to the heading you want to link to.
- Select the Anchor macro.
- In the right sidebar, name your anchor and hit the Enter key.
- Copy or make a note of your anchor name.
- Select the text you'd like to use as the link to send to your anchor.
- Click the Link icon from the top toolbar (the same one you'd use to add a hyperlink).
- Type the # symbol and then your anchor name, then hit Enter. For example, if your anchor name is 'introduction', type #introduction into the link box.
Learn more: How to add add anchors to Confluence pages
Adding buttons to pages
Buttons make calls to action stand out and highlight navigation pathways. They can look more professional and polished than standard hyperlinks.
Though Confluence doesn't have any built-in button functionality, the Button macro comes included with Mosaic for Confluence.
Though Confluence doesn't have any built-in button functionality, the Button macro comes included with Mosaic for Confluence.
Learn more:
Want to add more visual impact than links and buttons?
The Advanced Cards macro lets users easily create and insert a card containing an image, text, and hyperlink on a Confluence page.
How to add structure to your Confluence pages
A tidy, organised Confluence page is critical to a good user experience. According to research, 42% of users leave a website due to poor functionality, including cluttered layouts and poor visibility. Ensure you keep readers on your page and engaging with your content by keeping pages tidy, clearly organised, and easy to navigate.
Adding tabs
A common complaint users have about Confluence is that keeping pages and spaces tidy and organised can be challenging. This is where tabs come in. Add them to your pages to segment your copy, break up long text sections, and encourage people to click and engage with what you’re saying.
Get the Tabs macro included with Mosaic for Confluence.
Learn more:
Adding tables
Confluence's built-in table element helps you structure data, tasks, and more in a clear, well-organised format.
To get started, simply enter edit mode and click the table icon on the toolbar (it looks like a 2x2 grid). You can also click the arrow beside this icon to customise the number of rows and columns before you even add it to the page. Handy!
Read our guide to learn more about adding, editing, and customising tables:
Adding references
When you're writing more formally–perhaps in an academic or legal setting–you'll likely want to add references to cite your sources. In informal settings, references can help provide readers with context and related information. But how can you add references without creating extra clutter on your Confluence pages? While you could do this manually with numbers throughout your document and then a reference list at the bottom of your page, there are cleaner ways to go about it.
Look for reference tools such as footnotes and tooltips in the Atlassian Marketplace. Third-party apps will plug into Confluence and let you create more sophisticated, organised references within your content.
Learn more:
Get started quicker with Confluence templates
Using a page template in Confluence
- Create a new Confluence page.
- Click 'All templates' at the bottom of your new page.
- Browse through templates and click on the one you want to use. It will automatically load into your new page, where you can replace the template text with your own content.
Learn more:
Get ready to build your best Confluence page yet
What are you waiting for? You've got all the information you need to create more beautiful, organised, and interactive Confluence content. Start your free trial of Mosaic for Confluence to make your pages pop!
Create beautiful pages in minutes
Confluence Cloud's built-in templates are pretty basic. If you're looking to level up your Confluence page design without time or effort, take a look at Mosaic's range of Full-page Templates.
Creating forms in Confluence for feedback
Looking for feedback? A humble poll can help you out. While Confluence doesn't have a native poll or form feature, there are plenty of third-party add-ons you can use to introduce interactive forms to your pages. Use them to gather people's feedback on projects and pages, complete HR and onboarding tasks, or simply ask where people want to go for the work Christmas party!
We recommend choosing an app that lets you collect and store data within Confluence rather than outside the platform. This means you won't have to switch between apps to create, implement, and review your survey.
Read our guide on how to create forms in Confluence Cloud and try Forms for Confluence free today:
Looking for more?
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