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Creating templates in Confluence Cloud: the 6-step guide
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Creating templates in Confluence Cloud: the 6-step guide
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Why create templates?
Best templates to create in Confluence
How to create a Confluence template
- Global template
- Space template
What you can include in a template
How to add variables to your template
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Want to create a template for Confluence that's tailored to your team or brand? Follow these simple steps to get started.
You know what you want to use your Confluence page for, and you’ve got an idea of how you’d like it to look, but building it from scratch every time is a drag. While Confluence has many ready-to-go templates available to suit different use cases, sometimes you need something that’s unique to your team or project. Fortunately, you can build a custom template that’s a perfect fit for your use case.
Why create a custom template for your Confluence space?
Creating custom templates is a simple way to make work easier and more consistent for your entire team. Here are a few key benefits:
- Ensure brand consistency: Pre-defined page structures, complete with your brand colours and logos, let team members create professional-looking pages that are always on brand.
- Standardise page structures to reduce errors: Templates give users a clear format to follow, ensuring that important information is never missed and pages are accurate from the start.
- Save your team valuable time: With a template, there’s no need to start from a blank page. You can build in repeating elements, like tables or page layouts, to save everyone from tedious, repetitive tasks.
What are the best templates to create in Confluence?
Any page you create regularly is a great candidate for a template. They’re especially useful for standardising documentation, wikis, and knowledge bases. Some of the most effective templates we’ve seen teams using are:
- Meeting notes: A structured format makes it easy for anyone to capture key discussion points, decisions, and action items. Check out our meeting notes template for ideas.
- New employee onboarding: Create a welcoming and efficient onboarding experience with a checklist of tasks, important links, and team information.
- Knowledge base articles: Ensure your support documentation is clear, helpful, and uniform in its structure. Grab our knowledge base template to see how it works.
- Project plans: Keep everyone aligned with a consistent layout for project goals, timelines, stakeholders, and deliverables. Take a look at our project plan template to help you get started.
Use templates like Mosaic's onboarding page template to see what you can do.
How to create a template in Confluence Cloud
There are two different template types you can create in Confluence: global templates and space templates:
- Global templates are available to use by everyone across spaces
- Space templates are specific to the space they were created in.
Here's how to create both.
Create a global template
Note: You’ll only be able to create or edit a global template if you're a Confluence admin. Learn more about Confluence permissions.
- Click on the admin settings icon in the top-right of the page (it looks like a wheel).
- Scroll down to Settings in the left-hand bar.
- Click Configuration > Global templates and blueprints.
- Press Add global template.
- Add a template name. Add macros, variables, and other elements until it's complete.
- Press Save.
This template will now be available in the global templates list and in Confluence's templates section for all your users to access.
Creating a basic global template of an onboarding checklist
Create a space template
Note: You’ll only be able to create or edit a template if you’re a space admin. Learn more about Confluence permissions.
1. Head to the Confluence space where you want your template to live.
2. Click the three dots beside the space name, then select Space settings in the dropdown menu.
3. In the left sidebar, select Look and feel > Templates.
4. Click the Create a new template button.
5. Edit your template just as you would a normal Confluence page.
6. Once you’ve finished editing your new template, click Save in the top-right corner.
6. Once you’ve finished editing your new template, click Save in the top-right corner.
What can you include in a Confluence template?
Confluence Cloud lets you include basically all of the usual elements you can add to a standard page. These include:
- Macros such as Panels and Statuses
- Text, including headings, lists
- Images, videos, files, and attachments
- Tables
- Layouts
- Text decorations (such as bold) and text highlighting
- Some third-party macros, such as the macros included with Mosaic for Confluence
Templates also allow variables, which are specific text or list elements that act as placeholders. Users replace the variables with their own information when creating a page from the template. You can learn more about these below.
How to add variables to your template
Variables are placeholders for information that changes each time the template is used, such as a team member’s name or a due date.
- In the template editor, click where you want to add a variable.
- Type in the shortcut '/variable' and select the New variable tool.
- Click the placeholder variable (shown as 'variable_name'), then the pencil (Edit) icon.
- Choose the variable type (text, multi-line text, or list).
- Type in the text you'd like to show for the variable, e.g. 'Team Member'.
- Click Save.
View the steps in the gif below! 👇
Save yourself time with Mosaic Templates
Too busy to create a workflow of templates from scratch? Mosaic for Confluence comes loaded with professional, full-page templates designed for all the most popular use cases, including onboarding, project management, HR, and more.
Now you know how to create a template in Confluence, you can help your team improve collaboration, communicate more clearly, and spend less time on repetitive tasks!
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