How to create a Confluence glossary template (and why)

Regardless of who’s using Confluence, an accurate glossary of terms can generate plenty of benefits for everyone across the organisation. Here are a few to consider:

Everyone needs to understand the organisation's lingo when collaborating across departments.

Many workers work remotely - from a home office, hot-desking spaces, or internationally. That's why apps like Confluence are essential for the modern workplace. They centralise communication and encourage users to self-serve.

Imagine repeatedly asking your colleagues what specific terms and definitions mean, draining their precious time so you can do your job. Then, even worse, imagine being that valuable member of staff who holds all the answers.

You can resolve these issues by creating a glossary template in Confluence. Instead of relying on one person, you can empower employees to educate themselves on common organisational language.

Employees with knowledge can proactively add definitions to the glossary as and when they crop up, keeping the glossary (and other employees) updated.

Every employer wants new recruits to hit the ground running, which means that an effective onboarding system is crucial. 64% of new employees will likely leave a new job within their first year because of their negative onboarding experience - oops!

Having a detailed glossary of terms can improve the onboarding experience by removing the need for team members to babysit new recruits and allow them to feel more confident, informed, and integrated with the team/organisation.

Setting up your template can be quick and easy; we’ve listed five simple steps you’ll want to consider.

Get all departments involved in creating your template. Although they can add terms themselves, initially, collating some simple terms is a good idea to get the ball rolling.

You can create your template from within Confluence. Navigate to one of your existing spaces (or create a new space) and go to Space settings in the sidebar. Then click Templates under Look and feel, followed by Create New Template.

Ensure your template is easy to understand and set out in a way that allows your users to find the answers they’re looking for. Take things such as consistency when using fonts, colours, and iconography into consideration.

Here are some macros that can help you to lay out your glossary:

Expand: Create a collapsible section for each definition, helping users to quickly scan the page.

Table: Display glossary terms and explanations beside each other neatly in a Confluence table.

Tabs: Stack different tabs (for different themes, such as IT terms and HR terms) alongside each other that users can easily switch between.

A good way to encourage users to follow specific format guidelines is to start the glossary with some key terms. This creates a formatting example for everyone to add additional terms in the future.

Alternatively, you can use placeholder text to show where to include terms and definitions, making it easier for users to edit the template:

Once you’ve finished, click Save. Your template is ready to share!

You can share your template from the templates menu by clicking on its name, then copying the link. Alternatively, you can click Promote in the templates menu to share it prominently in the Confluence templates browser.

As promised, we’ve listed a few Confluence-specific terms to get you started when populating your glossary template:

Confluence: A collaboration and content management tool that allows teams to create, share, and organise information and knowledge.

Dashboard: The default homepage that gives users access to important information and updates on Confluence.

Space: An area dedicated to a team, project, or topic. Spaces help organise and manage your content - think of them as ‘hubs’.

Metadata: Additional data that describes and provides context and structure to other content within the Confluence glossary. This could be related terms, business domains, feedback, etc.