The Confluence add-on is available for both Confluence v3.x and v4.x. See add-on installation for details.
Confluence v4.x has a new macro browser feature. It is very important to know that the add-on macros DO NOT work when added via the new Confluence v4.x macro browser.
Thus do NOT try to add macros via the Confluence Insert > Other Macro menu or by typing '{' and choosing either Open Macro Browser or typing the name of a macro. See accessing the Confluence Macro Browser for more details of what NOT to do.
You must add the form/workflow, submissions and task macros to your page using the Add menu options that the add-on adds to the Confluence Add menu. This is discussed in the sections below.
However, if you are using versions 4.3 - 5.1, you CAN use the macro browser to add them. Refer to this documentation for the details.
On This Page:
Creating Forms
You can create a new form from scratch or add an existing form to any Confluence page.
Add a Form
Add a form to a Confluence page by selecting the Form menu item. This menu item is available only when the Confluence add-on is correctly installed and configured and you are logged in to Confluence as a user with the appropriate permissions (you must be able to Edit the Confluence page and, if you configured a Form Designer group in the add-on configuration, you must belong to that group).
The Add Menu in Confluence 4.x is shown in the image below:
Adding a Form to a Confluence Page
The Add Menu in Confluence v5 has changed. Click on the Tools Menu then select Add Form from the dropdown choices.
The Add Form page will be displayed. Here you can either:
- Create a new form. Enter a name and click Add. This will launch the Form Designer where you can drag and drop controls, change labels etc. When you click Finish in the Form Designer the form will be added to your Confluence page.
- Choose a form template. Templates are published by the administrative user and serve as starting points for your own forms. See Templates in the documentation. Choose a template and click Add. It will be copied to your user account and the form will immediately get added to the Confluence page.
- Choose an existing form. This will show the forms that you have previously created. Select one and click Add; the form will immediately be added to the Confluence page.
The Add Form Page
Edit a Form
Editing a Form
You can edit any form after adding it to a Confluence page by clicking the Edit Form link at the top of the form. This link is only visible if you have permission to edit the form in question. Clicking this link will launch the Form Designer. Make your changes and click Finish in the Designer. The updated form will now be displayed in Confluence.
It is very important to understand that if the same flow is added to multiple Confluence pages, then edits to the flow on one Confluence page will effect that flow on all Confluence pages
Delete a Form
You can delete any form from a Confluence page by clicking the Delete icon at the right end of the toolbar at the top of the form. This icon is only visible if you have permission to delete the form in question.
Designing Forms
The Live Forms Designer is the heart of ' simple, quick, no-coding required form creation. The Forms Designer enables you to add controls quickly to your form, customize their appearance and layout, and add rules that affect the behaviour of the form.
Please refer to the Getting Started Guide and the Designing Forms chapter for detailed instructions on Form Designer usage.
Using and Submitting Form
Where does the form data go when the user clicks the Submit button? Please refer to Document Action Wizards in the documentation.
What does the user see when they click the Submit button? Please refer to Form Action Wizards in the documentation.
Some wizards are only applicable to and visible from Confluence. These are wizards to Create/Update Confluence pages and to Merge form data into a Confluence page.
Styling Forms
can be styled to blend in nicely to the look and feel you choose for your web pages. The form's base style depends on which Theme you have selected for your form. To change the theme, select a theme from your form's Style Properties Theme dropdown. By default provides two different themes: Nouveau and Nouveau Blue. You can also override style for font, color, width, etc.. in the form's Style tab. In addition, each control on your form can be customized via its own Control Style Properties. Here you can style such things as margin, padding, font color, background color, bold, italic, etc.
If required, you can also add your own Custom Themes.
Multiple macros on a Confluence page
You should not add multiple forms, flows, submissions or task lists to a single Confluence page. Each form, flow, submission and task macro must be on its own page. If you do, you may experience one or more issues such as:
- The forms may not automatically resize to the proper size initially. The workaround is to manually set the initial height/width of the form in the Form Designer so that it initially renders correctly. You can find instructions for doing so at Form Style Properties. You only need to manually set the initial height of the form. Subsequent resizing will be performed automatically.
- If the designer deletes one of the forms from the page all of the forms will be deleted.
- If the forms are a mix of public and private visibility you will get access denied.
- If a form and a submission are on the same page you may also experience permission denied to view the submission even when the user does have permission.
Using Roles (Confluence Groups)
Roles must be manually created in the ' server corresponding to the Confluence groups that you actually want to use in your forms or workflows. This is a one-time setup that will have to be performed by an administrator.
uses roles for a variety of reasons including digital signatures on forms and workflows. When used with Confluence, the add-on will automatically map Confluence Groups to roles. However, in order to use these roles in the Form or Flow Designer, your administrator will have to create the roles in Confluence as a one-time setup task.
Assume that you have groups in Confluence called 'employee' and 'manager'. To create these roles in :
- Login to as the administrative user for the tenant that was created in Confluence.
- Click the Manage link at the top right of the page.
- On the page that is displayed, click the 'Manage Roles' link.
- Click the icon and in the form that is displayed, type in the desired role. Make sure that the role names match exactly (including case).
Form Submissions
Viewing Form Submissions
Form submissions can be viewed directly in your Confluence page. To add Submission to any page, select the Submissions menu item. This menu item is available only when the Confluence add-on is correctly installed and configured and you are logged in to Confluence as a user with the appropriate permissions. Refer to Viewing Submissions in Excel for information about time data exported to an Excel worksheet.
The Add Menu in Confluence 4.x is shown in the image below:
Adding a Form to a Confluence page
The Add Menu in Confluence v5 has changed. Click on the Tools Menu then select Add Form from the dropdown choices.
The Add Submissions Page
The Add Submissions page displays. Select a form or flow from the dropdown and click "Add". The submissions view will be added to your Confluence page. Submissions are displayed in a table view. Double click on any submissions to view all of the data. Please refer to Viewing Form Submissions in the documentation for a full description of all the features.
Only the form designer has the permissions to view the submissions. If you want other users to view submissions use the Create/Update or Merge to Page features. This security restriction may be relaxed in a future release
Submissions View
Downloading Form Submissions to Excel
Click the Excel icon above the graph to view the submission results in Excel. The spreadsheet reflects the specific date range indicated by the two date controls; this date range will be listed in your spreadsheet.
Creating Workflows
Add a Flow
Adding a flow to a Confluence page is exactly like adding a form. Click the Confluence Add button and select the Flow menu item.
This menu item is available only when the Confluence add-on is correctly installed and configured and you are logged in to Confluence as a user with the appropriate permissions (you must be able to Edit the Confluence page and, if you configured a Form Designer group in the add-on configuration, you must belong to that group).
The Add Flow page will be displayed. Here you can either:
- Create a new flow. Enter a name and click Add. This will launch the Flow Designer where you can drag and drop forms, create new ones etc. When you click Finish in the Flow Designer the flow will be added to your Confluence page.
- Choose an existing flow. This will show the flows that you have previously created. Select one and click Add; the flow will immediately be added to the Confluence page.
Edit a Flow
Editing a Flow
You can edit any flow after adding it to a Confluence page by clicking the Edit Flow link at the top of the flow. This link is only visible if you have permission to edit the flow in question. Clicking this link will launch the Flow Designer. Make your changes and click Finish in the Designer. The updated flow will now be displayed in Confluence.
It is very important to understand that if the same flow is added to multiple Confluence pages, then edits to the flow on one Confluence page will effect that flow on all Confluence pages
Delete a Flow
You can delete any flow from a Confluence page by clicking the Delete icon at the right end of the toolbar at the top of the flow. This icon is only visible if you have permission to delete the flow in question.
Designing Flows
The Flow Designer enables you to rapidly assemble multiple forms into workflows that can be routed between users for signatures, corrections etc.
Please refer to the Getting Started guide and the Designing Flows chapter for detailed instructions on Flow Designer usage including setting up email notifications, preconditions and roles on activities, pending messages etc.
Using and Submitting Flows
Where does the flow data go when the user clicks the Finish button? Please refer to Document Action Wizards in the documentation.
What does the user see when they click the Finish button? Please refer to Form Action Wizards in the documentation.
Some Wizards are only applicable to and visible from Confluence. These are wizards to Create/Update Confluence pages and to Merge form data into a Confluence page.
Using the Task List
Please refer to the general task list documentation for details on using the task list.
The Quick View feature can be configured in the designer but the icon will not display when the Task List is added to a Confluence page. This may be enabled in a future release.
Usage Scenarios
The menu items you see and the actions you can perform depend upon the logged in Confluence user's permissions. Some scenarios are outlined below.
Login as a Designer user
Login to Confluence as a user in the Form Designers group. If you did not select a group, login to Confluence as a user. See Configuring the add-on
Adding Forms
- Create a new page (say, Test Form) in Confluence by clicking the Add Page button.
- Add a Form as described above.
- If you create a new form, you'll be taken to the Form Designer, where you can drag/drop controls, set properties etc. to design your form. Otherwise, the existing form will be added to your Confluence page.
Adding Flows
- Create a new page (say, Test Flow) in Confluence by clicking the Add Page button.
- Add a Flow as described above.
- If you create a new flow, you'll be taken to the Flow Designer, where you can drag/drop forms, set properties etc. to design your flow. Otherwise, the existing flow will be added to your Confluence page.
Adding Submissions
- Create a new page (say, Test Submissions) in Confluence by clicking the Add Page button.
- Add Submissions as described above.
- The list of submissions is visible on the page.
Adding your Task List
- Create a new page (say, Test Tasks) in Confluence by clicking the Add Page button.
- Add Tasks as described above.
- Your task list is displayed on the page.
This page will display the task list of the currently logged in user. If you login as a different user and access this Confluence page, you will see the task list for that user.
Login as a different Designer user
Login to Confluence as a different user in the Form Designers group. If you did not select a group, login to Confluence as a different user. See Configuring the add-on.
Using a Form
- Navigate to the Test Form page.
- You can use the form and submit it but you cannot edit it.
Using a Flow
- Navigate to the Test Flow page.
- You can use the form and submit it but you cannot edit it.
Viewing Submissions
- Navigate to the Test Submissions page.
- You cannot view submissions. Submissions can only be viewed by the owner of the form/flow.
Viewing the Task List
- Navigate to the Test Tasks page.
- You will see the task list for the current user.
Creating forms/submissions/tasks
- On any Confluence page, where you have permission to Edit the page, you will see the Add Form, Add Flow, Add Submissions and Add Tasks links under the Add Menu.
Login as a non-Designer user
Login to Confluence as a user who is not in the Form Designers group. See Configuring the add-on.
Using a Form
- Navigate to the Test Form page.
- You can use the form and submit it but you cannot edit it.
Using a Flow
- Navigate to the Test Flow page.
- You can use the form and submit it but you cannot edit it.
Viewing Submissions
- Navigate to the Test Submissions page.
- You cannot view submissions. Submissions can only be viewed by the owner of the form/flow.
Viewing the Task List
- Navigate to the Test Tasks page.
- You will see the task list for the current user.
Creating forms/submissions/tasks
- On any Confluence page, where you have permission to Edit the page, you may see only the Add Tasks link under the Add Menu. Users who do not belong to the Form Designers group cannot design forms. If you see the menu items and click on the wrong ones, you will get an error message.
Anonymous User access
Logout of Confluence and do not login. This assumes that you have enabled anonymous access in Confluence. Forms and flows must have visibility set to "public" in order to be used anonymously. See the chapter on Making a Form Public. If your form/flow is not set to public the anonymous user will see the following error in the page:
Error Access Denied. Your session may have expired or you may have disabled third party cookies. Please enable cookies and try to refresh the page.
Using a Form
- Navigate to the Test Form page.
- You can use the form and submit it but only if it was marked as a Public form. You cannot edit it.
Using a Flow
- Navigate to the Test Flow page.
- You can use the form and submit it but only if it was marked as a Public flow. You cannot edit it.
Viewing Submissions
- Navigate to the Test Submissions page.
- You cannot view submissions. Submissions can only be viewed by the owner of the form/flow.
Viewing the Task List
- Navigate to the Test Tasks page.
- You cannot view tasks since you are not logged in.
Creating forms/submissions/tasks
- On any Confluence page, you cannot Add Forms, Submissions or Tasks. If the menu items are visible, clicking on any one will result in an error message.