Basic structure of spaces

• Pages can consist of text, tables, page layouts, and/or macros.
• The actual page content is versioned, and the full revision history is available at all times.
• Attachments such as images or documents are separately versioned and are attached to the page. When a new version of an attachment or image is uploaded with the same file name, a new version of the attachment is created, but not a new page version.
• Like buttons, comments, restrictions, and page information are all separately handled — these are not versioned, nor do they trigger a new version of a page.

Create a new page

You can create a new page using the "Create" button ("Create" or "..."), or with the "C" keyboard shortcut.

If you create a new page via the "..." button, and you can choose from a variety of templates or blueprints. Templates make content creation quick and easy, especially for recurring tasks, as they already contain the required structure and basic content you need. 

If you create a page by clicking on "Create" or using the icon to the right above an existing page, a blank page will be created.

You will find yourself on your new page. First, fill in a new title. This title must be unique within the space. Now you can fill in the page's content, then click "Publish" button at the bottom right of the page to publish your new page.

Click on "Preview" to check whether the contents look as you want them to while you are working on a page:

Edit an existing page

Edit a page using the "Edit" button or the keyboard shortcut "E". The button is located at the top right of each page. If the option is not available, you do not have permission to edit the page.

In general, when you save a page, you can decide whether those watching the page should be notified about the changes (it is selected by default, when deselected, the setting for this page is saved for this user). You can also add a comment about the change, which will appear in the page's version history.

Concurrent editing lets multiple users work on one page at the same time. You can see on the right side at the top in edit mode how many and which users are editing the page.

Edit mode

 In order to format or insert content, a clearly arranged editor toolbar appears in the edit mode of each page.

Paragraph formats and headings

Click on the text line you want to turn into a heading (you don't have to select the text), and select a heading level from the first drop down menu in the toolbar. When you use properly formatted headings, Linchpin can automatically create a Table of Contents

Text formatting

The typical text formatting options are available in the toolbar: Bold, italics, underline, strikethrough, and text color are visible by default, in addition to bulleted and numbered lists.

Tasks

Create tasks, assign them to users and define a due date with the following button:

Tasks can be used for simple project management. Insert a date with // (you'll see a date selection dialog, the result: 21 Aug 2016) and mention a user (@ mentions) to set a due date and assign the task to the user. 

• Task reports can be filtered by various criteria and inserted into pages using the Task Report macro.
• Tasks assigned to a user or created by a user appear in the user's profile under "Tasks" and can be filtered by open and completed tasks.

Indentation and alignment

You can set the indentation and alignment easily using these buttons on the toolbar. These are especially useful for bulleted and numbered lists.

Page layout

Clicking the "Page Layouts" button adds a dashed layout box to the page which is invisible in view mode. These sections are used to arrange and present content in an appealing way. Example: Multi-column text layouts.

A second line in the toolbar provides a variety of features for the page layout: Sections can be inserted, deleted, and sorted or formatted by using one of the six different column layouts. To use these functions, simply click on the one you want to use.

Here is an example with 3 sections, each with different column types:

Insert files and images

• Any file or file type can be uploaded to Linchpin. These files are called attachments.
• Attachments always belong to one page.
• You can upload files in many ways: directly inserting a file into a page (e.g. inserting an image) via the "Insert files and images" button, simply dragging the file onto the page in edit mode, or uploading a file via "..." => "Attachments" (using the last method, the file will be uploaded, but not included on the page.)

• If a file with the same name is uploaded again to the same page, a new version of the file is created.
• Uploaded files can be managed via "..." => "Attachments". There you can view different versions, add keywords (labels) or delete files. Via "Properties" you can change the filename or move the file to another page. All attachments on all pages within a space can also be found Space Tools under "Content Tools/Attachments".

• Depending on the file type, the content of the file may be displayed in view mode (e.g. supported image formats, .xls or PDF files).

• You can re-upload or download the file.
• You can see the version of the file and switch to another version.
• You can share the file with other users, groups or email addresses.
• Add inline comments by dragging the comment symbol to the desired place in the file. (Just like the inline comments within a page, an attachment with unresolved inline comments will appear with an unresolved inline comment symbol.)
• You can zoom in on a file and there is a full-screen/presentation mode.
• Where applicable, you can also choose to view all of the attachments of the current page or navigate between them using < >.

MS Office and PDF integration

Linchpin supports the integration of Word, Excel and PowerPoint files as part of the handling of attachments. To do this, simply drag and drop the file to be included onto the page in edit mode, or alternatively upload and insert it via "Insert files and images". You will see the embedded file with a preview:

MS Office documents can be opened for editing directly in the corresponding Office program, where you can make changes, save the file in Office, and the changes will be saved to the attachment in Linchpin (Confluence Office Connector). To do this, click on the document in read mode. In the preview pane, click on "..." and then "Edit in Office".

In addition to the standard integration of Office documents described above, there are specific macros that display the contents of the document directly within a page. The specific macros "Office Word, Excel, Powerpoint" however, should no longer be used, as they are no longer supported by Atlassian.

Links

The "Link" button can be used to add links to websites, email addresses, Confluence pages, spaces and attachments.

The dialog that appears offers several options in the left pane:

• Search: Link to an existing page. You can limit the search by entering the page title then choose an auto-completed title; you can also restrict the search to a space; links are persistent and are automatically adjusted when the page name is changed or the target page is moved.
• Recently viewed: List recently viewed pages for selection.
• Files: Link to a file already attached to this page or directly upload and link a new file (link to attachments on other pages via "Search").
• Web link: Add an external link or email address. External links can also be inserted easily using copy & paste.
• Advanced: Link to anchor tags or headlines within the page.
• For details on other options, see Atlassian's Confluence documentation.

Tables

The "Insert table" button lets you add a simple table, which can be expanded to 15 columns and 20 lines (15 x 20) by dragging cursor in the selection box (even more columns/lines can be added afterwards). The number of rows & columns is displayed below the selection box.

After you have inserted the table or clicked on an existing table, a second toolbar line appears that contains special functions for the tables:

• Insert/Delete rows & columns
• Merge/Split merged cells
• Change cell color
• Remove the entire table
• Insert a numbering column (via the gear icon)

In addition, customizable charts based on tables can be displayed using the Chart macro.

Insert more content button and macros

The "Insert more content" button, which is displayed as a "+", lets you access numerous features such as inserting special characters, emoticons and horizontal separators as well as the most important feature of this drop down menu: the macros.

Macros are specially programmed functions that can be embedded in pages. There is a large variety of macros included by default, and you can add even more using apps from the Atlassian Marketplace. (https://market-place.atlassian.com/) In the "Select macro" dialog you can see the macros organized into categories. Macros are filtered in real time when you use the search field in the dialog.

When you have found the macro you want, you just need to click on it and the configuration dialog for that macro is displayed. Macros are always displayed as gray boxes in edit mode. They can vary in both size and appearance, depending on the macro's configuration options

Important/useful macros

• Table of contents macro: This macro automatically generates a table of contents from the page headings.
• Panel macro: The panel macro creates a frame around the text it contains.
• Note, hint, warning and info macros: These macros also create a frame around text, but are more eye-catching due to their color and, emphasize the content with an icon.
• Please see the documentation for all of the Confluence standard macros for more information.

Keywords (Labels)

In edit mode, keywords can be added at the top of the content pane and in view mode in the bottom right corner of the page.

Keywords are used to categorize pages, they can be searched for or used in macros to filter content ("Content by keyword, Content Report Table, ...)

Export to Word and PDF

With the "..." button, which is visible in the top right corner of each page in view mode, you can export the page to Word and PDF formats.

The PDF page export layout can be configured either globally or with certain limitations for specific spaces ("PDF stylesheet").

Assuming that you have the appropriate permissions, entire spaces or parts of them can also be exported as PDF, HTML or XML via the Space Tools. The layout used when exporting a space to a PDF file (title page, header, footer) can be configured either globally or specifically for each individual space with certain limitations ("PDF layout").

Import Word documents

Via "...." => "Import Word document" you can import entire Word documents. "Well-formatted" documents, i.e. documents structured with hierarchical headline, can be imported as single pages or divided into several pages.

Events

The Easy Events app allows you to create your own event pages. You can design an event page with additional information and it includes a registration form where you can register to attend the event with just one click.

When you create an event page, the title of the page is automatically the title of the event. If you insert the "Event" macro, you can quickly create an event.

The configuration dialog appears. Here you will be asked again for the name of your event. In reality, the name of the page is already the title. But if the page name is supposed to be just the overarching topic, you can enter an event title here. Your event will then be displayed as "Page name - Event title" in the Event Calendar or the Event List.

When you have completed the configuration, an event is created. In edit mode, it looks like this:

Page information

Here, you can view certain meta information about a page, such as author, last edit, etc., as well as information about labels, outbound links, etc., and access a variety of functions such as copying, exporting, and so on.

Collaboration features

Mentions

Using the "@" symbol, you can select an individual user, and they will be automatically notified that they were mentioned within a page.

Sharing

Every page can be shared with users and groups, or sent via email.

Like button

You can like any page.

Watch a page

• Each side can be watched. The watchers will be personally notified when changes are made to the page.
• The auto-watch feature automatically sets page creators as watchers.
• Administrators can also manually add watchers to a page
• You can also watch an entire space from here.

Comments

You can comment on every page. You can even reply to or like comments.

Inline comments

• Text can be marked and then annotated with an inline comment using the button that appears. The annotated text is then highlighted in color on the page in view mode.
• When you click on an annotation, the inline comments are displayed to the right of the page content.
• You can reply to inline comments.

Inline comments can be "resolved", and the colored background will disappear. Resolved comments can be viewed via "..." => Resolved comments.

• Inline comments can be added to attached files (see the relevant section).

Concurrent editing

• Multiple users can edit a page at the same time, but content may be overwritten in the process.
• If you edit a page that is already being edited by another user, a warning message is displayed.
• Note: Confluence 6 will offer significant enhancements and improvements.

Microblog

The microblog is used for direct and fast communication. Microblogs can be associated with spaces. If a space has been assigned a microblog, you can create themed channels manually. 

The bolded title is the space to which the microblog belongs. The topics below were added manually. They are not linked to any spaces or content. With the help of these topics you can restrict the microblog posts that are displayed, if you only want to read articles about certain topics.

Create a micropost

To create a micropost, you need to go to the page where the microblog is.

In the microblog you can see a small entry field at the top. Click on it to expand it, and now you can start writing your micropost.

Before writing a micropost, you should make sure that it is posted under the right topic. Choose a topic by selecting it above. The topic specified in the configuration is set by default. We'll cover more about this later.

When writing a micropost, you can see that the format options are similar to the normal Confluence page editor.

You can work with @-mentions, insert pictures or videos, links, etc.

Restrictions

You can assign read and/or edit restrictions on each page by clicking on Restrictions.

You can give individual users and/or groups read or edit permissions. Note that subpages inherit the read-only restriction, unlike edit restrictions.

 Structuring pages (hierarchy, location)

To move or re-sort pages within a space, click the "..." button, followed by "View in hierarchy".

All pages can be reordered within the hierarchy with drag and drop.

Via the "..." button you can also copy, move (including the option to sort) and delete the page (providing you have delete permissions for the space).

Page history and comparing versions

You can access a page's version history by clicking the "..." button, followed by "Page history".

All versions of a page are displayed with the option to compare versions, and restore or delete a version.

Searching and filtering results

Quick search (autocomplete)

Click in the search field within the header to use the quick search function, which displays results in real-time as you type.

• Quick search checks the following for your phrase:
  • Page titles
  • Space names
  • Users
  • Attachment filenames
  • (potentially also Confluence Questions and Teamcalendar)
• You can see from the corresponding symbol what type each result is (page, files, spaces, users)
• Before you have entered anything, you'll see a list of the pages you have recently viewed, ordered chronologically. Click "More recently viewed pages" to see a longer list of all the pages you have viewed.

Full search

After you have typed in your search phrase and pressed enter, you will see the full search results. In addition to what was searched with the quick search, the following is also searched:

• Page content
• Text in attachments (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF, etc.)

You can use operators like AND or OR in the full search. See all of the search options in the Confluence documentation here.

The search results page lets you filter results in many ways to further restrict the search results, for example by type, creator, last modification date etc. You can also add more filters using additional criteria.

News articles

Create a news article

News articles are created as blog post in a space (also) intended for news.

Create a blog post by clicking on the three dots next to the "Create" button in the menu. In the "Create" dialog, select Blog Post and click Create.

The editor displays a blank blog post. This is similar to the normal page editor. Just like creating a page, you can fill this blog post with content.

There are additional functions on a new toolbar, which allow you to specify additional information about the news article.

You can:

• Set the publication date (future and past dates are allowed).
• Determine an expiry date after which the article is archived.
• Attach the article to the news stream or use the "Sticky" feature to pin it to the top of the news stream. All other news articles will be displayed under sticky posts.
• Hide the author.
• Use a kicker line to classify your news article - e.g."News from location x".
• Enter a lead paragraph which will then be displayed as an introduction.
• Select categories in which the your news article should be published. The list of categories are preconfigured.
• Tag the news article (just like pages) with labels.

Here is an example of a kicker line in Cover stories.

News teasers

In order to create a news teaser, you have to insert the "News-Teaser" macro in a page. The configuration opens automatically.

Choose how the teaser should appear. In the case of a thumbnail (as we have selected), an image must also be attached to the page. You don't have to embed it on the page (if it doesn't make sense to display it) - it simply needs to be attached to the page. Select the image that should be displayed as the teaser from the "Attachment" drop-down list.

Once you have selected the teaser image, you can close the configuration and the macro is displayed on the page.

User profiles

You can go to your personal profile by clicking on the profile image at the top right, then click on "Profile".

In addition to the actual profile there are several tabs with useful functions.

Profile

See your user data such as your name, email, etc. To set a profile picture or change your existing profile picture, click on "Edit picture".

You can include a variety of individually configured profile fields with
a wide range of formats (free-text, multiple selection, selection, user). These fields enable employees to keep their profile updated themselves.

Certain information from a user's profile is displayed in their 'business card'  (when you hover over a linked user's name). To embed a person's business card within a page, use the "Profile" macro.

Tasks

You can find a list of all tasks that were either assigned to or created by the current user using Confluence tasks. You can filter this list by incomplete/complete tasks.

Favorites

This is a list of all pages that the current user has marked as "Favorite". You can remove pages from your favorites list here. Favorites are also displayed in the Linchpin sidebar.

Watches

This is list of all watched spaces and pages. You can stop watching pages from here.

Drafts

This is a list of all drafts created by the current user. Confluence automatically saves a draft at specific intervals when changes to a page are not saved. From here, you can continue to edit the draft or delete it permanently.

Network

All of the activities of other users that you follow and users who follow you are listed here.

Settings

Various important settings for the user, including personalized starting page.

• Language settings.
• Email settings (which emails a user receives from the system).
• Change password (if user data does not come from an AD/LDAP).

Personal space

Space directory

The space directory in a Linchpin intranet is less important than in a normal Confluence installation, because Linchpin provides a navigation menu.

• By default, the list of spaces can be filtered by global, personal, favorite, and archived spaces.
• You can mark a space as a favorite in this list.
• You can filter this list further by adding categories (in the space administration).
• To go directly to the space administration, click on the 'information' icon.

The most important keyboard shortcuts

Keyboard shortcuts in the page editor