We use this solution to manage the knowledge base within our organization. We're looking to use Confluence for collaboration and data, sharing information internally and externally. Confluence is connected to our JIRA, so we also use it for task management. And vice versa, JIRA can link to the Confluence page. We are customers of Confluence and I'm a data manager.
It's great for us that this is a free format. It's easy to share information with other people and the integration with JIRA is good. The product is getting better all the time with a new template and new functionalities. This is a robust, agile, and reliable tool for collaborating.
The search function is not great. That's one area where we feel that Confluence is lacking. The second issue is that an additional license is required when you are sharing data externally. There are a couple of instances where we've had integration issues with other apps and that needs to be improved. I'd like to see more of a workflow process. For example, an approval process, where you get through one layer and then go to the next layer, like the process that SharePoint has.
I've been using this solution for two years.
The product is becoming more stable and reliable these days, I think. A couple of versions ago we had some issues when a lot of users were updating to the same page or sharing documents. It's much more reliable now and we haven't had any problems in the past six months.
Our company is not that big so we haven't needed to scale.
We deployed in-house.
Licensing is not very expensive. The issue is that engagement with an external party or stakeholder requires the purchase of an additional license. It's the same issue if we have a consultant coming on board and is a pain point for us.
It's important to understand your needs in terms of the number of processes and number of people you need to support in your organizational structure. Implementing up front will likely help in terms of knowing in advance that the product will be supported. Otherwise, there might be a situation where the configuration will need to be changed after the initial setup. Confluence was initially somewhat complex for us. There were a lot of things we needed to consider and configure. Over time as we grow and evolve as a business we're getting more of an understanding of how the solution works and it's getting easier. There's a learning curve.
I rate this solution eight out of 10.
Only just recently did I share our experience with migrating our internal custom KB system to Atlassian Confluence. We’ve been using it for a significant period of time, and our team are making good use of the Confluence wiki. Our team is using it for project planning, documentation, setup guides, known issues, bug tracking, reports and more.
I also personally run my own starter edition wiki for my own personal use, plus I can generally trial new plugins and new releases quicker on my own personal wiki.
I also recently wrote an article about the Evernote plugin and during my research I was aware that Confluence 5 was close to being released. Then just recently I got an email from Atlassian announcing the release of Confluence 5, I quickly added a task to get my personal wiki upgraded to Confluence 5 ASAP, so I could check out the new features.
The email Atlassian sent out made it clear that a new user interface had been rolled in to this release, so I was interested to see what had changed.
Today I am just going to take you through a quick introduction to some of the new features in Confluence 5.
One of the main focus’s of this upgrade was an overhaul of the user interface (the look and feel). On first login after the upgrade you can not miss that changes. I was greeted with the new ui and a welcome message with a link to a video about the new confluence ui.
There is always going to be some issues when changing that UI mainly for the end users. I think the video is a great touch to bring people up to speed.
Worth noting is if you read through the Upgrade Notes for this release, Atlassian have taken the time to create a whole section on how to prepare your end users. This is a great touch. As with all new things, sometimes change can be scary.
Atlassian have provided video’s and notes on these big changes. Giving you (the person in charge of upgrading / training) the content necessary to educate your team. Planning for Confluence 5 - https://confluence.atlassian.com/display/DOC/Planning+for+Confluence+5
Previously with prior releases of Confluence if you wanted to add a new page, blog post etc, you browsed to the particular space, then selected the Add button and chose your options.
This has now been replace with a single “Create” button in the top banner. From here you can create a new blank page, page from template, blog post etc and choose what space / page to put it under.
I think this is a great idea. A one stop location for getting your creating content. Simpler and more efficient.
Confluence 5 has introduced a side bar when you are browsing spaces or pages. The side bar can be customized to include shortcuts to your favorite or frequently used space’s or page.
It also provide a navigation for child pages depending on what space / page you are viewing.
So when I am browsing my setup notes space, you can see that it provides quick access to some of the pages that are available.
They have moved the space options to the side bar as well instead of cluttering up the top bar, this is a positive move to reduce the clutter in the top bar. This side bar has replaced the older “Browse” men option.
Although I have not heavily tested this yet, when editing a page I noticed the load time once you hit “Edit” has improve dramatically.
Atlassian have got some serious speed improvements for the Editor in Confluence 5. The editor has also experienced some UI changes to maximise screen space.
Though this is early days getting familiar with Confluence 5, I have no major complaints just yet. The new UI is fresh and so far easy to use. The speed improvements are noticeable and my current favorite plugin (Evernote Plugin) still works in Confluence 5.
I have one little gripe so far though, Confluence 5 introduces “round” space logos. So if you are upgrading an existing Confluence install, you may need to review your logo’s for spaces, as they may get a little ruined or look a bit funny after they have been “rounded”. Not sure why Atlassian chose the round logo approach, it is a minor issue though, but some logos do not fit in a round shape, so would of been good to “choose” the shape.
From reading through the Confluence 5 release notes, there are a large number of other changes. If you are curious to see them all here are some useful links,
Now I have to start planning the upgrade of our Crucial Confluence Wiki, so the team can benefit from this new release.
I would love to hear from anyone who has upgraded already. Feel free to share your thoughts on the new release.
I used Confluence 5 and I enjoyed its new features. From my point of view, the best feature is the intuitive space sidebar, which appears on every page and is intended to display the most likely content users want to access. The aim is to reduce the need for searching and to help orientate users. I also like the real-time updates, which are pulled into the page automatically rather than requiring a page refresh, and the responsive design, which adjusts to the size of the browser. Let's not forget about the new global header, which provides speedy access to other Atlassian apps, spaces, calendars ans settings.