Resolving page title conflicts with 2-phase Copy Page Tree

Owned by Praveena Manohar
Last updated: Apr 12, 2024 by Praveena Manohar
3 min read

The following applies to Copy Page Tree Cloud only.

Page titles must be unique, and only the specified prefix must be applied during phase 1 of the copy. Some users do not want to apply a prefix. Custom page title suffixes and/or per-page custom titles are ignored during phase 1. Click here to learn more.

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2-Phase copy

In 2019, the Copy Page Tree - Cloud app was redesigned for GDPR compliance.  

For the new version, we use a GDPR-compliant API provided by Atlassian that is not as flexible as our original custom solution. The new approach is also faster and more reliable than the early versions of Copy Page Tree.

The copy operation is performed in 2 phases:

  1. a copy to the destination space uses the specified page prefix to modify page titles. If no prefix is specified, the original page titles are used as-is in phase 1.

    1. page titles must be unique with only the specified prefix applied during phase 1

  2. apply page title suffixes and/or per-page custom titles and other customizations to the Advanced Options for Copy Page Tree pages.

A big tradeoff in the new 2-phase approach is that we cannot apply the page title suffix or custom per-page titles during the phase 1 copy. The GDPR-compliant Atlassian API only allows prefixes for page title manipulation.

We are working with Atlassian to request that they enhance their API to allow page title suffixes. You can workaround the limitations of phased page title customizations by copying your page tree to a space, using page title suffixes and/or per-page custom titles, and then moving it to the final destination space.

Limitation

Page titles must be unique, with only the specified prefix applied during phase 1. Some users do not want to apply a prefix. Custom page title suffixes and/or per-page custom titles are ignored during phase 1.

Workaround

Copy the page tree to a temporary space where no page title conflict will happen when the phase 1 copy is made using only the supplied page title prefix (or no prefix if it is blank). 

Phase 2 page title customizations will be successfully applied after phase 1 succeeds.

Then, move the page tree to the final destination space as-is.

  • You can use an empty space for your temporary space, which can be visible only to you.

  • For the temporary copy operation, you can delete the page title prefix, use a page title suffix, and/or edit individual page titles.

  • For the 1st phase of the copy, the pages without title prefixes will be successfully copied to the space

  • For the 2nd phase of the copy, the custom titles and/or suffixes will be successfully applied

  • Use the Confluence page menu item to move the page to the final destination (... --> Move)

    • The Move tool allows you to move across spaces

    • You can delete or leave your temporary space for your next copy operation.

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