Quick start

This is a quick start guide to help you begin working with Scaffolding.

On this page: 1 Overview 2 Set up the template 3 Create a page from the template 4 Add content to the page with the template 5 Update the template 6 Tips

On this page: 1 Overview 2 Set up the template 3 Create a page from the template 4 Add content to the page with the template 5 Update the template 6 Tips

Overview

This example demonstrates how to create a knowledge base of multiple articles structured as follows.

Multiple knowledge-base articles with the same structure

You must be a space administrator to view the Space settings menu.

Go to Space settings > Look and feel > Templates.
Screenshot of the Space settings menu in Confluence.
Click Create a new template.
Name the template Knowledge Base Article Template.
Insert the Scaffolding - Field Group macro in the template editor.
The Scaffolding - Field Group macro

The Insert Scaffolding - Field group macro dialog opens.

In the sidebar, expand the Add Fields section to view the available fields.
Drag a Paragraph field from the sidebar into the editor area, and enter the text Summary above it using the Heading 2 style.
Summary section with a Paragraph field
Insert a 2 x 2 table, and enter System and Version into the left-hand cells.
System/Version table within the Summary section
Click the empty cell next to System and drag the Dropdown List field into it from the sidebar.
Dropdown list field in the System cell
Fill in the labels for the dropdown list, for example, Mac OS X, Windows 10, and Ubuntu.
1. Click Edit () on the Dropdown list field to open its Field settings section in the sidebar.
2. To create a label, in the Labels box, enter the label text, select a color for the label, and press Enter. The label is auto-saved.
  Dropdown list field settings
Click the empty cell next to Version and drag the Number field into it from the sidebar.
Add Diagnosis, Cause, and Solution sections, each containing a Paragraph field. See Step 6 for details.
Diagnosis section after the Summary section
Click Insert to insert the Field Group macro.
Inserted Scaffolding - Field Group maco
Save the template.

Create a new page and insert the Scaffolding - Live Template macro.
The Scaffolding - Live Template macro
From the Template name dropdown list, select your template, Knowledge Base Article Template, and click Insert.
The Scaffolding - Live Template macro configurations
Enter a page title and publish the page.
Inserted Scaffolding - Live Template macro

On the newly published page using the live template, click Edit content within the Field Group macro.
Edit content button for entering Scaffolding data
Populate the fields accordingly. The Paragraph field editor supports most features from the standard Confluence Cloud editor, including fonts, text color, lists, links, and more.
The Paragraph field foe entering rich text
Select an option from the System dropdown menu. The System cell includes a dropdown menu that lets you select an option from the labels you created earlier in the template.
The System field for selecting a label from a dropdown list
Enter a number in the Version cell. As you configured the field earlier in the template, it accepts only numbers.
The Version field for entering a number
Fill in the rest of the fields as needed and click Publish to save your data.
Published Scaffolding data

Let’s modify the template to demonstrate the Live Template macro's benefits.

Go back to the Knowledge Base Article Template you created and open it in edit mode.
Click Edit () on the Field Group macro.
The Edit icon on the Scaffolding - Field Group macro
Modify the Field Group macro.
1. Add a section titled Contact info and drag a Paragraph field within it.
2. In the Summary section, modify the table by changing System to Operating System and Version to Version Affected.
  The modified table field in the Field Group macro editor
Click Save to save the Field Group macro.
Click Save to save the template.
Go back to the page that uses the template.
The changes you made to the template are automatically reflected on the page that uses the template, without the need to edit the page individually.
The Operating System/Version Affected table on the page that uses the template

You can manage tens or even hundreds of pages by applying changes to the template alone.

In the Scaffolding - Field Group macro editor

You can insert fields quickly by typing / and the beginning of a field name, for example, /paragraph.

In the Scaffolding - Field Group macro editor toolbar

You can insert a table by clicking the Table icon.

To speed up macro entry with autocomplete:

In the new editor, type / and the beginning of an element (tool or things in the insert menu) to see a list of suggestions.
In the legacy editor, type { and the beginning of the macro name to see a list of suggested macros.

For more details about using Scaffolding, see Use cases.