I need more support to organize my documents in my Confluence space(s)! How can projectdoc help me?
Answer
There are basically three levels at which projectdoc helps you to organize information:
- Document Level: templates define the properties and sections of a document and their ordering
- Space Level: space templates define a basic layout using index and homepages
- Wiki Level: search and delegate spaces extend your organizational structure over several spaces
Document Level
A doctype provides a template to generate documents that share a common structure. Basically a document contains properties and sections. Properties are defined within the Document Properties Marker Macro, sections by the Section Macro.
The properties increase the findability of information in your documents. Due to automatic lists (e.g. the Display Table Macro), you also increase the navigability.
Space Level
The space homepage is the main entry point to a space and is standard for Confluence. For each page you create with a blueprint wizard, Confluence will also create an index page. This index contains a reference to all documents of that type. projectdoc blueprints often replace this standard index page with one that contains the Display Table Macro. projectdoc also introduces the concept of a doctype homepage. These homepages are very similar to both homepages and index pages. The allow to add pages in a hierarchy design them to your requirements like space homepages do. On the other hand they are also the main target page to add new pages of that doctype.
Software developers are already familiar with this approach. For instance Maven defines a standard directory layout that makes it easy for developers on a new project to know where to look for what resources. Standardization is having rules for dealing with tasks that are not crucial for the project success, but have to conducted in a defined way.
The homepages for doctypes are just a tool to put information to places where the team knows to find them.
Wiki Level
With delegate and search spaces you can link clusters of spaces together.
- Delegate spaces provided documents to be applied to multiple spaces - e.g. roles or qualities are use.
- Search spaces are consulted by all query macros (such as Display Table Macro) to fetch documents marching their constraints.
Cool Use of Homepages
If you remove a homepage for a doctype from a space, sending a document to its homepage will search in the delegate spaces for the homepage for the document and store it there automatically.
If you later decide to recreate the homepage for a type, use the homepage wizard. Every doctype add-on provides one wizard to create any homepage that add-on supports.
For instance the Core Doctypes Homepage wizard helps you to create homepages for the following doctypes:
