Spaces, pages, templates and macros are the first features that come to mind when you think of Confluence. Other less prominent are often used for more advanced use cases. And one of them is your typical Confluence blog.
As you were just getting started with Confluence, chances are you already asked yourself this question. Why write a blog when I can simply write a page? You might probably think they serve the same purpose, and are interchangeable, well… they’re not!
In this post, we’ll first explore why you need Confluence blog posts, what sets them apart from regular pages, and of course, the best practices to make the most out of blogs.
Why Confluence Blog Posts?
Confluence blogs are pretty much self explanatory. They’re designed to help you write and organize blog posts. The question we should be focusing on here is: What’s wrong with regular pages? Why should I bother with blogs?
Let’s break it down. With Confluence Blogs, you can:
- Share timely updates: Internal pieces of content such as company announcements, team milestones, or strategy shifts are often shared as blogs. The reason for this is simple. Once you make an important announcement, it kind of lives there. You either keep it as is or delete after a while (which is rarely the case). This coupled with the chronological organization of blogs (by default), makes it easy to access all the important announcements by time period.
- Engage your teams: In addition to streamlining top-down communications and keeping teams well informed, blogs help you engage your teams and facilitate other forms of communications notably (bottom-up and peer-to-peer). Think employees sharing their expertise over specific topics, contributing with troubleshooting articles, giving shout-outs to colleagues, and more.
Confluence Blog vs Page
At a glance, it’s hard to tell the difference between a Confluence blog and a page. Well… they both look like a page, with the same text editor, banner image, status and all. I believe that has been done on purpose to avoid any learning curve or unnecessary complexities.
But dig deeper, and you’ll see key distinctions that make them essential for dynamic communication:
No Templates —And That’s a Good Thing
When you create a regular page, you can always base it on a template. This has been done since pages are used for a wide variety of use cases. Think documentation, project requirements, collaboration, and more. And, you don’t have that luxury with blogs.
But, why? Well, if you really think about it, in its core a blog doesn’t necessarily need a template. What makes the content stand out is the structure and quality of the content. In addition, blogs in Confluence are used to share quick updates and announcements, not long content formats.
Not included in page trees
When you work with pages, you kind of always have to know where to place them (be it as a parent, child, or within a folder). It is necessary to create a well balanced hierarchy and make life easier for your teams. But when it comes to blogs, you’re restricted on purpose. You don’t have control on where to place your blogs, because Confluence does that for you. If you think about it, the best possible way to store blogs is in chronological order. And by having everybody organizing their work the same way, you can minimize unnecessary complexities.
Blogs Aren’t in “All Content” or “Content Manager”
Same with page trees, blogs are not included within the space’s “All Content” section or the latest feature “Content Manager”. The latter is designed to help you easily visualize and organize your content by performing bulk actions. The feature is great which is why it’s included in advanced plans (Enterprise and Premium).
Not having blogs in there is also done on purpose to preserve the chronological nature of their display. It does feel limiting for those looking for a more robust content management experience. (Note to Confluence’s product team: we’d love an option for blog bulk actions. 😉)
Same permissions, different presentation
Blogs and pages are similar in terms of permissions. Just like regular pages, Confluence blog posts share the same permission settings as other content within a space. This means you can manage who can view or edit your blog posts, ensuring the right people always have the right access.
However, the display is quite different. Blogs are by default presented in a more linear, chronological style, whereas pages are typically part of a more holistic hierarchy. This distinction allows you to maintain the informal, time-sensitive nature of a blog, even though it shares similar access controls.
Best Practices for Using Confluence Blog Posts
Now that you’ve got an overall idea on why Confluence blog post are important and how they differ from regular pages, it’s time to learn how you can make the most out of them.
Tip #1: Know your audience
As is the case with any piece of content you’ll be writing, understanding your audience is the key for success. This will help you better plan your overall communications strategy, and write useful and compelling blogs that your teams will actually read.
Tip #2: Keep your Confluence blog engaging
Nobody wants to read a wall of text. Break your post into sections, use bullet points, and of course built-in or third-party formatting macros. Think macros such as tabs, collapsible sections, or panels. This will help you better organize your content, highlight key information, and facilitate overall navigation.
Tip #3: Use labels
Although the default display is purposefully designed to help your readers easily access blogs, you can further make them easier to find with labels. Tags like “team-updates”, “Q4-goals,” or “project-retrospectives” help users locate relevant content without having to scroll through the space or use search.
Tip #4: Embed your blog posts
Another way to make your blogs accessible is to use the built-in blog posts macro. This is particularly useful to include within your space homepage or other parent pages. The macro is highly customizable as you can choose the display options, time frame, labels to include, authors, and more.
Tip #5: Measure Success with Confluence Analytics
Wondering how your blogs are performing? Keep an eye on Confluence analytics to track top contributors, views, likes, comments, and more. These metrics are invaluable indicators of engagement and help you identify what content resonates with your audience—and what needs a little more tweaking.
You can track metrics at both the space and page levels. The views are highly customizable as you can filter via different criteria.
Confluence Blog posts are the underappreciated gem of internal communication. They offer a platform for timely, engaging, and impactful updates that can elevate how your team connects and collaborates. So next time you’re drafting that email or putting off an announcement, consider this: why not blog it?
