Auto Suggestion feature in Confluence

[HQRAZAHS]

Hello Folks. I need one help. Below is my problem explanation along with Expected Solution. Please review the same and help me to provide a suitable resolution.

📌 Objective:

We are maintaining a Risk-Issue table in Confluence, where data is copied from Excel. This table is used as input for the Pivot Table macro to generate a Risk Owner Matrix. One of the key columns in this table is "Assignee", which captures the name of the Risk/Issue owner.

---

🎯 Challenge:

Currently, the "Assignee" field is a free-text input. This leads to several issues:

• Inconsistent naming: For example, my name "Md Ahsan Raza" might be entered as "Ahsan", "Raza", or "Ahsan Raza".
• Spelling errors: Mistakes like "Ahsab" can occur.
• Data fragmentation: These inconsistencies distort the accuracy of the Risk Owner Matrix, especially when the dataset grows to hundreds or thousands of records.

---

✅ Expected Solution:

To ensure data consistency and reduce manual errors, I am looking for a way to implement an auto-suggestion or dropdown feature in the "Assignee" column. This would:

• Provide a predefined list of valid names.
• Allow users to select from suggestions as they type.
• Minimize the risk of typos or inconsistent entries.
• Ensure the Pivot Table output remains accurate and reliable.

[Barbara Szczesniak]

@HQRAZAHS I'm not sure if this would work when you embed the Excel table in the Confluence page for people to modify, but have you tried making the column in question a dropdown list in the Excel file? I've done this in straight Excel, where you assign all of the possible values that can be selected in the column and specify that the user cannot type an entry that is not in the list.

[HQRAZAHS]

I am sorry @Barbara Szczesniak . I could not understand. Can you please help me with a scenario or example? Or may be help me explain in a simpler way. I am a bit new on Atlassian.

[Barbara Szczesniak]

@HQRAZAHS For information on how to do this in Excel, you can see this page: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/create-a-drop-down-list-7693307a-59ef-400a-b769-c5402dce407b 

Reading your response to @Tomislav Tobijas again, I am thinking that you have not embedded the Excel file, you have simply pasted it into Confluence, where it is now just a regular Confluence table. Is this correct?

If so, there is no way to add a dropdown list in a native Confluence table. If all of your possible Assignees are users in the space, you could direct people to insert the name by @ mentioning the person.

[Barbara Szczesniak]

@HQRAZAHS This question posted today mentions a 3rd-party app that may meet your needs: https://community.atlassian.com/forums/Confluence-questions/Macro-not-loading-until-page-is-published-updated/qaq-p/3114196 

You can look for this and other apps that might help you out in the Atlassian Marketplace.

[Tomislav Tobijas]

Hi @HQRAZAHS ,

Just to confirm—are you using native Confluence tables or some third-party (Marketplace) app for Risk-Issue table?

Native feature doesn't have an option to add a dropdown/list, but maybe you could use Confluence databases and the tag field type in there 🤔

If it's the Marketplace app, the best bet would probably be to reach out to the vendor and see if they can add any insights or potentially workarounds you could use.

Cheers,
Tobi

[HQRAZAHS]

@Tomislav Tobijas I am  neither using native Confluence table nor any 3rd party table. Its simple excel which I pasted from my local.

I believe I cant use  Confluence Database due to the fact that I have to use my table in some other spaces as well.