Can Confluence be used to create client facing, online context sensitive WITHOUT a plug-in?

[Kelley Bennett]

I am trying to determine whether Confluence is an option for use to create online help for a Saas Platform.  What I've read mentions that a  plug-in is required, but I want to verify whether that's true or not.

This is especially concerning if users can't access online help without logging in.

[Kelley Bennett · Accepted solution]

Thanks for taking the time to provide this information and input.... It will do this one thing that we need.  I'm looking for other aspects, but for now you have provided me with a clear answer that I was unable to find (definitively) elsewhere.

Thanks!

[Bill Bailey]

The please accept my answer when you have a chance. ;-)

[Bill Bailey · Accepted solution]

First, you can enable permissions to allow anon users to view content at the space level.

Are you intending to have users visit your help site, search and find the answer they want? Or are you linking to Confluence as help pages?

If you are looking for it to be a help site that documents  your system, it works well for that. If you want to link to the pages from the outside, it works well for that as well, with one caveat: you need to link at the page levels as those links are dynamic and durable. Links to headings on the page, could break easily if the headings change.

[Kelley Bennett]

The way it currently works now with another HAT, is that I map my topics to the specific page in our platform to create page-level context sensitive help.  I would prefer to be able to continue that rather than more like Word where you bring up help and have to search.

Thanks.

[Bill Bailey]

Well the link to pages in Confluence are pretty durable (based on pageID). So you can rename the page, or move it in hierarchy within a space and not break the link.

To this end, there are two forms of page links:

• https://confluence.example.com/display/SPACEKEY/Page+Title
• https://confluence.example.com/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=123456

The later is much better for being durable as the pageID won't break even if you move the page to another space.

Bottom line, it sounds like Confluence would do what you want it to do.