Displaying recently updated content for a child pages from a parent page

[JosephC]

Is there any way to display recently updated content from a parent page and its child pages?  We used to accomplish this easily via the Contributors Summary macro, but Atlassian removed this feature.  Years ago we accomplished this by including labels on the desired pages and using the Recent Updates macro, filtered the display by the labels.  While this method would still work, it is incredibly cumbersome, time consuming and prone to manual error.  Looking for any other alternatives that isn't a third party application.

[Marc - Devoteam]

Hi @JosephC 

There still is a Contributors macro, it doesn't function the same as the Contributors Summary macro.

This is also mentioned to be used as replacement within Confluence Cloud.

https://support.atlassian.com/confluence-cloud/docs/insert-the-contributors-macro/ 

[Mia Tamm _Simpleasyty_]

Hey @JosephC — great question!

Short answer:

• Confluence Cloud: there isn’t a built-in macro that lists “recently updated pages under this parent (and its children)” without using labels.

Here are the practical options, depending on your edition:

If you’re on Confluence Cloud

1. Closest built-in workaround (no labels):

   • Add the Page Tree Search macro and point it at your parent page. It scopes search to that page tree, but it’s an interactive search box—not an always-on “recent updates” feed.

2. Space-level recent changes (still no labels):

   • Use the Search Results macro, restrict to your space and set Last modified (for example 7d). It shows recent updates, but cannot be limited to a single parent/descendant tree. (This macro is legacy but still available.)

3. If you already use Page Properties on child pages:

   • Drop a Content Properties Report macro on the parent page. In the macro filters, add With ancestor = your parent page and sort by Modified. Note: this report requires a label on pages that contain the Content Properties macro, so it only works if your child pages already use that pattern (often via a template).

4. Recent Updates macro (for completeness):

   • It does a nice job of “what changed recently” with filters, but it can’t target a single page tree—only spaces, types, and labels.

I know that’s not the one-click Cloud solution you were hoping for. If avoiding labels is the key requirement on Cloud, the honest answer is that there’s no native macro that combines ancestor scoping with a recently updated list today. The two low-maintenance paths I see teams use are either (a) accepting space-level scope with the Search Results macro or (b) standardizing on a Page Properties + Report pattern (Simple Tables is working on a plug-and-play solution).

Happy to share a quick snippet to set up any of the above. And if others in the community have a clever Cloud-only trick I missed, please jump in!

— Mia Tamm