Searching Confluence from multiple apps

[Jim Stewart]

We are using Jira Service Desk. We have created three projects - IT Service Desk, HR Service Desk, Facilities Service Desk. As users enter, the look and feel will show those three icons. If they are looking for a document and not sure which of those three buckets it's contained in, there is a search bar at the top.

Question - if each of those projects is linked to its respective Confluence workspace, is there a way to do a global search that will look into all of those? Or do users have to instead know (or guess) which one has the linked information? The users, of course, neither know nor care where the backend is. We're just trying to simplify the search. 

[Brant Schroeder · Accepted solution]

When you are in the service desk portal and you are at the help center level it will search all of the Confluence knowledge base articles associated with each of the portals (service desks) that a user has access to. So in your example if you have the following:

• Help Center
  • Service Desk A -> Confluence Knowledge Base A
  • Service Desk B -> Confluence Knowledge Base B
  • Service Desk C -> Confluence Knowledge Base C

If your user is able access all of the service desks and they use the search at the Help Center level they can search all the articles and request types for all three service desks.  Once a users is in a service desk portal and searches on the portal page it will only search the knowledge base associated with that portal.  To get around this I have seen individuals do the following.

• Help Center
  • Service Desk A -> Confluence Knowledge Base X
  • Service Desk B -> Confluence Knowledge Base X
  • Service Desk C -> Confluence Knowledge Base X

This setup will allow users to search all knowledge base articles regardless of what service desk they are at.

[Jim Stewart]

Yes. I see that now. It opens a window that gives me a choice of Jira or Confluence. I think that perhaps the setup we have is in some way preventing that. I have to talk to the tech person who set it up. 

Also, we are migrating over from ZenDesk. Is it possible during the transition period to link to that - or any external URL -so we can still find articles? Or is it assumed that application links are internal to Atlassian products? 

[Brant Schroeder]

Jim,

  Unfortunately the search will only link to Confluence and will not link with external KBs such as ZenDesk articles.  

[Jim Stewart]

Ok. No worries. It was worth checking. We'll be running them in parallel for some time but I think it will be incumbent upon us to move the KB over ASAP. Thanks.