Setting up confluence as a single source repository for documentation

[Jim Walther]

Has anyone set up Confluence as a single source repository for documentation? I am looking to use it to output multiple online documents for different audiences, reusing pages and adding new pages for specific audiences. I'm used to Flare and Robohelp, where I had a tree with branches. I think I can do something similar with Confluence. 

I have created a folder called "Inclusions" where I have "chunks" of information in pages. Sometimes using excerpts as well. Then I place these in macros in a new page for the specific audience I am trying to reach. This part seems to work.

However, I want to ensure that, while keeping the information searchable, only I have the ability to edit the original repository. My current thought is to keep a space called "Repository" (or something like that) then pull inclusions from it into other spaces as needed by my audiences. Will that work? Is there something easier?

[Jim Walther]

Thanks JP. I'll check out Scroll Versions. 

[JP _AC Bielefeld Leader_]

Hi,

not sure if it's easier, but you might want to check an addon for Confluence named Scroll Versions, which allows for a version management for pages (like publishing all pages with a common version for public audience).

You can always use an "Include" macro to generate a page from different source pages & you can have the "Excerpt" macro to define or display an excerpt of a page.

Best

JP

[Jim Walther]

One limitation I ran into (still new to Confluence--day 5--so it may not be a limitation) is that I can't have a page named the same thing in multiple places. I'm probably doing it wrong. I have similar content for three types of users, so I have a main page and subpages for each. Each page or subpage can only have as much content as a typical screen allows without scrolling. The subpages have some of the same information as each other, but not all of it.

I have been using inclusions to set up the subpages thus far. I created a "master" page for Development with the main topic, then subpages under it to simulate a table of contents. Each page has an inclusion rather than text so that I can make all changes in the master.

My problem is going to be when I make a new TOC for Sales and need to have several subpages with the same title as the other TOC. Right now I think I will need multiple spaces to create the different TOCs, on for Dev, one for Sales, etc. Is that the best option, or would something else work?

[roman]

Hi @Jim Walther,

this is a limitation of Confluence. Page titles have to be unique in a single space.

By the way, one of the features of Scroll Versions is that you can have duplicate page titles in a space: https://help.k15t.com/scroll-versions/latest/duplicate-page-titles-154872070.html.

Hope this helps.

Roman.