Page tree macro

[Mark T]

Does anyone know how to adjust the href settings for the page tree macro?

We use the page tree macro for navigation of our JSM KB that's linked to a Confluence site, as discussed here: 

https://community.atlassian.com/forums/Jira-Service-Management/Knowledge-base-navigation/qaq-p/972854

The problem is that navigation causes a new browser tab to launch.

I don't see any way to customize the page tree macro to adjust the href settings to keep the reader within a single browser tab, so hopefully, someone has an idea on how to handle this.

[Raphael Lopes]

Hello @Mark T welcome to the Community,

You're right — the Page Tree macro, when used in Confluence linked to a Jira Service Management (JSM) knowledge base, opens links in a new browser tab by default. This behavior is hardcoded when articles are accessed via the JSM portal, and not something that can be changed directly within the macro settings.

• Why this happens:
  When Confluence content is rendered inside the JSM help center, it’s loaded in an iframe and designed to open articles in new tabs to preserve the portal context.
• The Page Tree macro itself doesn’t allow customization of target="_blank" or href behavior.

Workarounds to consider:

1. Use a different navigation macro:
The Content by Label macro or even manually built navigation pages using links (with [Link Text|Page Name]) give you more control, but this loses the auto-tree generation of the Page Tree macro.

2. Use Confluence natively instead of inside JSM portal:
If your users can access the KB directly in Confluence (not via the help center), links behave normally (in the same tab).

3. Custom HTML/JavaScript (Cloud limitations apply):
In Confluence Server/Data Center, you could inject JavaScript via Custom HTML to override link behavior.

In Confluence Cloud, this is not possible due to security restrictions — so you're limited to what Atlassian exposes.

Recommendation:
If this behavior is critical to your UX, I’d suggest raising a feature request or voting/commenting on related suggestions in jira.atlassian.com — or exploring an Atlassian Marketplace app that offers custom navigation macros with more flexibility.

I hope help you!!

[Mark T]

Thanks for the reply. We have hundreds of portal only users so purchasing Confluence licenses for them to have the native, and friendly Confluence experience isn’t viable.

Atlassian surely must know the KB experience in JSM does not scratch the surface of expectations. Platforms such as Readme or Zendesk offer a significantly better navigation and content layout experience.

I’m not sure how I’d articulate that into a feature request, but maybe it’s simply to say look around folks, this isn’t the experience people want.