Tips and tricks for getting the most out of Confluence databases
With remote working becoming the rule, not the exception, workers now want tools that enable easy, asynchronous collaboration.
According to a recent Microsoft survey, a majority of workers aren’t happy with how these tools serve them:
- 59% say their collaboration tools don’t align with their teams’ work preferences
- 72% say the incompatibility of their collaboration tools makes it difficult to collaborate across different teams
If you’re looking for a way to end laborious cross-team collaboration, Confluence databases might be just what you need. Think of Confluence databases as an ultimate work library, allowing teams to create, manage, and contextualize vital data across all teams in one, centralized location.
Let’s take a deep dive into Confluence databases. We’ll discuss what they are, how to use them, and go through some tips and tricks that can help your team get the most out of them.
Tips and tricks for Confluence databases
First, to better understand what features we’re talking about, let’s take a quick tour of the databases interface.
![Databases interface screenshot.](https://wac-cdn-bfldr.atlassian.com/K3MHR9G8/at/6m7ts8sf6f2sqqc39kcwcv/databases_2.png?auto=webp&format=png)
- Database views enable you to customize how your database is shown when shared with others. Use views to define the layout, filtering, sorting, and visible fields of your database.
- Quick search makes it easy to quickly find entries in the database.
- The More menu provides database actions like undo, redo, lock or copy structure, import, export, get help, and give feedback.
- Layouts define the way your database is displayed. You can choose between table, card, and board layouts.
- Filter entries allow you to define specific data display criteria. If you choose to define multiple filters, you can choose to match all or specific filters when displaying your entries.
- Sort by field allows you to define the order of your entries based on field values like ascending (arrow up) or descending (arrow down)
- Hide fields allows you to hide fields from your view by deselecting them.
Now that we’ve gone through the main database options, let’s delve deeper into how you can use them.
Adding fields for Confluence pages and Jira issues
![Adding fields to Confluence pages screenshot.](https://wac-cdn-bfldr.atlassian.com/K3MHR9G8/at/6z4cnc986tgmjft8sr7hrzbw/databases_3.png?auto=webp&format=jpg)
Every Confluence database structure is defined by configured field types.
Use field types to define the type of data you want to store in a particular field (text, numbers, dates, images). Using field types, you can easily sort, filter, and search for specific information in your database.
We showed you how to create fields in the “getting started” resource and how to add basic data like text, image, date, and user.
Now, let’s look at some of the more involved field types you can use in Confluence databases.
Page fields
![Confluence databases page fields screenshot.](https://wac-cdn-bfldr.atlassian.com/K3MHR9G8/at/g4k8997vgktr9v4tbhn35cq/databases_4.png?auto=webp&format=jpg)
Page fields are a field type that allow you to link your databases to relevant Confluence pages.
Use Page link fields to link entries to Confluence pages or create new pages directly within your database, on the fly. For example, when managing projects, you can connect and create a more detailed, project-specific page with each project entry directly in the Database.
Once you’ve created the page link field, simply find and add the Confluence page that you want to add to your database.
Page details
The Page details field allows you to display the metadata of a linked Confluence page. For example, it can highlight the author of a page and when it was created or display rich text from your excerpt macro.
You can also change the status of any field in databases by clicking on the Page status field and choosing one of the custom or suggested statuses.
Once you change the status in databases, the change will be reflected in the corresponding Confluence page as well.
Jira fields
Use the Jira issue field to link your database entries to one or several Jira issues and create a roadmap of issues that need to be tackled.
Click in the “FIELD NAME” box and select “Jira issue Field.”
From the “JIRA INSTANCE” dropdown, select “System Jira.”
This creates a Jira issue field in your database, where you can find and link any existing Jira issue to your database.
The Jira issue details field allows you to display Jira field details from a linked Jira issue within an entry to manage issues better. For example, you can set this field up to see when each Jira issue was last updated.
This status will change automatically whenever an issue is updated.
Creating custom layouts
Confluence databases are easily customizable so that any team or individual can create a view that fits their needs perfectly.
There are three layouts that you can choose from; here’s what they look like:
Card view:
![Card view screenshot.](https://wac-cdn-bfldr.atlassian.com/K3MHR9G8/at/fbvtwxcsvn34tksv8zsxw37v/databases_5.png?auto=webp&format=jpg)
Board view:
![Board view screenshot.](https://wac-cdn-bfldr.atlassian.com/K3MHR9G8/at/t9xk9vgnnm99vwq95hnwhrw/databases_6.png?auto=webp&format=jpg)
Table view:
![Table view screenshot.](https://wac-cdn-bfldr.atlassian.com/K3MHR9G8/at/2s9vbzfbrvcp3tszwcxg4kbv/databases_7.png?auto=webp&format=jpg)
You can toggle between the three different views by clicking the views icon and then choosing your view.
Once you choose your view, you can further customize it by rearranging rows, columns, boards, and cards. Simply click on the top menu (kebab, overflow) icon of the field that you want to move, then drag and drop it to your preferred location.
You can take any field that you’ve created and move it across both rows and columns to find the perfect spot for it within your card, board, or table view.
Saved views
![Saved view screenshot.](https://wac-cdn-bfldr.atlassian.com/K3MHR9G8/at/v7qwwn2cc54mktgt5g53xknz/databases_8.png?auto=webp&format=jpg)
The Save view function allows you to create and display custom views that are accessible to everyone (or whoever you choose). Simply select the “Save view” option and click on “Save as new view.”
You’re then prompted to give the newly created view a name, making it easy to access in the future from the “All entries” drop-down menu.
If you want to share the new saved view with anyone in your organization, simply click on the copy button and send the copied URL.
Sorting and filtering
![Sorting and filtering screenshot.]( https://wac-cdn-bfldr.atlassian.com/K3MHR9G8/at/ms679g455wc999srb8jscrc/databases_9.png?auto=webp&format=jpg)
Databases enable you to show data in ways that you deem to be most logical. You can use sorting or filtering to display the most relevant information in each database you create.
You can sort your view by the page link field and tags that you’ve created.
You can also create filters. For example, you can filter the data to show entries owned by a particular user.