Getting started

How to access per-space Metadata

Metadata fields and sets can be created per space to restrict certain items to one individual space, or globally to create common definitions available in all spaces.

The per-space settings can be accessed by the Space tools menu in the bottom-left corner of the navigation bar as shown in the screenshot (see right)

The space configuration shows you the metadata field definitions first that were defined for the current space at the top (red box), followed by the Global metadata fields below. They are listed merely for reference and cannot be edited without the respective set of privileges. The Edit links in the global metadata fields will redirect to the global configuration, see below for more details.

The navigation bar near the top (currently showing Metadata fields as the selected item) gives you access to more configuration:

• Metadata sets: sets (as containers for multiple metadata fields) that are only defined for the current space

• Bulk change: function used to change the metadata of multiple pages in some simple steps

• Export: exporting metadata fields and sets into a JSON file

• Import: importing metadata fields and sets from a JSON file ( this requires that there are no metadata fields or sets defined in the space already. If so, they need to be removed before import is possible)

How to access the global configurations for admins

To configure global metadata fields and sets, click the “cog” symbol in the top right corner of your Confluence instance as shown in the screenshot.

Select General configuration in the menu.

In the sidebar on the left of the configuration page, locate the METADATA FOR CONFLUENCE section and click Metadata fields to get to the list of global metadata fields (available in all spaces).

In this page, you can add new metadata fields with the Add metadata field button in the top-right corner.

Existing fields can be edited regarding their title and further configuration if applicable. The key and type are immutable once a field was defined.

The Metadata sets link directs you to the definition of global metadata sets.

How to access Metadata for users (while editing)

While you edit a page, the Communardo Metadata icon in the top-left corner is visible and clicking it toggles the sidebar.

Metadata are not a part of the page content so they won’t appear outside this sidebar. If you want to display individual metadata fields or an overview of all sets attached to the page, you can make use of the respective macros provided by the Communardo Metadata plugin.

Metadata Editor (Sidebar)

This is an example of how your sidebar may look. Initially it will be blank as the page does not have any metadata sets assigned to it.

The sidebar is the place where you edit all Metadata fields of the various Metadata sets attached to the page. The available sets include all global sets as well as all sets that were defined in the current space.

Each field offers the capabilities that the underlying metadata field type has.

Additional Metadata sets can be added via the + Configure Sets button at the bottom of the sidebar. This is the first step in new pages once you want to access metadata.

Field validation

Some field types are validated on input, i.e. warnings will be shown if the input value does not comply to the configured rules of the field.

The validation messages disappear as soon as the error was corrected.

for the time being, it is possible to publish a page despite the presence of validation errors. The values will be saved even though they did not pass validation.

Quick access to metadata (while viewing)

Outside edit mode, you can get your metadata overview for all sets assigned to the current page by clicking the Communardo icon on top of the page as as shown in the screenshot. A popup will open that lets you pick a set and displays all fields in the set along with their values.

The Edit Metadata button will get the page into edit mode and open up the sidebar.