Status variable disappears after page is created from Template
Asked by Lindsey Smith:

I've developed a custom template using the "/var" option to create a dropdown "status" menu.   

spaces have been removed from the title and the dropdown list. No special characters are used.   

The status variable remains visible until a page is created from the template  

Please see screenshots attached (starting in the template builder and moving through the pages created from the promoted template)   
![Screenshot 2023-07-21 at 3.37.56 PM.png](https://community.atlassian.com/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/270515iF67AD95B8001D5E3/image-size/large?v=v2&px=999 "Screenshot 2023-07-21 at 3.37.56 PM.png")![Screenshot 2023-07-21 at 3.38.11 PM.png](https://community.atlassian.com/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/270516i1CE189D3F3EE107A/image-size/large?v=v2&px=999 "Screenshot 2023-07-21 at 3.38.11 PM.png")![Screenshot 2023-07-21 at 3.38.27 PM.png](https://community.atlassian.com/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/270517iBA059527F6685161/image-size/large?v=v2&px=999 "Screenshot 2023-07-21 at 3.38.27 PM.png")![Screenshot 2023-07-21 at 3.39.28 PM.png](https://community.atlassian.com/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/270518i08477014358B887D/image-size/large?v=v2&px=999 "Screenshot 2023-07-21 at 3.39.28 PM.png")![Screenshot 2023-07-21 at 3.40.19 PM.png](https://community.atlassian.com/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/270519i83F3D3AF97CB913B/image-size/large?v=v2&px=999 "Screenshot 2023-07-21 at 3.40.19 PM.png")![Screenshot 2023-07-21 at 3.40.47 PM.png](https://community.atlassian.com/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/270520i2B08151EDBE9D2FF/image-size/large?v=v2&px=999 "Screenshot 2023-07-21 at 3.40.47 PM.png")![Screenshot 2023-07-21 at 3.41.21 PM.png](https://community.atlassian.com/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/270521i1F3B01E7B164CB13/image-size/large?v=v2&px=999 "Screenshot 2023-07-21 at 3.41.21 PM.png")


Answers:
author: Levente Szabo _Midori_
body: That's right. And if you want something more advanced than the 5 global statuses Confluence Cloud offers built-in, try a more flexible content lifecycle management solution, like [Better Content Archiving for Confluence.](https://marketplace.atlassian.com/apps/123/better-content-archiving-for-confluence?hosting=cloud&tab=overview&utm_campaign=gh&utm_medium=cac-comment-2427266&utm_source=cac)

Here is a comprehensive article on how to set the [Confluence page status](https://www.midori-global.com/blog/2023/04/28/confluence-page-status?utm_campaign=gh&utm_medium=cac-comment-2427266&utm_source=cac) with Better Content Archiving \>\>

With this app, you can:

* automatically set each page to a status based on a CQL query
* [view the page status](https://midori-global.com/products/better-content-archiving-for-confluence/cloud/documentation/manage-the-content-lifecycle/view-the-content-status?utm_campaign=gh&utm_medium=cac-comment-2427266&utm_source=cac#introduction) in the top of each page
* [view a number-of-pages-per-status report](https://midori-global.com/products/better-content-archiving-for-confluence/cloud/documentation/content-status/content-status-overview?utm_campaign=gh&utm_medium=cac-comment-2427266&utm_source=cac#introduction) for a space or for the whole site
* set expiration date, archiving date, owner and other content lifecycle metadata
* [create custom dashboards](https://midori-global.com/products/better-content-archiving-for-confluence/cloud/documentation/content-status/macros?utm_campaign=gh&utm_medium=cac-comment-2427266&utm_source=cac#content-status-list) from statuses
* [search for pages with CQL](https://midori-global.com/products/better-content-archiving-for-confluence/cloud/documentation/content-status/search?utm_campaign=gh&utm_medium=cac-comment-2427266&utm_source=cac#what-is-cql) by status, space, labels, etc.
* [send custom notification emails](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSB1d4Kb1Kk) (reminders, digests, reports, etc.) based on status
* run archive/delete automations based on status
* etc.

![content-status-indicator-cloud (1).gif](https://community.atlassian.com/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/269729iEFB34AD7E71696FC/image-size/large?v=v2&px=999 "content-status-indicator-cloud (1).gif")

*(Please note that Better Content Archiving is a free/paid and supported app and I'm part of the team developing it.)*


author: Anastasia Bek _Stiltsoft_
body: Hello [@Lindsey Smith](/t5/user/viewprofilepage/user-id/5274215) !

Thank you for your question, and welcome to the Atlassian Community! Based on your needs and use case, I'd like to introduce our [Handy Macros for Confluence](https://marketplace.atlassian.com/apps/1214971/handy-macros-for-confluence-formatting-and-interactive-ui?tab=overview&hosting=cloud&utm_source=atlassian-community&utm_medium=answer&utm_campaign=handy-macros-traffic-sources&utm_id=1216111&utm_content=status_variable) app, which can be a good fit. It is a bundle of different macros, including interactive statuses and dates, which can also be put into a template.

* [Create](https://docs.stiltsoft.com/hmfc/cloud/handy-status/before-you-start) unlimited customized status sets.
* Switch [Handy Status](https://docs.stiltsoft.com/hmfc/cloud/handy-status) and [Handy Date](https://docs.stiltsoft.com/hmfc/cloud/handy-date) directly in the view mode, including the [Confluence Page Status](https://docs.stiltsoft.com/hmfc/cloud/handy-page-status), which can also be an alternative.
* [Connect](https://docs.stiltsoft.com/hmfc/cloud/handy-status/how-to-use-handy-status) statuses to page labels for quick search
* Ensure status and date consistency across Confluence tables and pages
* Quickly [update](https://docs.stiltsoft.com/hmfc/cloud/handy-status/tips-on-handy-status) the Page Properties Reports

Please see examples below.

![image-20230724-093125.png](https://community.atlassian.com/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/272733i69E51B852C4E49BF/image-size/large?v=v2&px=999 "image-20230724-093125.png")![image-20230724-093153.png](https://community.atlassian.com/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/272734i907331CC32B4A3E6/image-size/large?v=v2&px=999 "image-20230724-093153.png")![image-20230724-093341.png](https://community.atlassian.com/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/272735iB756D51FA79C5E27/image-size/large?v=v2&px=999 "image-20230724-093341.png")  
We also have a [blog post](https://stiltsoft.com/blog/confluence-tips-and-tricks-using-interactive-statuses/) covering this and other Confluence tips and tricks with interactive statuses. Perhaps it can be helpful for you as well. You can try the [Handy Macros for Confluence](https://marketplace.atlassian.com/apps/1214971/handy-macros-for-confluence-formatting-and-interactive-ui?tab=overview&hosting=cloud&utm_source=atlassian-community&utm_medium=answer&utm_campaign=handy-macros-traffic-sources&utm_id=1216111&utm_content=status_variable) app on the Atlassian Marketplace for free to see if it works for you. [Our support](https://stiltsoft.customercase.com/forums/support-requests/ideas/create?category=Handy%20Macros%20for%20Confluence) is always happy to assist with any concerns.  
Have a lovely day!  
Kind regards,  
Anastasia


author: Lindsey Smith
body: Hi [@Barbara Szczesniak](/t5/user/viewprofilepage/user-id/5187859) I need status updates and other variables within the document itself, so adding a page-wide status will not solve the problem here

Do you have recommended fix if I need to use the variable command to add a status or other variable/dropdown menus in the body of the template?

comments: author: Barbara Szczesniak
body: [@Lindsey Smith](/t5/user/viewprofilepage/user-id/5274215) As far as I know, the variables you add in a template are for people to set when they create a page using that template. They are no longer available once the page is created.

It seems like you want to add a dropdown list within the content of the page where someone can select a status from the list. You cannot do this natively in Confluence, but there are plug-ins you can use for this (see the [Marketplace](https://marketplace.atlassian.com/search?product=confluence&query=dropdown)).

Are these items for display only or will you need to search and do other actions based on the selection? For example, I notice in your screenshot above, you only have 3 possible statuses. If you are using them just as a visual indicator, you could try creating checkboxes for each status (you can format the label text if you want) that might look something like this:

![StatusCheckboxes.png](https://community.atlassian.com/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/271094iD006C79E936B70FD/image-size/large?v=v2&px=999 "StatusCheckboxes.png")


author: marc -Collabello--Phase Locked-
body: Hi [@Lindsey Smith](/t5/user/viewprofilepage/user-id/5274215) ,

Confluence has also the built in [status variables](https://support.atlassian.com/confluence-cloud/docs/add-a-status-to-your-page-or-blog/).

You can't use them in a template directly, but these are automatically available during editing. However if you want to add these status variables to the page itself you need an addon like our (paid) app [Document Metadata for Confluence Cloud](https://marketplace.atlassian.com/apps/1228316/document-metadata-for-confluence-cloud).


author: Barbara Szczesniak
body: [@Lindsey Smith](/t5/user/viewprofilepage/user-id/5274215) Welcome to the Atlassian Community. Confluence Cloud has a built-in page status feature that may suit your needs. Review these pages (not sure if one offers any more information than the other) and feel free to let us know if you have questions on this feature or if it may not be what you are looking for:

<https://community.atlassian.com/t5/Confluence-articles/Page-status-a-new-way-to-keep-your-team-informed/ba-p/1982476>

<https://support.atlassian.com/confluence-cloud/docs/add-a-status-to-your-page-or-blog/>


Tags: cloud

confluence-cloud