Template vs Blueprint
Asked by Dmitry Dm:

Can someone shed some light, please, on what the difference is between a page template (classic Confluence functionality) and a blueprint? Seems to be the same thing.


Answers:
author: Prateek Bansal
body: This is the difference based on my experience

|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| **Blueprint**                                                              | **Template**                                                                 |
| Title can be pre-populated For e.g. dynamic dates in minutes page          | Title is Blank                                                               |
| UX Wrapper to pre-populate content dynamically in the page and have macros | No UX Wrapper, but can have pre-written/designed content and end user macros |
| Needs more development efforts                                             | Needs less development effort. Faster to create.                             |
| Creates Index/Report page if Page Properties are included in the blueprint | Does not create any index                                                    |


author: Stephan Sutter
body: Hi,

Our company is ISO9001:2015 certified and we started to use Confluence in 2013. We had the Vision to do all our documents within Confluence: contracts, offers, specifications, etc. But our customers still want Word documents and PDFs. So we had to find a way to get all your Word Templates into Confluence. With Confluence templates you can do only one page templates and that was a Show stopper. Blueprints can only be improved by a very small number of employees and that is not collaboration! So in the beginning we used the Plugin Copy Page Tree. It worked, but we were looking for a better way.

So we decided to write our own plugin called Page Tree Creator. The following table describes how we see the difference between the solutions.

If you want to see our [**Page Tree Creator**](https://marketplace.atlassian.com/plugins/eps.focuspro.PageTreeCreator/server/overview) in action, checkout our live examples under this link:

<br />

**<https://focuspro.eps.ch/display/PEPSMarktExample/Marketplace+Examples>**

|                                                     Feature / Function                                                     |                                                Page Tree Creator                                                |                                                 Copy Page Tree                                                  |                                      Blueprints                                      |                                       Template                                       |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Page Trees are supported                                                                                                   | ![tick](/html/@FB21E167CF5FC78FA9216CD8178453B3/images/emoticons/tick.png "tick")                               | ![tick](/html/@FB21E167CF5FC78FA9216CD8178453B3/images/emoticons/tick.png "tick")                               | ![minus](/html/@E63A1362032AF9D4C4C2BC978871E2BC/images/emoticons/minus.png "minus") | ![minus](/html/@E63A1362032AF9D4C4C2BC978871E2BC/images/emoticons/minus.png "minus") |
| Search \& Replace in Page Title                                                                                            | ![tick](/html/@FB21E167CF5FC78FA9216CD8178453B3/images/emoticons/tick.png "tick")                               | ![tick](/html/@FB21E167CF5FC78FA9216CD8178453B3/images/emoticons/tick.png "tick")                               | ![tick](/html/@FB21E167CF5FC78FA9216CD8178453B3/images/emoticons/tick.png "tick")    | ![minus](/html/@E63A1362032AF9D4C4C2BC978871E2BC/images/emoticons/minus.png "minus") |
| Search \& Replace in Page Content                                                                                          | ![tick](/html/@FB21E167CF5FC78FA9216CD8178453B3/images/emoticons/tick.png "tick")                               | ![minus](/html/@E63A1362032AF9D4C4C2BC978871E2BC/images/emoticons/minus.png "minus")                            | ![tick](/html/@FB21E167CF5FC78FA9216CD8178453B3/images/emoticons/tick.png "tick")    | ![minus](/html/@E63A1362032AF9D4C4C2BC978871E2BC/images/emoticons/minus.png "minus") |
| Search \& Replace in Macro Parameters                                                                                      | ![tick](/html/@FB21E167CF5FC78FA9216CD8178453B3/images/emoticons/tick.png "tick")                               | ![minus](/html/@E63A1362032AF9D4C4C2BC978871E2BC/images/emoticons/minus.png "minus")                            | ![minus](/html/@E63A1362032AF9D4C4C2BC978871E2BC/images/emoticons/minus.png "minus") | ![minus](/html/@E63A1362032AF9D4C4C2BC978871E2BC/images/emoticons/minus.png "minus") |
| Search \& Replace in Label Fields                                                                                          | ![tick](/html/@FB21E167CF5FC78FA9216CD8178453B3/images/emoticons/tick.png "tick")                               | ![minus](/html/@E63A1362032AF9D4C4C2BC978871E2BC/images/emoticons/minus.png "minus")                            | ![minus](/html/@E63A1362032AF9D4C4C2BC978871E2BC/images/emoticons/minus.png "minus") | ![minus](/html/@E63A1362032AF9D4C4C2BC978871E2BC/images/emoticons/minus.png "minus") |
| Copy attachments                                                                                                           | ![tick](/html/@FB21E167CF5FC78FA9216CD8178453B3/images/emoticons/tick.png "tick")                               | ![tick](/html/@FB21E167CF5FC78FA9216CD8178453B3/images/emoticons/tick.png "tick")                               | ![minus](/html/@E63A1362032AF9D4C4C2BC978871E2BC/images/emoticons/minus.png "minus") | ![minus](/html/@E63A1362032AF9D4C4C2BC978871E2BC/images/emoticons/minus.png "minus") |
| Default Tags (variables, e.g. current user, template Version,...)                                                          | ![tick](/html/@FB21E167CF5FC78FA9216CD8178453B3/images/emoticons/tick.png "tick")                               | ![minus](/html/@E63A1362032AF9D4C4C2BC978871E2BC/images/emoticons/minus.png "minus")                            | ![tick](/html/@FB21E167CF5FC78FA9216CD8178453B3/images/emoticons/tick.png "tick")    | ![tick](/html/@FB21E167CF5FC78FA9216CD8178453B3/images/emoticons/tick.png "tick")    |
| No Programming Skills needed, so everybody can improve templates                                                           | ![tick](/html/@FB21E167CF5FC78FA9216CD8178453B3/images/emoticons/tick.png "tick")                               | ![tick](/html/@FB21E167CF5FC78FA9216CD8178453B3/images/emoticons/tick.png "tick")                               | ![minus](/html/@E63A1362032AF9D4C4C2BC978871E2BC/images/emoticons/minus.png "minus") | ![tick](/html/@FB21E167CF5FC78FA9216CD8178453B3/images/emoticons/tick.png "tick")    |
| Create Index / Report page based on Page Properties                                                                        | ![tick](/html/@FB21E167CF5FC78FA9216CD8178453B3/images/emoticons/tick.png "tick")                               | ![minus](/html/@E63A1362032AF9D4C4C2BC978871E2BC/images/emoticons/minus.png "minus")                            | ![tick](/html/@FB21E167CF5FC78FA9216CD8178453B3/images/emoticons/tick.png "tick")    | ![minus](/html/@E63A1362032AF9D4C4C2BC978871E2BC/images/emoticons/minus.png "minus") |
| Button with source and destination link to create new Page / Page Tree                                                     | ![tick](/html/@FB21E167CF5FC78FA9216CD8178453B3/images/emoticons/tick.png "tick")                               | ![minus](/html/@E63A1362032AF9D4C4C2BC978871E2BC/images/emoticons/minus.png "minus")                            | ![tick](/html/@FB21E167CF5FC78FA9216CD8178453B3/images/emoticons/tick.png "tick")    | ![minus](/html/@E63A1362032AF9D4C4C2BC978871E2BC/images/emoticons/minus.png "minus") |
| Cascade Creation of Multi-Page Trees                                                                                       | ![tick](/html/@FB21E167CF5FC78FA9216CD8178453B3/images/emoticons/tick.png "tick")                               | ![minus](/html/@E63A1362032AF9D4C4C2BC978871E2BC/images/emoticons/minus.png "minus")                            | ![minus](/html/@E63A1362032AF9D4C4C2BC978871E2BC/images/emoticons/minus.png "minus") | ![minus](/html/@E63A1362032AF9D4C4C2BC978871E2BC/images/emoticons/minus.png "minus") |
| No need of Administration Permisson for the design of Page Tree Templates                                                  | ![tick](/html/@FB21E167CF5FC78FA9216CD8178453B3/images/emoticons/tick.png "tick")                               | ![tick](/html/@FB21E167CF5FC78FA9216CD8178453B3/images/emoticons/tick.png "tick")                               | ![minus](/html/@E63A1362032AF9D4C4C2BC978871E2BC/images/emoticons/minus.png "minus") | ![minus](/html/@E63A1362032AF9D4C4C2BC978871E2BC/images/emoticons/minus.png "minus") |
| Page restrications are copied                                                                                              | ![tick](/html/@FB21E167CF5FC78FA9216CD8178453B3/images/emoticons/tick.png "tick")                               | ![tick](/html/@FB21E167CF5FC78FA9216CD8178453B3/images/emoticons/tick.png "tick")                               | ![minus](/html/@E63A1362032AF9D4C4C2BC978871E2BC/images/emoticons/minus.png "minus") | ![minus](/html/@E63A1362032AF9D4C4C2BC978871E2BC/images/emoticons/minus.png "minus") |
| Standard Confluence links behind Buttons: Renaming and rearrangement of template pages works like everywhere in Confluence | ![tick](/html/@FB21E167CF5FC78FA9216CD8178453B3/images/emoticons/tick.png "tick")                               | ![minus](/html/@E63A1362032AF9D4C4C2BC978871E2BC/images/emoticons/minus.png "minus")                            | ![minus](/html/@E63A1362032AF9D4C4C2BC978871E2BC/images/emoticons/minus.png "minus") | ![minus](/html/@E63A1362032AF9D4C4C2BC978871E2BC/images/emoticons/minus.png "minus") |
| Tag Markers can be configured                                                                                              | ![tick](/html/@FB21E167CF5FC78FA9216CD8178453B3/images/emoticons/tick.png "tick")                               | ![minus](/html/@E63A1362032AF9D4C4C2BC978871E2BC/images/emoticons/minus.png "minus")                            | ![minus](/html/@E63A1362032AF9D4C4C2BC978871E2BC/images/emoticons/minus.png "minus") | ![minus](/html/@E63A1362032AF9D4C4C2BC978871E2BC/images/emoticons/minus.png "minus") |
| Typed Input Fields (user picker is done, date, time, etc. will follow)                                                     | ( ![tick](/html/@FB21E167CF5FC78FA9216CD8178453B3/images/emoticons/tick.png "tick") )                           | ![minus](/html/@E63A1362032AF9D4C4C2BC978871E2BC/images/emoticons/minus.png "minus")                            | ![tick](/html/@FB21E167CF5FC78FA9216CD8178453B3/images/emoticons/tick.png "tick")    | ![minus](/html/@E63A1362032AF9D4C4C2BC978871E2BC/images/emoticons/minus.png "minus") |
| Copy published Comala Pages                                                                                                | ![tick](/html/@FB21E167CF5FC78FA9216CD8178453B3/images/emoticons/tick.png "tick")                               | ![tick](/html/@FB21E167CF5FC78FA9216CD8178453B3/images/emoticons/tick.png "tick")                               | ![minus](/html/@E63A1362032AF9D4C4C2BC978871E2BC/images/emoticons/minus.png "minus") | ![minus](/html/@E63A1362032AF9D4C4C2BC978871E2BC/images/emoticons/minus.png "minus") |
| Copy Page Tree without Search \& Replace                                                                                   | ![tick](/html/@FB21E167CF5FC78FA9216CD8178453B3/images/emoticons/tick.png "tick")                               | ![tick](/html/@FB21E167CF5FC78FA9216CD8178453B3/images/emoticons/tick.png "tick")                               | ![minus](/html/@E63A1362032AF9D4C4C2BC978871E2BC/images/emoticons/minus.png "minus") | ![minus](/html/@E63A1362032AF9D4C4C2BC978871E2BC/images/emoticons/minus.png "minus") |
| Create Space and copy Page Tree: Use our plugin **Space Tree Creator**                                                     | ( ![tick](/html/@FB21E167CF5FC78FA9216CD8178453B3/images/emoticons/tick.png "tick") )                           | ![minus](/html/@E63A1362032AF9D4C4C2BC978871E2BC/images/emoticons/minus.png "minus")                            | ![minus](/html/@E63A1362032AF9D4C4C2BC978871E2BC/images/emoticons/minus.png "minus") | ![minus](/html/@E63A1362032AF9D4C4C2BC978871E2BC/images/emoticons/minus.png "minus") |
| Internationalization of Page Trees                                                                                         | ![tick](/html/@FB21E167CF5FC78FA9216CD8178453B3/images/emoticons/tick.png "tick"), build Page Tree per language | ![tick](/html/@FB21E167CF5FC78FA9216CD8178453B3/images/emoticons/tick.png "tick"), build Page Tree per language | ![minus](/html/@E63A1362032AF9D4C4C2BC978871E2BC/images/emoticons/minus.png "minus") | ![minus](/html/@E63A1362032AF9D4C4C2BC978871E2BC/images/emoticons/minus.png "minus") |
| Internationalization of one Page                                                                                           | ![tick](/html/@FB21E167CF5FC78FA9216CD8178453B3/images/emoticons/tick.png "tick"), build a Page per language    | ![tick](/html/@FB21E167CF5FC78FA9216CD8178453B3/images/emoticons/tick.png "tick"), build a Page per language    | ![tick](/html/@FB21E167CF5FC78FA9216CD8178453B3/images/emoticons/tick.png "tick")    | ![tick](/html/@FB21E167CF5FC78FA9216CD8178453B3/images/emoticons/tick.png "tick")    |

Regards,  
Stephan

comments: author: kobull
body: This looks awesome. Thanks for making this. I was about to have to create this, or a version of it. Do you have developer documentation on how to use and extend this?


author: Charisma Riley
body: [@Stephan Sutter](/t5/user/viewprofilepage/user-id/551343) I love the concept behind your add-on! I noticed, however, that the Cloud version is quite distinctly nerfed compared to the Server versions. . . so according to the features you list above (which is way more complete/clear than the feature sets explained here, which ones apply to the state of the Cloud version today? What features does it currently have compared to the native Cloud template editor? (If I am going to make a recommendation to my group, I need to have this information.)

Thank you, in advance, sir!


author: Brittany Walker
body: One difference I have noticed is that with Blueprints, you can specify what you want the title of the page to be and add variables. Ex. if you create a page with the Meeting Notes blueprint, your page is automatically titled " Todaysdate Meeting Notes."

![](../../upfiles/Screen_Shot_2014-07-02_at_5.05.27_PM.png)

As far as I know, you can't do that with templates. When you create a new page from a template, you have to manually enter the name of the new page:

![](../../upfiles/Screen_Shot_2014-07-02_at_5.05.48_PM.png)


author: Stefan Ernst
body: templates are somewhat limited, with blueprints you can build a fully customizable wizard for your Jira pages. Look at what the polls plugin does with blueprints

<https://marketplace.atlassian.com/plugins/com.simplenia.confluence.plugins.polls>


author: Charisma Riley
body: Sorry to re-open an old thread, but I am still looking for this information, especially for Cloud. What are the differences between the Templates we can make with the Template Editor vs. Blueprints?

comments: author: Malik Mangier
body: "A *blueprint* is a *page template* with added functionality to help you create, manage and organize content in Confluence"; From [https://confluence.atlassian.com/doc/page-templates-296093785.html](https://confluence.atlassian.com/doc/page-templates-296093785.html?), but that holds for Cloud as well.

I'd say start with Templates you can make with the Template Editor, if you run into any limitation in terms of customization/automation then start looking at blueprints


author: Timothy
body: They are basically the same thing. You can read more here (<https://confluence.atlassian.com/display/DOC/Working+with+Templates#WorkingwithTemplates-Templatesprovidedbyblueprints>).

comments: author: Daniel Borcherding
body: TLDR; A blueprint is a template with extra sugar.


author: Dmitry Dm
body: It says in the doc that "A blueprint is a page template with added functionality to help you create, manage and organise content in Confluence.". Can you, please, give an example of such functionality? So far I see a blueprint as just a large template that can include several simple page templates... Am I right?


author: JRR
body: Yes, concrete examples would help me understand that statement as well!


author: LUC FILION
body: Hello,

I invite you to look at the Gaia for JIRA plugin, which basically allow to create new spaces based on a template space. It has got several templates included, and it includes blueprints as well. This allows basically to have a broad set of Confluence pages, and blueprints. So anyone can start a new project based on an predefined environment. Pretty neat.