Add & edit template to an existing page
Asked by Laura Meijers:

Hi all,

We are looking for a possibility to add one or more template to an existing page. (CMS principle) These templates should be able to edit in the page where they are added without changing the template itself or information at another page. Of course we have investigated the possibilities and also suggested the copy paste method, but that's a no go for now.

We are curious about the suggestions from your side.

Laura \& Sander


Answers:
author: Kishan Sharma
body: Hi [@Laura Meijers](/t5/user/viewprofilepage/user-id/3906277)

Page templates are used only when adding a page. It is not possible to apply a template to an already-existing page as you can edit the page itself once it is created from a template.

Once a page has been added using a template, the template is no longer linked to the page. All further editing is performed as if the template was never used.

Some Marketplace apps provide enhanced template functionality. I would suggest you to explore [Atlassian Marketplace](https://marketplace.atlassian.com/search?product=confluence&query=templates) to see if any third party add-ons/plugins meet your requirements.

comments: author: Kishan Sharma
body: Hi [@Laura Meijers](/t5/user/viewprofilepage/user-id/3906277)

Instead of replying on your answer, will reply here - I think you can create your own template by using Excerpt Include and Excerpt macro to achieve this.

Create a page and add "[Excerpt macro](https://support.atlassian.com/confluence-cloud/docs/insert-the-excerpt-macro/)" which will be used to mark part of this page's content for re-use.

Then [Excerpt Include](https://support.atlassian.com/confluence-cloud/docs/insert-the-excerpt-include-macro/) macro can used to display 'excerpted' (that is, a segment of) content from the page created earlier. (You can add this macro in your template)

For example I created a **template** and added 3 excerpt include macro's in it, which will pull some segment of information from other pages, here's how it looks like -

![excerpt-include-template.png](https://community.atlassian.com/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/178075i42A121C716C3297F/image-dimensions/276x348?v=v2 "excerpt-include-template.png")  
Excerpt Macro page -

![excerpt-macro-page.png](https://community.atlassian.com/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/178078i7FA84D43B565CAB3/image-dimensions/242x150?v=v2 "excerpt-macro-page.png")

Sample published **page** using the template -  
![excerpt-include-page.png](https://community.atlassian.com/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/178074i3B134889471B5F14/image-dimensions/251x219?v=v2 "excerpt-include-page.png")  

You can try it and see if that meets your requirement.


author: Laura Meijers
body: Hi Kishan,

Thank you for the comprehensive description.  
Unfortunately this functionality doesn't match our expectations;

1. Yes it includes information from another page
2. No, we are not able to edit the information in the ''excerpt include'' macro (the page where the information is added)   
   1. Side note: we want to edit the information in the page where it's added, but we don't want to change the information of the original template

So basically it's more like a copy and paste functionality, but we don't want to do this manually by ourselves. Ideally we want to do this by a button/macro/template/add-on functionality.

Laura \& Sander


author: Kishan Sharma
body: Hi [@Laura Meijers](/t5/user/viewprofilepage/user-id/3906277)

You are right in that you won't be able to edit the information in "excerpt include" macro.   
You can explore "[ConfiForms - Data Forms \& Workflows](https://marketplace.atlassian.com/apps/1211860/confiforms-data-forms-workflows?tab=reviews&hosting=cloud)" add on through which you can make your reusable content be replicated automatically and managed in one place by using [page template easily made with ConfiForms](https://confiforms.com/creating-page-templates-forms-confluence-with-confiforms).


author: Laura Holton _ACE Rotterdam_
body: Hi [@Laura Meijers](/t5/user/viewprofilepage/user-id/3906277) ?

When you add a new page you can base your it on a template -- a Confluence page with predefined content. Some templates are provided by blueprints or add-ons, and you can even [create your own templates](https://confluence.atlassian.com/conf61/create-a-template-877187723.html).

However, you can't apply a template to an already-existing page. Once a page has been added using a template, the template is no longer linked to the page.

I've filtered the search on the Atlassian Marketplace for you to make it easier. [You can take a look here.](https://marketplace.atlassian.com/search?application=confluence&hosting=cloud&product=confluence&q=template&query=template)

I hope this helps but if you have any other questions just ask away ?

All the best,

Laura


author: Dirk Brutscher
body: Hi,

after reading your usecase, I think this is exactly what I build my **Confluence App** "**[Editor Templates](https://marketplace.atlassian.com/1232674)** " for. You can create you own templates or content parts on Confluence pages. These "**[Editor Templates](https://marketplace.atlassian.com/1232674)**" (pages) can then be inserted as editable content right at the cursor position in the Confluence page editor:

![appHighlights1.png](https://community.atlassian.com/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/292982i82F702DBE2FF5399/image-size/large?v=v2&px=999 "appHighlights1.png")![appHighlights2.png](https://community.atlassian.com/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/292983i114D92366E8E072F/image-size/large?v=v2&px=999 "appHighlights2.png")![appHighlights3.png](https://community.atlassian.com/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/292984iAAB1A451B65269B4/image-size/large?v=v2&px=999 "appHighlights3.png")


author: Jamie Esker _Appfire_
body: Hi [@Laura Meijers](/t5/user/viewprofilepage/user-id/3906277) and others looking for a solution to this issue,

I'm the Product Marketing Manager at Appfire and you could check out our app, [Scaffolding Forms \& Templates for Confluence](https://marketplace.atlassian.com/apps/190/scaffolding-forms-templates-for-confluence?hosting=cloud&tab=overview&utm_source=organic&utm_medium=atl-community&utm_campaign=engagement). It lets you build reusable, live templates that update across all pages when edited. When the template is added to the page, you can type within the template and the template does not change.

Have a look, check out the documentation, and feel free to reach out with any questions!

Jamie


author: Henrik Ekblom
body: This is a deal-breaker for when you have many pages...

I want to use Confluence for documentation, but if in the future want to add a new field for all pages, for example, "Touchscreen Functionality", I currently have to manually edit hundreds of pages.

The main issue is that look-and-feel is mixed with the content, which ideally could be separated.

This seems to resemble how web development was done before WordPress back in 1997 ?

comments: author: Jamie Esker _Appfire_
body: Hi [@Henrik Ekblom](/t5/user/viewprofilepage/user-id/5314547) I just answered above \^\^\^. It looks like our plugin may help with what you need :)


author: Henrik Ekblom
body: Your plugin does exactly what Confluence should do - separate data from presentation. But there are some drawbacks:

* Editing a page doesn't trigger a new version of the page
  * it's possible to also update the page afterward, but users will forget this and the version history will be incomplete
* It's not as smooth to edit pages as it is using only original components
  * since you have to edit a component within the page
    * which includes loading times
  * *this isn't however as big of a drawback as point nr 1*


author: Jamie Esker _Appfire_
body: Thanks for the feedback! We're always looking for ways to improve, so I'll make sure to pass this along to my dev team.


author: Laura Meijers
body: Hi all,  

Our question is still relevant.  
If someone know another solution we would be very interested in it!  

Kind regards,  

Laura \& Sander

comments: author: Miriam Hopton
body: same here! Curious and highly interested. You would think it would be something easy too!


author: Laura Meijers
body: Hi Kishan and Laura,

Thank you for both replies. We know how the template functionality works and are also familiar with the Marketplace. What we are looking for is if someone has experience with an add-on that makes our request possible: Add one or more template to an already existing page with information as ''extra''.

We have already explored the following application, but what we are missing is the possibility to edit the text in the Confluence page.

[https://marketplace.atlassian.com/apps/1222146/content-template-macro-for-confluence?hosting=cloud\&tab=overview](https://marketplace.atlassian.com/apps/1222146/content-template-macro-for-confluence?hosting=cloud&tab=overview)

Laura \& Sander

![Schermafbeelding 2022-01-17 135512.jpg](https://community.atlassian.com/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/178051i32D99AFBEFEC5445/image-size/large?v=v2&px=999 "Schermafbeelding 2022-01-17 135512.jpg")


Tags: confluence-cloud