Confluence Automation - Copy a Page then archive the original
Asked by Richard Fry:

Hi

I'm using Confluence automation to try and enforce a work flow for sign off, I've hit a slight snag.

I'm trying to automate the workflow

On status change to Approved -\> Move the page to the "Signed Off" area of the space.

On status change of Approved to Draft -\> Take a copy of the page from the Signed Off Parent and place it into the Draft Parent.

The snags I have hit.

1. The move operator doesn't support changing the title of the page so I am using copy.

2. The archive/delete operators work on the current page only - which after a copy is the new page created rather than the source page.

Is there any way that I can get the "current page" to be the source page rather than the destination page so I can archive/delete the old page?

Thanks in advance.

Ritch


Answers:
author: Aron Gombas _Midori_
body: As far as I understand you implemented an approval workflow using the built-in Confluence page status, you use the page hierarchy to "collect" the pages in a given status, and you add automation rules to reduce the work for your users.

I believe our [Better Content Archiving app](https://marketplace.atlassian.com/apps/123/better-content-archiving-for-confluence?hosting=cloud&tab=overview) can give a more intelligent solution to the problem, with [smarter page statuses](https://midori-global.com/products/better-content-archiving-for-confluence/cloud/documentation/track-the-content-status), with [grouped page lists](https://midori-global.com/products/better-content-archiving-for-confluence/cloud/documentation/content-status/content-status-overview) that don't rely on moving pages back and forth, and with [CQL-based bulk-archiving](https://midori-global.com/products/better-content-archiving-for-confluence/cloud/documentation/configure/automation-schemes) (and other automations).

Statuses, for example, work simply like this:

If you are interested, please open a ticket in our ticketing system, and I will suggest you a configuration that could implement the workflow that matches your needs.

*(Discl. it is a paid and supported app developed by our team. Free for 10 users!)*

comments: author: Richard Fry
body: Thanks Aron

Yes this is a simple sign off work flow and very much an experiment on using the native capabilities that have been implemented in confluence.


author: Barbara Szczesniak
body: [@Richard Fry](/t5/user/viewprofilepage/user-id/5030683) I haven't used the automation features (we are on free plan and only upgrading to standard when I'm ready to publish my content), but, in general:

* When you **move** the page, it no longer exists in the previous location to archive.
* When you **copy** the page within the same space, you have to give the page a different name, since you cannot have 2 pages with the same name in the same space.

I have been trying to figure out how to have a space for my draft documents and separate space for the published versions without having to use a 3rd-party app to sync them and make sure the links go to the correct space when I go from draft to published, while keeping a copy of the page in the draft space.

I'd like to thank you for giving my an idea that I could keep everything in one space and use a copy of the published page that only authors and reviewers have permissions to see when I need to make updates to a previously published page. I see some research and experimentation coming this week.

comments: author: Richard Fry
body: You're welcome.

For follow up I've found a work around:

I have 3 parent pages in the space

Draft

Approved

Draft ready to delete

On Change of Status to Approved

If Parent Page - Draft

Then

Move the page to "Archive ready to delete"

Copy Page to Parent - "Approved" with new Name "Approved - DD/MM/YYYY"

I then have a second daily job that clears the "Draft ready to delete" down on a daily basis.


Tags: automation

cloud

confluence-cloud