Is Inline Code Formatting on Confluence Server Supported?
Asked by IT Support:

According to this page: <https://confluence.atlassian.com/confcloud/confluence-editing-improvements-945107733.html?_ga=2.141524789.667655992.1536862622-1840654809.1534950947>

I should be able to enclose some code with a couple back ticks \` and it should form inline code. However, when I try this on our Confluence Server instance (6.11.1), it doesn't do anything other than actually show the back ticks I put in.

Am I missing something here? Is this only supported on Confluence Cloud? If it is cloud-only, when will it trickle down to us server users?

Thanks!


Answers:
author: Shannon S
body: Hi there,

The documentation is for Cloud, but you mentioned you're on server.

Have a look at the [Code Block Macro](https://confluence.atlassian.com/doc/code-block-macro-139390.html).

Can you let me know if that accomplishes what you need?

Regards,

Shannon

comments: author: IT Support
body: The code block marco does not do what we need. You can't use the code block in-line with other text. It splits up the code and normal writing, which is not what I want. I just want to be able to do inline code snippets like I can in Slack, GitHub, etc. (Change to a monospace font and change the background color. If it's an option on Cloud, when will it make it to the server version?


author: Shannon S
body: I'm trying to find out for you to see if it will be implemented in Server in the future.

However, I did find an article that might be able to help you:

* [Updating Confluence to do Inline Code Highlighting](https://ratil.life/updated-confluence-to-do-inline-code-highlighting/)

I will follow-up with you once I hear anything about the changes you are requiring.

Regards,

Shannon


author: Shannon S
body: Hi there,

I heard back from the product manager of Confluence Server.

They let me know that they are currently researching editor improvements for Server, and you will definitely see some changes implemented in the future. We just don't know what those changes are at this time. However, these are unlikely to be the same changes you see in Cloud, as Server is using a separate editor in the backend.

Regards,

Shannon


author: IT Support
body: Hi Shannon,

Thanks for the info. I will keep an eye out for those updates in the future.

Cheers,

Will


author: SharperTool
body: How about supporting a robust inline format.

\`\`\`javascript  
insert a bunch of javascript here.. multi lines.. obviously formatted for JAVASCRIPT!!

\`\`\`

Now back to your regularly scheduled program (or format)

It does not get simpler (for the USER to enter). The data format should be somewhat easy to parse and render (Okay, I'm assuming a lot there..)


author: Aleksei Landychev
body: Well here we are 2023 and running confluence data center v8 .   
Still missing basic function and now i know why.   
Not only are we paying ridiculous price for the software , we cant even have a basic function that has been around for years.   
Come on Atlassian give us Inline Code Formatting.  

Sweden Sundsvall.


author: vitanetworks
body: This is ridiculous, my Wordpress site does so much better formatting than Confluence, it's much lighter, databases can basically be changed on the fly, certificates are completely left to the web server, as they should, no messing with keystores. Of course Wordpress can be a security nightmare though I wouldn't be to smug of something run on Java. At least PHP is much easier to diagnose for a non-technical person than the layer Java adds.

In Confluence, you pay a pretty hefty admission price unless you're by yourself (10 users easily filled with management, backup and accounts for your cats or something) and cats and then annually for maintenance. Maintenance of what, SVGs are *still* not supported many years after users have spoken out right here, templates are for the Cloud version only and a lot of the selling points Atlassian advertises in the website are purchase after purchase in the marketplace, fact conveniently not mentioned.

It seems like they don't realize they're not the only offer in town.

FWIW, coming from the expensive dumpster fire of SharePoint, even for 2019 with finally fresh, good looks, I am currently content with Confluence, it was a good enough middle ground among dozens of wikis and wiki-type premade solutions, but I hope they fix their shortcomings before renewal time early next year because they're getting old--literally, in the case of SVGs.

Projects like Wiki.js were unusable just a few months back and now, though still incomplete they run so smooth, they federate, and quite easy to setup. DokuWiki without any addons was transformed into a beautiful silvery modern look with links doubling as color accents on an otherwise grayscale palette, very unlike its old person's default color sheme--it's a little more intimidating to create things than in Confluence though, so it was scratched but with addons and *time* it can handle everything Confluence and SharePoint have and then some.

comments: author: Bill Bailey
body: Well you are comparing apples to oranges. WordPress is a CMS for hosting websites. Confluence is a wiki, typically for Intranet usage. I have used both, and they have places where they shine. Confluence is highly structured; WordPress is chaotic (why I moved to Drupal).

As far as styling, you can do a lot in Confluence. You just either a) need to customize the CSS and/or b) develop some simple user macros. You can even change the color scheme separately from the CSS in the admin console (no CSS knowledge needed).

Having the look and feel controlled at a high level is by design -- you want all pages in a wiki to have a consistent look and feel (and to have that look and feel to be updated globally in a few minutes). The same as you would for blogs.

And there are page templates in the server version. I use them regularly.

But if DokuWiki will meet your needs, then maybe that is the better tool for your application? Confluence does bill itself as an enterprise wiki.


author: Luke Lamar
body: [@Bill Bailey](/t5/user/viewprofilepage/user-id/502089)I think you are missing the point here. The Atlassian suite is expensive for an enterprise. Yet Atlassian seems to ignore some of the most basic features that have been in wikis, bug trackers, and CMS products for many years. This is especially the case for the server addition. We know that custom changes to the Confluence CSS will resolve some issues, but for the average user or those that lack administrative privileges, this is not practical. I see complaints all over this community board regarding minor things like inline code, support for graphics formats, being able to shade table cells with more than 5 pastel colors, etc. Can Atlassian spend a few bucks from the millions my government agency has spent on its products and fix some of these basic features?


author: Bill Bailey
body: Well to paraphrase a former, disgraced SecDef, you have to fight the battle with the army you have amd not the army you want. I agree there are many usability features that would be very nice to have, and would be great for Atlassian to address them, but you have two choices:

1. Wait until Atlassian decides to fix them, and given that much more important features are still open, it could be years to never
2. Use what tools are available now to solve the problem.

My point was more #2, and also to recognize what Confluence can't do, and that maybe another toolset might be better for an application.


author: Rick Gigger
body: Ok it appears that using back ticks does do this. Sometimes. Maybe. But usually it doesn't. And when it does happen it's poorly implemented. But I guess technically this feature does exist.

comments: author: Caleb Palmquist
body: Not working for me. I keep forgetting it doesn't work too, which is really annoying.


author: Bill Bailey
body: If you are server, can you not highlight the characters you want t format and apply monospace to them?

comments: author: IT Support
body: This is what I am doing for the time being, but the problem is that only changes the font. When skimming through documents, I want to see the different background color so the code portions stand out a bit more -- much like Slack and GitHub... or the inline code on Confluence Cloud! haha


author: Bill Bailey
body: Well it actually it doesn't format to text but wraps it in HTML code tags. So then you can change your CSS to style the code tag however you want.


Tags: confluence-server

server