Is there a way to update links easily?
Asked by Sanet Minnie:

Scenario:

We have a product space that links to other product spaces. For each new release, the links must be updated to point to a new version. For example:

There are 1200 links in one space pointing to this space:  
https://company/display/SPACE88/pagex

When a new version is released, we need to update those links to:

https://company/display/SPACE89/pagex

---

I am not referring to intra-space links, as they update automatically when we copy a space, I have a problem with inter-space links.

I want a solution that does not require access on server side or in the database.

I know we can use excerpts or includes.

Does anyone know if the Easy Space Variables plugin would work for this?  
<https://marketplace.atlassian.com/plugins/eps.focuspro.variables/server/overview>


Answers:
author: Stephen Deutsch
body: One option would be to do a search and replace on the links. Here is a user macro for space-wide search and replace on the Confluence Storage Format:

<https://streamline.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/STRMLN/pages/5144578/Search+and+Replace+User+Macro>

so you could search for https://company/display/SPACE88/ and replace with https://company/display/SPACE89/, but make sure you preview the changes first to make sure that you're not changing anything accidentally that you don't want to.

comments: author: Bernabe Theodore Costales III
body: This is a good answer if you're looking to make your changes with a minimum amount of additional plugin management, [@Sanet Minnie](/t5/user/viewprofilepage/user-id/674049). Let us know if this works out for you! If you'd rather a more in-depth answer with some addons available from the Atlassian Marketplace, the [this answer provided may help as well.](https://community.atlassian.com/t5/Confluence-questions/Re-Is-there-a-way-to-update-links-easily/qaq-p/623709/comment-id/83564#M83564 "Atlassian Community")


author: Robert Reiner _smartics_
body: The commercial [projectdoc Toolbox](https://www.smartics.eu/confluence/x/1YEp) can do this with the free [Information Systems Extension](https://www.smartics.eu/confluence/x/XAFwAg), specifically the [System Link Macro](https://www.smartics.eu/confluence/x/jQhk).

Links to external servers will use a [space property](https://www.smartics.eu/confluence/x/8YXSAw) at render time. Therefore all links to this external systems can be changed by changing the value of this one property. With the [autoconvert feature](https://www.smartics.eu/confluence/x/XAFwAg#InformationSystemsExtension-Autoconverting), links that point to a configured external resource will automatically be converted to the macro (making it easier to add new links).

EDIT: The autoconvert of a link to the macro that checks for the space property will (currently) only work if the page can be accessed with anonymous privileges (see below). Otherwise you would need to set the label in the macro manually which I would assume to be too cumbersome to do. My solution also does not solve the problem of the current links to be converted to the 'macro form' (so you would also need a one-time replacement process like Stephen mentioned in his answer).

There are also more features like [transclusion](https://www.smartics.eu/confluence/x/jwhk) or links to certain servers (see [Domain References](https://www.smartics.eu/confluence/x/XAFwAg#CategoriesofInformationSystemMacros-DomainReferences)). The current version does not allow to link to a restricted resource and automatically authenticate.

Here is more information related to this topic:

* [HTML Title as Link Text](https://www.smartics.eu/confluence/x/JIBBAw) - especially [4.2 Configuration](https://www.smartics.eu/confluence/x/JIBBAw#HTMLTitleasLinkText-Configuration) provides an overview on how the configuration is done
* [Confluence as the Information Hub](https://www.smartics.eu/confluence/x/zQEvB)

Please note that I am one of the authors of the projectdoc Toolbox and the extensions. So my answer may be biased ...

You can check if these add-ons meet your use cases: The projectdoc Toolbox is [available on the Atlassian Marketplace](https://marketplace.atlassian.com/1212629) for Confluence Server. The Information Systems Extension ([also available on the Atlassian Marketplace](https://marketplace.atlassian.com/1215319)) is available for free, but needs services from the commercial projectdoc Toolbox.

comments: author: Bernabe Theodore Costales III
body: This is a good answer too that has some more expanded information and strategies for if you're attempting a larger scale migration of links and information! Big ups for the information.