Activate Arrow to Expand Page Tree
Asked by Stephen Kairys:

On an existing Wiki page, the page tree allows me to expand pages that contain child pages e.g.

ExpandItemOnPageTree.PNG

when I click the rightarrow next to "General Information", I see the child pages.

However, in another space, I do not see the rightarrow next to "expandable" pages.

How to activate?

Thanks,

Steve

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Answers:
author: Monika Antos [Adaptavist]
body: The sidebar is not controlled by the content of the page. It depends on the theme that is selected for a space (some themes don't have that sidebar at all). If both of your pages are in the same space, then the sidebar should look the same - it will just unwrap to show you the position of the page that you are currently looking at.

If you're working in different spaces, then there is a chance that your sidebar settings are different, or the theme is.

More on that here:

Sidebar: <https://confluence.atlassian.com/doc/configure-the-sidebar-317194694.html>

Themes: <https://confluence.atlassian.com/doc/apply-a-theme-to-a-space-139535.html>


author: Monika Antos [Adaptavist]
body: If you don't see an arrow, it means that that page has no child pages, so there is nothing to display.

comments: author: Stephen Kairys
body: Monika,

Thanks for your response. However, the page definitely has child pages. When I click on the parent page's name (NOT the arrow, which does not exist), I see the child pages.

Maybe there's some setting that controls this behavior?

Steve


author: Monika Antos [Adaptavist]
body: Hmmm... it may be a bug, but I can't reproduce it.  
Try to open the page and see if the page tree macro has been configured properly (double click on the macro to edit its attributes). Make sure that it uses proper root page, and so on. If nothing helps, report an issue to Atlassian.

Cheers!


author: Stephen Kairys
body: Monika,

OK you may be on to something.

For the page that works correctly, the sidebar contains the header **Page Tree**.

For the page that does not work correctly, the sidebar contains the header **Child Pages**.

Both pages have a Children Display macro, not a Page Tree macro. As far as I can tell, both macros have teh same setting.

What do I look for next? The underlying issue must be the related to **Page Tree** vs. **Child Pages.**

Thanks,

Steve


author: Monika Antos [Adaptavist]
body: Ah, that explains everything :smile:. **Children display** macro by default shows you only the immediate children of the page - without the option to drill down. If you want that drill down feature, you need to edit the page and replace the **Children display** macro with the **page tree** macro.

More about the macros here:

Children display: <https://confluence.atlassian.com/doc/children-display-macro-139501.html>

Page tree: <https://confluence.atlassian.com/doc/page-tree-macro-163414255.html>

Cheers,  
Monika


author: Stephen Kairys
body: Yes, that's what I thought, too.:smile: However, the screenshot below shows that the "page that works" also contains the Children Display Macro, not Page Properties.

ChildrenDisplayMacroOnly_NotPageTreeMacro.PNG

Interestingly, though, this page **used to** contain a Page Properties macro before someone changed to Children Display

Does any of the above make sense? Thanks!

Steve


author: Monika Antos [Adaptavist]
body: **children display** doesn't provide that drill down capability, so unless this is coming from an excerpt (included content from a child page), I'm not sure why you see that arrow.

Still, I would go ahead and replace that with the **page tree** and that should do the trick.


author: Stephen Kairys
body: The page that works, and the page that does not, have "explanations" of each menu choice via Excerpt macros in the child pages.

I will try the Page Tree Macro and report back with results. Thanks!


author: Stephen Kairys
body: OK, forgive my confusion...I'm still relatively new to Confluence. :smile:

When I stated that the "page that works" previously contained a "Page Tree" macro, I meant "Page Properties Report". I do not recall seeing a Page Tree macro in that page; then again I've worked for the client less than three months and it's possible it previously existed.

In any event, I added the page tree macro, but it did not do what I needed.

1. The tree appears within the page itself; I need it on the left sidebar, which is the case in the page that works.
2. On my first attempt, I did not specify the root page, so the root page became the roof of the space. In addition, the left sidebar flowed of the screen to the left.

Thanks,

Steve


author: Stephen Kairys
body: OK, I'll try the configure-the-sidebar link. Thank you...that makes sense.


author: Stephen Kairys
body: Oh yes! That solution worked! :smile: I changed from *Child Pages* to *Page Tree*.

All is good. I think this whole exercise proves that the best way to learn an application is to use it! :smile:

PageTreeWorksAfterConfigureSidebarThankYou.PNG

How do I convert your last comment to an answer?

Thanks,

Steve


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