When I edit a template, I do not see any template variables, etc.
Asked by Bob Sovers:

I am using Confluence Cloud, and have been granted space administrator privs, but even though I can create and edit templates, I cannot get to any of the functionality to add variables, or add instructional text. (In fact, I'm not even sure where they are supposed to be accessed from, since the Template help just says to "Choose **Template \> New Variable**...", but I don't HAVE that any where on my page!)

Has anyone else seen this behavior?


Answers:
author: Shannon S
body: Hello Bob,

Happy to help you with this!

It depends on the editor you're using. The old editor would've looked like this:

![Screen Shot 2019-09-19 at 15.37.09.png](https://community.atlassian.com/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/66805i0526E34CE94B5422/image-dimensions/227x141?v=v2 "Screen Shot 2019-09-19 at 15.37.09.png")

But on the new editor, you'll see this menu:

![Screen Shot 2019-09-19 at 15.39.00.png](https://community.atlassian.com/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/66806i6E0FA62537391078/image-dimensions/192x245?v=v2 "Screen Shot 2019-09-19 at 15.39.00.png")

Note that **Instructional Text** has been renamed to **Placeholder Text**.

The documentation you're following is probably for the old editor. The documentation will be completely updated as the new editor is rolled out.

I hope that helps, but if you have any questions, please let me know.

Regards,

Shannon

comments: author: Bob Sovers
body: Thank you, I have that item in my menu. I would think that documentation of new features would be released along with those features and not so long afterward. The new editor has been out for over 6 months now.


author: Shannon S
body: Hello Bob,

Thank you for confirming that! Many users still don't have the new editor applied to their entire instance, which is why the older documentation is still around. It would be helpful if there were documentation for both editors, and it is something that's currently being worked on.

Take care, and do let me know if I can help you with anything further!

Regards,

Shannon


author: Joachim Appel
body: entered by mistake


author: Shannon S
body: Hi [@Joachim Appel](/t5/user/viewprofilepage/user-id/3789453),

Sure thing! It's right here, available in this menu:

![NewVariable.png](https://community.atlassian.com/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/85075iCD8692F3B91B1FD8/image-dimensions/117x356?v=v2 "NewVariable.png")

Regards,

Shannon


author: Joachim Appel
body: yes, thanks. I must have been blind (or some brownie secretly let it appear after I couldn't find it ?).

Right after I posted my question I miraculously could see it all of a sudden and wanted to take my question back - but obviously it was too late ...


author: Shannon S
body: Hi Joachim,

No brownies here, to my knowledge, although you never know... ?I'm glad you asked anyway in case someone else missed it!

Take care, and feel free to let me know if you need any further assistance!

Shannon


author: Waylon Palmer
body: I'm having trouble finding 'Placeholder Text' Any suggestions ?

![Screen Shot 2020-12-21 at 10.54.05 am.png](https://community.atlassian.com/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/122985i2A77C640FEE74DC6/image-size/large?v=v2&px=999 "Screen Shot 2020-12-21 at 10.54.05 am.png")

comments: author: Charlie Edwin
body: me too. [@Shannon S](/t5/user/viewprofilepage/user-id/510046) any suggestion on this?


author: Shannon S
body: Hi [@Charlie Edwin](/t5/user/viewprofilepage/user-id/2941321) and [@Waylon Palmer](/t5/user/viewprofilepage/user-id/4200442)! My apologies for not seeing your question earlier. I've been away for a while.

I can confirm that **Placeholder text** macro is still an available macro in the template editor. It's not available in the page editor. Can you ensure you are editing a template and not a page? If you are editing a template and don't have the option, please raise a ticket with [Atlassian Support](https://support.atlassian.com/contact), and we will investigate.

Thank you, and take care!

Shannon


Tags: cloud

confluence-cloud