can I split "Children Display" across "layouts" on a page?
Asked by Patrick McCarty:

can I split "Children Display" across "layouts" on a page?

I have multiple children pages under a given page. I cannot move them around the page except as a block. would like to have them displayed side by side verse straight down - possible? Potentially split across layout boxes i create - possible?

pat.mccarty@libertymutual.com


Answers:
author: Anastasia Bek _Stiltsoft_
body: Hi [@Patrick McCarty](/t5/user/viewprofilepage/user-id/5200348),

I'm Anastasia from Stiltsoft.

I've been thinking about your question and I suppose that our [Handy Cards](https://docs.stiltsoft.com/hmfc/server-dc/handy-cards/how-to-use-handy-cards) from the [Handy Macros for Confluence](https://marketplace.atlassian.com/apps/1214971/handy-macros-for-confluence-formatting-and-interactive-ui?tab=overview&hosting=datacenter&utm_source=atlassian-community&utm_medium=answer&utm_campaign=handy-macros-traffic-sources&utm_id=1216111&utm_content=children_display_handy_cards) can be a good fit. They allow you to create page previews for children pages, pages by labels, or external resources based on your needs. Furthermore, you can customize the look and feel for Handy Cards. You can select their layout, size, text and images included and so on.

For example, you can add Handy Cards generated from child pages in the edit mode in a few clicks:

![image-20230427-204737.png](https://community.atlassian.com/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/254457i3191B251F9976872/image-size/large?v=v2&px=999 "image-20230427-204737.png")

This will result in the page cards which are updated automatically in the page view mode:

![image-20230427-205044.png](https://community.atlassian.com/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/254459i7B1DC9422A9AC6EC/image-size/large?v=v2&px=999 "image-20230427-205044.png")

[Handy Macros for Confluence](https://marketplace.atlassian.com/apps/1214971/handy-macros-for-confluence-formatting-and-interactive-ui?tab=overview&hosting=datacenter&utm_source=atlassian-community&utm_medium=answer&utm_campaign=handy-macros-traffic-sources&utm_id=1216111&utm_content=children_display_handy_cards) is available for Cloud and Data Center. Please, let me know if you have any further questions.

Cheers,

Anastasia


author: Connor
body: Hi [@Patrick McCarty](/t5/user/viewprofilepage/user-id/5200348) to my knowledge there's no built-in way to cleanly achieve what you're describing, but there is a somewhat hacky method that might work for you.

I tested this method against a page with 2 child pages.

1. Add a **Two column layout** to the page.
2. Add a **Children Display** macro to each column.
3. Edit the macro in the first column.
   1. Set **Number of Children** to half of the total number of child pages. In my case my page has 2 child pages so I set this to 1.
   2. Choose **title** for the **Sort Children By** dropdown.
4. Edit the macro in the second column.
   1. Set **Number of Children** to half of the total number of child pages. Again I set this to 1.
   2. Choose **title** for the **Sort Children By** dropdown.
   3. Click the checkbox for **Reverse Sort**.

The end result is 2 side-by-side Children Display macros, the first shows child pages in alphabetical order, the second shows child pages in reverse alphabetical order. Here's a screenshot of my page editor showing this, with a third Children Display macro at the top for reference.

![2023-04-27 ChildrenDisplayMacro-Hack.png](https://community.atlassian.com/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/254315iA949EB9826351A4A/image-size/large?v=v2&px=999 "2023-04-27 ChildrenDisplayMacro-Hack.png")

This might work for you, but be aware of these problems you may face if you decide to do this:

* You would have to update the **Number of Children**value every time a new child page was published.
* Your users may become confused by the ordering of pages, if the child pages are intended to be read in chronological order.

comments: author: Patrick McCarty
body: Thanks!!! will give this a try!