How do I re-edit a page created with a template
Asked by Tom Crapper:

Hi

I have created templates with individual variables for each field. When a template is used to create a page, it saves fine. However, if I want to change it after saving, any variable fields that were not filled in at the page's creation are not there for me to populate subsequently.

Example:

I have a whole load of widgets that I want to record. I create a template with 6 fields, "Make" "Model" "Serial" "Colour" "Length" "Height" (using the markup @\<VARIABLE\>@). I access the template and fill in the details for any given widget, but don't fill in all the fields to start with - this all works great. When I go back later and edit the page to add the variables, there is no space for me to add data to the fields.

Help??


Answers:
author: Kevin Buchs
body: Ok, I see something I don't understand, but this must be something like a CSS form or HTML. A Confluence template will not be as feature rich but might look something like this basic example below. Scaffolding gives you a nice interface to the page, as suggested above.

----

h4. Event Name:

enter name

h4. Event Type:

enter type: one of: Board_meeting, Meeting, Conference, Forum, ...

h4. Event Venue:

enter venue

...

h4. Event Country:

enter country

h4. Notes:

enter notes here

----

comments: author: Tom Crapper
body: Kevin,

Thanks for your input. I could not get it to work at all, but in the end the problem seems to have been the Scaffold plugin. I uninstalled and then put it back and it now works fine.

<br />

Thanks!


author: Tom Crapper
body: Kevin,

Here is an example of one of the templates that I have created so far:

> ```
>  ||Event Name:  |@eventname@|  ||Event Type:  |@eventtype|list(Board_meeting,Meeting,Conference,Forum,Reception,Ceremony,Seminar,Exhibition,Trade_Show,Regional_Activity,Banquet,Dinner,Team_Building,Screening,Reading,Gathering,Lecture,Performance,Festival,Party,Sporting_Event)@|  ||Event Venue:  |@eventvenue@|
>
>   ||Event Building:   |@eventbuildingname@
>   ||Event Street:     |@eventstreet@
>   ||Event District:   |@eventarea@
>   ||Event City:       |@eventcity@
>   ||Event County:     |@eventcounty@
>   ||Event Post Code:  |@eventpostcode@
>   ||Event Country:  |@personworkcountry|list(Unknown,UK,Guinea,Mozambique,USA,______________________,Afghanistan,Africa,Albania,Algeria,American_Samoa,Andorra,Angola,Anguilla,Antarctica,Antigua_And_Barbuda,Antilles_Netherlands,Arabia_Saudi,Argentina,Armenia,Aruba,Asia,Australia,Austria,Azerbaijan,Bahamas,Bahrain,Bangladesh,Barbados,Belarus,Belgium,Belize,Benin,Bermuda,Bhutan,Bolivia,Boznia_and_Herzegovina,Botswana,Bouvet_Island,Brazil,British_Indian_Ocean_Ter,British_Virgin_Islands,Brunei_Darussalam,Bulgaria,Burkina_Faso,Burundi,Cambodia,Cameroon,Canada,Cape_Verde,Caribbean_the,Cayman_Islands,Central_African_Republic,Central_America,Chad,Chile,China,Christmas_Island,Cocos_Keeling_Islands,Colombia,Comoros,Congo,Congo_Dem_Rep_of,Cook_Islands,Costa_Rica,Cote_DIvoire,Croatia,Cuba,Cyprus,Czech_Republic,Kazakhstan,Kenya,Kiribati,Korea_Dem_Peoples_Rep,Korea_South_Republic_of,Kosovo,Kuwait,Kyrgyzstan,Lao_Peoples_Democ_Rep,Latvia,Lebanon,Lesotho,Liberia,Libyan_Arab_Jamahiriya,Liechtenstein,Lithuania,Luxembourg,Macao_China,Macedonia_TFYR,Madagascar,Malawi,Malaysia,Maldives,Mali,Malta,Man_Isle_of,Marshall_Islands,Martinique_FR,Mauritania,Mauritius,Mayotte_FR,Mexico,Micronesia_Fed_States_of,Middle_East,Moldova_Republic_of,Monaco,Mongolia,Montenegro,Montserrat,Morocco,Mozambique,Myanmar_ex_Burma,Namibia,Nauru,Nepal,Netherlands,Netherlands_Antilles,New_Caledonia,New_Zealand,Nicaragua,Niger,Nigeria,Niue,Norfolk_Island,North_America,Northern_Mariana_Islands,Norway,Oceania,Oman,Pakistan,Palau,Palestinian_Territory,Panama,Papua_New_Guinea,Paraguay,Peru,Philippines,Pitcairn_Island,Poland,Portugal,Puerto_Rico,Qatar,Reunion_FR,Romania,Russia_Russian_Fed,Rwanda,Sahara_Western,Saint_Barthelemy_FR,Saint_Helena_UK,Saint_Kitts_and_Nevis,Saint_Lucia,Saint_Martin_FR,S_Pierre_and_Miquelon,S_Vincent_And_Grenadines,Samoa,San_Marino,Sao_Tome_and_Principe,Saudi_Arabia,Senegal,Serbia,Seychelles,Sierra_Leone,Singapore,Slovakia,Slovenia,Solomon_Islands,Somalia,South_Africa,South_America,SGeorge_And_SSandwich,Spain,Sri_Lanka_ex_Ceilan,Sudan,Suriname,Svalbard_And_Jan_Mayen_Is,Swaziland,Sweden,Switzerland,Syrian_Arab_Republic,Taiwan,Tajikistan,Tanzania_United_Rep_of,Thailand,Timor_Leste_East_Timor,Togo,Tokelau,Tonga,Trinidad_and_Tobago,Tunisia,Turkey,Turkmenistan,Turks_and_Caicos_Is,Tuvalu,Uganda,Ukraine,United_Arab_Emirates,United_Kingdom,United_States,US_Minor_Outlying_Isl,Uruguay,Uzbekistan,Vanuatu,Vatican_Holy_See,Venezuela,Viet_Nam,Virgin_Islands_British,Virgin_Islands_US,Wallis_and_Futuna,Western_Sahara,Yemen,Zambia,Zimbabwe,Not_Specified)@
>
>   ||Event Contact:  |@eventcontact@
>
>   ||Notes: @notes|textarea(10,120)@
> ```

<br />

I have also created a homepage for 'Events' which has an {add-page} macro:  

> {add-page:template=Events\|live=false\|title=This will take you to a page where you should enter the event name.\|labels=events}  
>
> ```
> [Click here to add an event to the database]
> ```
>
{add-page}  
(I even worked out how to add a 'cloaked' list of all the child pages - all of which makes me feel only slightly smug; the main issue still exists!!)

Thanks in advance!


author: Kevin Buchs
body: I would suggest creating a template (as in Confluence template), either space or global, and then use the {add-page} macro to create a hyperlink on a given page to add a new data page. You can have it put a date/time stamp and fixed or editable name. And it can use the template you created.

However, perhaps you already created a page template in confluence. Can you share that with us? We may be able to help you tune it.

comments: author: Tom Crapper
body: ```
Kevin,
```

```
Here is an example of one of the templates that I have created so far:
```


author: David Peterson
body: The Scaffolding Plugin is designed to deal with this issue, and will let you edit the page with text/dropdown/checkbox fields. It is quite flexible. See here for more info:

<http://wiki.customware.net/repository/display/AtlassianPlugins/Scaffolding+Plugin>

Regards,

David Peterson

comments: author: Tom Crapper
body: David,

I'm working on the scaffolding plugin right now.

Thanks


author: JamieA
body: You could try the scaffolding or zones plugins (google them) but I don't think either are uptodate with respect to confluence.


author: Nic Brough -Adaptavist-
body: Um, templates are templates, not entry forms. All they do is provide some starting text, and the variables try to help save having to edit that text in detail. A template can run you through the initial creation of a page, but once you've got it, the template is irrelevant and not called or referenced again. You could take a page created by a template, type it in manually, and you wouldn't be able to tell the difference.

comments: author: Tom Crapper
body: Nick, thanks for that; understood.

What I am actuall trying to do is to create a data-entry form that will feed variables into an external SQL db. Once the data is input to the template it will populate the db, and then the data can be re-read and accessed from a different page in confluence.

It's the data-entry piece that I am trying to sort out (and understand), in that I need to capture information against a series of variables which will then populate an external table.

I'm thinking that a template is the best way of doing this, with the page name being the key for the data set/record.


author: Nic Brough -Adaptavist-
body: As I said before, Templates are **not** forms, they simply allow you to pre-populate a page when you are creating it. If you need to edit your data as tough it's a for, then you'll need to find or write something that will intercept any edits (bearing in mind these will be simple page edits of wiki markup or dhtml) and parse those back into the database.