How to edit multiple files using Companion App?
Asked by ShelleyDee:

Scenario - due to table limitation in Confluence, we use Excel for rostering with one Excel file per State.

In the **Edit in Office** world, an Editor could open and edit multiple Excel Files at the same time, edit, then click Save. This would save the file back to Confluence while still allowing the user to make further changes to this file, and save as they go. They keep these Rosters open all day and make multiple changes to each file all day.

In the **Companion App** world, the Editor can only open one file at a time, make their changes, click Save, then click Upload, close the file, and start again. The Upload dialog disappears after each Save.

We now face a massive increase in administrative workload of opening, editing, saving, uploading, closing, opening, editing saving, upload, closing files all day.

The number of steps involved in updating our rosters due to companion app has resulted in a mass inefficiency.

Am I missing something? is there an easier way to do this?

Even if the editors save the files locally, update them all, drag them to the Attachments page, it's still an increased workload. There are multiple people editing the Rosters too, so we use Cenote Lockpoint.

New features should at least decrease workload not the opposite. Any suggestions would be appreciated. We consider this a massive step backwards and almost a bug.


Answers:
author: Diego
body: Hello there! Thanks sharing with the Community Shelley.

Yes, you are correct, there is nothing missing on the workflow for Atlassian Companion on your side. One of the limitations within the Companion App is that we can edit and upload one file at a time.

What happens with the Companion App is that a **Local Copy** of the file is downloaded. After that, the user is actually editing this file. When we save, that version is then aggregated to the current version in Connie.

Excerpt from our docs:
> When you edit a file attached to a Confluence page (in version 6.11 or later) using the Atlassian Companion app, that file is also downloaded and saved on your computer. Files are cleared every time the Companion app restarts.

You can take a look at it here:

**[How to access Confluence files edited with the Atlassian Companion app](https://confluence.atlassian.com/confkb/how-to-access-confluence-files-edited-with-the-atlassian-companion-app-955178822.html)**

Even though the Companion has this limitation, it removes the erratic behaviour we got used to work with while using the Edit In Office feature. It relies on browser and other specifics that may not be feasible in all instances, such as the WebDAV part of it:

**[Edit Office Files - Confluence Server](https://confluence.atlassian.com/conf65/edit-office-files-939701129.html)**

There is also a little more information on our Companion here:

**[Administering the Atlassian Companion App](https://confluence.atlassian.com/doc/administering-the-atlassian-companion-app-958456281.html)**

[**Edit Files - Confluence Server**](https://confluence.atlassian.com/doc/edit-files-170494553.html)

Currently, we have an open **Feature Request**that we file a few weeks ago to let Administrators chose between Edit in Office and the Companion. For further info on this you can take a look here:

**[CONFSERVER-56360 \| Choose between Edit in Office and Companion App](https://jira.atlassian.com/browse/CONFSERVER-56360)**

I would advise you to vote and watch the request. Voting for it will increase the feature visibility and keep you up to date with everything posted there.

For a similar experience of what we had at pre-6.11.x versions of Connie, a third-party application might give similar results, such as this:

**[GoEdit](https://goedit.io/goedit-vs-edit-with-companion-app-comparison/)**

Shelley, let us about your thoughts. Looking forward to your reply!

Thanks for sharing here.

comments: author: ShelleyDee
body: I never experienced any erratic behaviour with Edit in Office. I do however have erratic behaviour with Companion App where it only works with Chrome on PC, and I'm in a forever download loop with IE where it never seems to get to the trusted dialog. Also, for some reason, we now can't view previous versions of files without right-clicking and saving. This was another added problem when trying to do payroll - resulting in it taking 10 times longer. The Upload dialog is intermittent and the force close file is a nightmare.

I've voted and commented on the Feature Request.

I've checked GoEdit. It is $2800 USD for something which used to work perfectly but now has destroyed our workflow.

This 'feature/bug' has severely downgraded our experience, our work and our impression of Confluence. We are 500+ users and if something isn't fixed soon, unfortunately we will have to look at another product.


Tags: companion-app

confluence-server

server