New York AUG
17th October 2018
Managing and sharing data on Confluence

• Background in Information/Knowledge Management
• Have used Confluence since 2006
• Have managed sites/rolled out systems using Confluence in
several large/matrixed organisations
• Have tended to specialise in projects that connect/integrate
content, especially using Confluence
• Now work in organisational capability, which focuses on
learning programmes, process improvement, systems alignment
and user engagement
• Have helped design/develop an Add-on (DataView) to help manage
data on Confluence
Twitter: @SimplerWiki
Blog: https://simplerwiki.wordpress.com
Email: martinfarley@gmail.com
About me

• This discussion is relevant to anyone who might want to share data on
Confluence, including admins, tech support, super users and even
occasional users
• I hope to give a clear explanation of which data management options are
available within Confluence
• We will look at the advantages/disadvantages of the different approaches
• By the end, each of you should understand how to decide which of them
are best for you
Objectives

• What kind of data and what do we want to do with it?
• Questions that need to be asked (and answered) to help you decide how to
manage and share data
• Within each of these, outline pros/cons and useful add-ons to choose from
• Use the Data Solution Guide for Confluence
• Quick look at DataView and why I designed it
Presentation Overview

• Employee information
• Sales & Marketing activity
• Client information
• Customer enquiries
• Inventory
• Collaborate on it?
• Search it?
• Present it?
• Manage it?
• Import/Export it?
What kind of data do people want to share?
And what do they want to do with it?
• Schedule of Events
• Training attendance
• Financial performance
• Project update
• Progress towards targets

Examples of managing data on the page

Examples of pulling in data from an external
database

Examples of pulling in the data from
an attached file

1. Ask a few simple questions about your data and your users:
1. Understand where the data lives and is managed, and use Confluence to connect
to it as best you can. Most data is not held on databases, but in personal silos
2. What do your users actually want to do with the data?
3. Do you really want to collaborate on it, or do you just need to present and share it
effectively?
4. Are you using a Server of Cloud?
5. How much effort, time , sponsorship and money do you have?
2. Keep the solution simple (easier said than done) -If it’s getting too complex,
perhaps consider building a bespoke database
3. Play with the Add-ons (free for 1 month) and see what works, and what
doesn’t.
Recap

Reference Material

• Confluence Tables (native macro)
• Advanced tables
• Table Filter & Charts for Confluence
• Excellentable
• Spreadsheets for Confluence
• SQL for Confluence
• Play SQL
• PocketQuery
• Database Connector
• iFrames for Confluence
• iFrames/Content Formatting
• Office Excel/Viewfile (native macro)
• Excel for Confluence
• DataView
Data sharing solutions

• Is the Data to be created on the Confluence page?
• Does data live on an external database
• Does/can the Data live on a file?
• If so, how big is the dataset? Will it be greater than can be practically managed on a
page? Can it be manually managed and updated
• Does the data need to connect with other systems?
• Is one data source better than others?
Question 1: Data Source?

Pros/Cons for managing data on the page
• The most obvious starting point for this is the creation of a Confluence
table.
• There are also a number of (very popular) Add-ons that can hugely improve the
functionality and usability of those tables
• A couple will even give a Confluence table Excel-like functionality (or create an
Excel-like table)
• This is the most collaborative approach to sharing data and maintains the user-
led experience, but with a great deal of functionality
• The drawback is that much of the input is manual, which makes it difficult
to keep pace with changing data
• Also, when you manage data on the page, you are limited by the size of
the page and by the fact that the functionality of the add-ons is unlikely
to match that of Excel
• Ultimately, you might not be looking to collaborate on the data, and so
these options might be more complex than you need

Examples of managing data on the page

Pros/Cons for pulling in the data
from an external database
• If data is already managed on an external database, why not just use that?
• The easiest way to do this is to cheat by using an iFrame to point users to the
database (Add-ons: Iframed & Content Formatting for Confluence)
• This does not allow you to connect the data to your Confluence content. They remain
completely separate
• The downside is that you have no control over/input into the data (it’s a 2D experience!)
• The upside is that it’s simple and gives the user direct access to the data without leaving
Confluence
• You can also pull in the data using an SQL Add-on (PocketQuery, SQL for
Confluence or Play SQL)
• This enables you to set up a dynamic ‘query’ which pulls the data on to your page. It is,
technically, a more complex arrangement, but does provide more flexibility and gives
users direct, real-time access to the data
• The downside is that the data must be maintained on the external platform, which might
be beyond your control
• In most cases, people do not keep their data on a database. It is mostly held in personal
data silos across the organisation

Examples of pulling in data from an external
database

Pros/Cons for pulling in the data from an
attached file
• If data is available on an attachable file, that makes it easy to
manage and present
• The native ‘Office Excel’ macro allows you to present the data
• But there is no way to manage it on the page – it just appears as a flat
sheet of data
• There is an Add-on (Excel for Confluence) to improve the functionality and
presentation of this macro, and improve the user experience
• You can also create a searchable database from the attached
spreadsheet (using DataView)
• This allows you to pull in large amounts of data, but present it in a simple
way
• It accepts that the data processing will be done by Excel, not Confluence or
anything else
• It is collaborative to some extent, but the collaboration happens on a
shared Excel file, not on the Confluence page

Examples of pulling in the data from
an attached file

• Searching, filtering, importing, exporting, restricting, sorting, etc…
• How much functionality do you need for this data?
• How much complexity do you want to manage?
• At what point do you need a bespoke database?
• Gathering requirements from users
• Challenge their assumptions
Question 2: Data Requirements

• Is the data there to be developed, or is it a source of reliable truth?
• What if it’s both?
• Does the data need to be restricted in some way?
• What degree of collaboration can you work into your Confluence data
approach?
Question 3: Collaboration or not?
Question 4: Server or Cloud?
• This is simply to determine the options open to you
• Some add-ons are only available for one or the other
• Your user experience might be different for each

1. Questions to help you decide…
1. Is the data business critical?
2. How many people need access to this data?
3. What sponsorship do you have?
4. What is your budget?
5. How much time do you have to deliver your solution?
Question 5: Effort/cost/time?

Backup Material for DataView

1. I needed to find a way to manage large data sets
2. I wanted to manage the data myself, not rely on external databases, over which I had no
control
3. I wanted to have all the data in a single master spreadsheet
4. I needed the flexibility and user experience of a database,
5. I mostly wanted to share, not collaborate on the data
Nothing available could do these things…
Why did I decide to create a new Add-on?

Full data set that can be searched on the Confluence page

Or a small subset of data that can be inserted into other content

And another example of pulling in a subset of data

Use the Data Solution guide to help you understand your options

How to choose the best
methods of estimation
for planning
Spartez

Jacek
Wizmur - Szymczak
Product Marketing Manager
LinkedIn:
Jacek Wizmur - Szymczak
Pawel
Mazur
Senior Support Manager
LinkedIn:
Pawel Mazur

List of topics to think about:
1. What if team operates in different time zones?
2. What if I already have too many issues to estimate?
3. What if your team is guesstimating rather than estimating?

“Estimation is hard.
For software developers, it's among the most
difficult–if not the most difficult–aspects of the job.”
Dan Radigan, Atlassian

Story points vs hours

Issue:
I’d like to use Planning Poker

Planning Poker
Consensus-based, gamified technique for estimating,
mostly used to estimate effort in software development.
The method was first defined and named by
James Grenning in 2002

Solution:
Try cards

Or:
Use Jira apps

Issue:
Teams operates in different time zones

Solution:
Create a confluence page and discuss
estimations in comments

Or:
Try tools that lets you estimate
asynchronously.

Issue:
Too many issues to estimate

Solution:
Try Relative Sessions -
based on – Team Estimation Game.

Relative Sessions
Source: http://www8.cs.umu.se/kurser/5DV151/VT15/lectures/slides/f4_Team_Estimation_Game.pdf

Relative Sessions in Jira app

Issue:
Guesstimating rather than estimating

Solution:
“Retrospectives are a time for the team
to incorporate insights from past
iterations–including the accuracy
of their estimates.”
Dan Radigan, Atlassian

Solution:
Use tools that store history and show you better
context with reference issues

Reference and historical issues:

Summary:
1. When team operates in different time zones - go for the tool that lets
you estimate asynchronously
2. If you have many issues to estimate, don’t be scared to try relative
sizing
3. To secure better estimations in time, use reference issues

Read more here:
1. Atlassian blog -
https://www.atlassian.com/blog/add-ons/choose-best-methods-estimation-planning?_ga=2.102624449.17684506
67.1539486559-1941820762.1518439613
2. Mike Cohn blog - https://www.mountaingoatsoftware.com/blog/
3. Team Estimation Game -
https://www.thedroidsonroids.com/blog/the-best-way-of-estimating-your-product-backlog-effectively-and-quickly
4. Agile Rebels - http://agilerebels.org/2017/05/30/making-tools-great-planning-poker/

Our other apps:
1. Chat for Jira Service Desk
2. Asset Tracker
3. TFS4JIRA
4. Canned Responses Pro

Thank you!