Zen Foundation 5.1

Zen Foundation is a design plugin developed by Stepstone Technologies, Inc. Zen allows you to easily brand your entire wiki site or an individual space using your own graphics and color palettes. This plugin makes it very easy for a company to implement the same look and feel across Confluence.

Adding and Configuring

As usual, administrators install Zen from the Universal Plugin Manager (UPM).

Cost

Pricing for Zen follows the same scale as Confluence.The number of Zen licenses must match the number of Confluence licenses. Licenses include 12 months of maintenance. You do not need to renew unless you want to update the plugin or need support. A free 30-day trial is also available.

Use

Once your administrator installs the Zen plugin, you can define it as a space theme or global theme. These instructions focus exclusively on designing a space with Zen.

Choose Theme

1. Navigate to your space and select Browse > Space Admin > Themes.
2. Select the Zen Foundation theme under the Chose New Theme section.
3. Click the Confirm button.

Set and Create Master Pages

1. A new section called Zen Foundation appears to the left of the Space Admin window.
2. Click the Settings link.




















3. The Zen Foundation Settings page opens.

From here, you define and create the master page layout (and additional pages like the menu, header, footer) of the space. If you want your space to be its own master, change each configurable setting to This Space. If you want another space to be the master, change each configurable setting to the other space. To set and create the master and other pages to This Space, complete the following steps.

1. At the bottom of the Zen Foundation Settings table, click the Edit button.
2. For each configurable setting, select This Space (Zen Plugin) from the dropdown.
3. Click the Save button.


















4.  To create the master page layout, select the Click here to create an editable Master Page Layout page link from the first row, second column.
5. For the other pages you want to create, select their corresponding links.

Edit the Appearance of the Master Page

After creating your master page, you can edit its appearance. Notice that the link in the first row, second column has changed to Click here to view and edit the Master Page Layout. Selecting this link takes you to the master page.

The master page contains several Zen Bins that you can edit, delete and move. Hover your mouse over the Bin until the function(s) appear.

Choose a Brand for the Space

Zen provides a few brands for free. They also design brands for a fee. When your Confluence administrator installs Zen, the plugin loads three brands: Breeze, Ginseng and Juice. Your Confluence administrator can upload additional brands. (See the Upload a Brand to Confluence section below for additional information.)

To select a brand, navigate to Configuration > Space Brand in the toolbar then select the appropriate brand.

Working in a Zen Space

Editing pages in a Zen space functions a bit differently than when using other themes. For instance, each Bin is also a page. When you edit a Bin, the resulting page looks like any other editable Confluence page. However, the Save button has been replaced with a Preview button.This change in functionality is due to the fact that edits are not viewable by others until you publish the change.The publish option appears at the top of the Zen page.

The toolbar is also a bit awkward to navigate at first. For instance, accessing the Space Admin page is a bit confusing.  You can either select Browse Space or Zen Space Layout from the Configuration menu. The most commonly used menus are:

MENU	IMAGE
Personal Settings
Configuration
This Page
Add
Draft(s)

Zen also loads several of its own macros into Confluence. For example, Zen has its own page tree macro.

Upload a Brand to Confluence

Brands are stored in the Confluence Home directory under zen/brands. Brand files contain an icon and images folder and a brand.properties file.

To upload a brand, you must be a Confluence administrator. Before uploading the files, compress them into a zip file. The name of the zip file must be all lower case letters—no numbers. The name must also match the value you enter for the zenBrandName property in the brand.properties file. You cannot remove a brand that a space is using.

To upload a brand:

1. Navigate to the Administration Console and select Manage Brand Plug-ins from the Zen Foundation section.




















2. The Manage Brand Plug-ins frame opens.
3. Navigate to the location of the zip file using the Browse button.











4. Once you have selected the file, click the Upload button.

Design a Brand — High-level View

Zen provides detailed information on how to create a brand. Here are a few high-level descriptions to help you start.

To define your color palette, edit the following properties in the brand.properties file. (NOTE: The descriptions below are based on what I could see when making changes to this file and uploading the brand.)

PROPERTY	DESCRIPTION
zenPrimaryColor	affects things like links and headings.
zenSecondaryColor	affects things like the color of the watermark, the word "Labels" (at the bottom of each page) and text in heading rows.
zenTertiaryColor	not sure what this affects.
zenLightColor	affects things like the background color of unselected tabs and section headings.
zenMediumColor	not sure what this affects.
zenDarkColor	affects things like the background color of selected tabs.

The toolbar is governed by properties starting with zenToolbar. Menu items and dropdowns are governed by properties starting with zenMenu, zenTab and zenDrop.

You can change your brand's image/icon that appears on the Manage Brand Plug-ins frame by replacing the brand.gif file in the images folder. (NOTE: on several occasions I had to remove the brand, rename the zip file and the zenBrandName value then re-upload the zip file for the new image to appear.)

The following image provides a partial view into the anatomy of a Zen page.

Documentation and Support

Stepstone has extensive documentation available for Zen. However, searching for content does not always provide the most accurate results. Before starting with Zen, review the Branding Guide thoroughly, specifically the Brand Reference section.

Issues

Zen provides support through email or phone. They currently do not have a forum; however, you can ask for help at Atlassian Answers. I have contacted Zen several times by email. Darryl Duke has been extremely helpful and knowledgeable.

I had trouble determining what property in the color palette affected page titles. According to Zen, the property should be zenPrimaryColor. However, my page titles were different from the color I defined as the primary. I also spent a good bit of time trying to figure out what the color palette properties actually changed, which was frustrating. This may not be an issue for someone familiar with designing brands, but I would have appreciated more description on what the color palette actually affects.

One issue I found related either to Confluence or my browser. On several occasions I had to remove and reload my brand to see my changes take affect. Sometimes I also had to rename the zip file and the zenBrandName value.

Another issue I encountered in the beginning was how to color the space. I did not think to connect the color scheme of a space to its brand. (This could be because I am not a marketing person.) My first assumption was to set the color scheme from the Space Admin page. Since that option did not work, I searched the Zen website for "color space" and "how to color a space." However, my search failed to produce helpful results. 

Conclusion

I was very excited to find that Stepstone changed their pricing structure because I can now afford a license. It would have been very depressing to remove all of the design changes I had implemented once my trial version expired. This plugin has been the most exciting to learn and write about. Zen gives Confluence users the power to create appealing and easy to navigate spaces.

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Additional links of interest:

• Atlassian Marketplace Support Detail
• Zen Brand Package
• Brands to Download (see the Bins to the lower-left of the page)
• Zen Macros

Gilly and EduBrite

Gilly is a training and assessment plugin created by EduBrite Systems. This plugin works in conjunction with an EduBrite microsite. Administrators create content on the microsite, and users access that content from Confluence or the microsite.

Adding and Configuring

1. Use the Universal Plugin Manager to install Gilly on Confluence.
2. Access EduBrites' Pricing page to select a service and create a microsite. (NOTE: all business additions include Gilly.)


















3. During the microsite configuration, a Getting Started wizard opens.
4. When the Customize - Integration Options window opens, use the Click here to open the Integration settings link to establish a connection between the microsite and Confluence.




















5. The Integration tab opens.

















6. Select the Enable API Encryption checkbox.
7. Click the Generate Api Key link.
8. From the API Access (to configure Gilly) section, save the URL, username and password.















9. Access Gilly from the Plugins page on Confluence (Browse > Confluence Admin > Plugins).
10. Select the plugin's Configure link.










11. The Gilly - Configuration page opens.
12. Enter the URL, username and password in the corresponding text fields.
13. Select the Enable Encryption checkbox.
14. Press the Submit button.
15. Click the Generate Public/Private Keys link.
16. If necessary, click the (Re)Connect link.

Cost

Gilly is free. The EduBrite service is a monthly, user-based fee. Fees range from free to $599 a month. Visit the Personal Editon and Business Edition Comparison page to view the differences between editions. A 30-day trial of the full business edition is available.

Use

The EduBrite microsite contains several features and options. The following is a high-level view of how to use the EduBrite microsite and Gilly plugin.

EduBrite Microsite

Key features for an administrator include the following.

FEATURE	DESCRIPTION	IMAGE
User accounts	add and manage users (learners, instructors, administrators) from the Users tab.
Training groups	add and manage groups from the Groups tab.
Courses	create, publish and schedule courses from the Courses tab.
Tests*	create, import and schedule tests from the Tests tab.
Exams*	create exams by going to the menu bar and selecting Exam > Create Exam.
Surveys	create surveys by going to the menu bar and selecting Exam > Create Survey.
360° feedback	create 360° feedback surveys by going to the menu bar and selecting Exam > Create 360 Degree Feedback.

* One or more tests make up an exam.

Instructors have similar privileges as administrators. However, they cannot:

• manage the microsite
• manage users
• create test centers
• schedule tests

Learners are only allowed to view, search or complete the following, provided they have permission.

• courses
• programs
• groups
• tests
• exams

Gilly

From the bottom of the Browse menu in Confluence, microsite users can access their:

• test collections and history
• personal and private exams

Additionally, Confluence administrators are able to access:

• test attempts
• Gilly settings

Users who can access the URL of an EduBrite course, can embed the course into a Confluence page. To embed the course:

1. Locate and select the course in the EduBrite microsite.



















2. Copy and save the course's URL.















3. Edit a Confluence page.
4. Select the Insert/Edit Macro icon.


















5. The Select Macro window opens.
6. Search for and select EduBrite Course Player.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
7. Enter the course's URL in the Course Embed URL text box.
8. Set the width and height of the course using the corresponding text boxes.
9. If necessary, refresh the Preview area.
















10. Press the Insert button.
11. The wiki markup appears.














12. Press the Save button.
13. The course appears on the page.

Documentation and Support

While working in a microsite, the interface provides context-sensitive help. Video tutorials are also available, along with a knowledgbase and user community. For direct support, send an email to: support@edubrite.com. Customer support is very responsive and friendly. Manish Gupta (co-founder) responds to emails and voicemails quickly. If he cannot help, Ajay Upadhyaya (co-founder) has also been helpful.

Issues

For a list of current issues and questions, see the EduBrite Users Community page.

Conclusion

I have little experience using Gilly or EduBrite. However, I was able to quickly learn most of what I needed to use the microsite and plugin. There were a few bumps. For instance, it took me a while to figure out that I must publish a test to make it viewable in Confluence. I also had some trouble associating users with tests and exams. Most likely, I am missing a step. One negative aspect about tests and surveys is the inability to edit numbers in an ordered list.

The EduBrite interface could use the touch of a UX designer, but it does the job. Major pluses are the video tutorials, context-sensitive help and Gilly support for Confluence 4.

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Additional links of interest:

• Gilly Overview
• Getting Started Demo
• Getting Started Tutorial
• Gilly Tour
• Gilly Features
• Gilly FAQ
• Confluence Demo Site (UN: demo1 or demo2; PW: password)
• EduBrite Contact Page
• EduBrite Course Macro

Scroll Office

K15t Software, a German-based company, produces Scroll Office. With this plugin, users export Confluence content to Microsoft Word. The key to exporting documents in a Word-friendly format involves associating styled templates (.dotx files) with the wiki.

Adding and Configuring

As usual, administrators install Scroll Office using the Universal Plugin Manager (UPM).

Confluence administrators upload global templates using the Scroll Office - Global Template Management page (Browse > Confluence Admin > Scroll Office Templates).

Space administrators upload templates to a space using the Scroll Office - Space Template Management page (Browse > Space Admin > Scroll Office Templates).

Cost

The number of Scroll Office licenses must match the number of Confluence licenses. Pricing ranges from $10 to $3,600.

Use

Scroll Office works best with Word 2007 or higher. Users should have intermediate to advanced knowledge of how to style content in Word.

When preparing a template, users add placeholders for specific types of content. Placeholders include the following.

Placeholder	For	Note
$scroll.title	title of exported document	Title of parent page used, unless otherwise defined. (See Macro table below.)
$scroll.exporter.fullName	name of person exporting content	Pulls name from user's Confluence profile.
$scroll.exportdate	date of export
$scroll.content	exported content	Only one instance of placeholder recognized.

Note that images, placeholders, page breaks and text within a template keep their styles and positions during an export.

Within Confluence, users can set the following Scroll Office macros.

Macro	Description
{scroll-pagetitle}	forces the exporter to render content, surrounded by the macro, as the title of the page. (Requires the installation of a user macro.)
{scroll-portrait}	forces the exporter to render content, following the macro, in portrait mode.
{scroll-landscape}	forces the exporter to render content, following the macro, in landscape mode.
{scroll-pagebreak}	forces the exporter to create a page-break at the location of the macro.
{scroll-ignore}	forces the exporter to ignore text surrounded by the macro.
{scroll-only}	hides content surrounded by the macro from Confluence, yet allows Scroll Office to export the content.
{scroll-tablelayout:style=NAME OF WORD TABLE STYLE}	forces the exporter to style a table, following the macro, using the defined Word style.
{index-term:primary=MAIN ENTRY|secondary=SUB ENTRY|tertiary=SUB SUB ENTRY}	marks an index area and defines the index term(s).

After creating and uploading a template, users export their content by completing the following steps.

1. Open a page to export.
2. From the Tools dropdown, select Export to Word.
















3. The Export to Word window opens.















4. From the Choose a template dropdown, select a template.
5. From the Export radio buttons, select the content type:
• This page and its children
• Only this page
• This page and all children with label...
(requires a label entry)
6. Press the Start Export button.
7. Wait for the download to complete, or click the click here to download link
.

The following advanced export settings are also available.

Setting	When checked...
Process toc macros	exports a table of contents where indicated by such macro.
Process children macros	exports a list of children where indicated by such macro.
Merge single, first heading and page title	uses the top-most instance of an h1 heading as the page title. (Does nothing if the top of the page has no h1 heading.)
Filter leading and trailing linebreaks	removes linebreaks before and after paragraphs, tables, etc.
Replace thumbnails with corresponding high resolution images	exports full-size images of any/all thumbnails.
Use page labels as indexterms	adds page labels as index terms.

Documentation and Support

Documentation for this plugin is a bit sporadic. A helpful addition would be a quick reference guide describing all of the placeholders and macros. Email and forum support are available. Staff is generally helpful and prompt to reply. Note that responses may be delayed due to differences in time-zones.

Issues

Scroll Office has a JIRA site where users track staff-generated issues. As of October 24, 2011, the JIRA site showed 85% of unresolved issues as major (45 out of 53). However, only six of these issues were software bugs.

An advanced Word user had the following to say about Scroll Office 2.3.3.

• Lists that follow hanging headings also hang.
• When a Normal paragraph occurs after a list, the paragraph indents to the same position as the bullets/numbers.
• Does not support curly brackets {{ }} in headings.
• Sets its own indent for sub-lists instead of adhering to template style.
• Cannot skip heading levels. When placing an h4 after an h1, the h4 becomes an h2.
• Converts an em dash to three hyphens.
• Does not support white for a font color.
• Cannot start a numbered list with zero.
• Uses the Normal style for text in a table instead of adhering to template style.

Conclusion

This blog was a challenge because I generally avoid using Word. Not being an advanced user posed the greatest challenge with respect to creating, managing and applying styles. Collecting Scroll Office's placeholders and macros into a list helped me understand how I should form my template.

An annoying aspect was trying to remember whether to use my username or email when logging into each K15t site (documentation, forums, ...). On several occasions, I had to reset my password. Thankfully, I was able to enter a previously used password.

Overall, Scroll Office provides a better export-to-Word solution than the one packaged with Confluence. However, future releases should focus on the ease and accuracy of those exports.

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Additional links of interest:

• Atlassian site on Scroll Office
• Adding an index to a Word document
• User macro required for overwriting page titles
• How Scroll Office handles headings
• Using templates with Word macros

LucidChart for Confluence

For individuals interested in an alternative to Gliffy, LucidChart for Confluence may be the right choice. The plugin offers standard templates (flowcharts, organizational charts, network diagrams, ...) and shapes and the ability to make personal and team templates. Users can also import Visio diagrams using the .vxd format. A major feature is the ability for teams to collaborate on the same chart at the same time.

Adding and Configuring

Administrators install the LucidChart plugin in Confluence 3.5.1 or higher. Installation is simple using the Universal Plugin Manager. Once installed, the administrator creates a new admin account. (For a team of 1-5, go to: https://www.lucidchart.com/users/register/team-5.)

Here, the administrator creates a team and adds users to the team. He or she also generates a key and secret needed for configuring the plugin in Confluence.

Cost

Since LucidChart maintains user accounts on their own site instead of through Confluence, companies can select pricing options based upon a user base that may or may not match its Confluence user base. When looking for pricing, choose the Team plan.

While a trial version is available, it only lasts 14 days.

Use

Recommended browsers for this plugin are Google Chrome, Firefox then Internet Explorer. IE 9 is preferable to IE8. For users familiar with Visio and Gliffy, getting started with LucidChart is easy. Users can:

• drag and drop shapes or text to a page.
• use the toolbar near the top of the interface to manipulate shapes.











• easily create an arrow or line by clicking the cursor over a shape's edge then dragging the mouse.

















• change a page's background color.













• upload images.











• quickly change the color of a shape, line or text using the Color Palette.

Page properties are easy to manage too.

Additionally, users can:

• add a new page.
• edit master pages and convert a page to a master page.
• undo actions and view a history of actions.

Other notable features include the ability to:

• quickly change page themes/properties: (1) jumping or straight line intersections, (2) square, soft or rounded corners for shapes and (3) gradient options for shapes.











• organize charts into folders.
• retrieve deleted charts within seven days of deletion.











• access their charts/documents from the LucidChart website.
• share and publish charts.













• chat with collaborators.

Nuances

Knowing a few nuances ahead of time may help a new user. For instance, to move the text of a line or arrow, click and drag the text. To view multiple pages of a chart in Confluence, place the cursor over the chart and use the right and left arrows that appear.

When a user shares a chart with the team, members must accept the share.

(NOTE: This option may not appear until saving the chart, closing the chart then reopening the chart.)

Documentation and Support

High-level documentation is available for (1) installing the plugin, (2) adding a diagram, (3) viewing or editing a diagram and (4) moving or aligning a diagram. Additional documentation is available at the LucidChart Tutorials page. YouTube training videos are also available. Just search for "LucidChart."

To request features and report bugs, see their Forums page. So far, support has been friendly and prompt.

Issues

While most of the interface is easy to learn and use, the ability to create Team templates was a bit confusing. Documentation on the matter was sparse.

Currently, the plugin's ability to import Visio files is a beta feature. Some aggravating glitches appeared when moving and resizing shapes, lines and text. For instance, trying to align or distribute shapes did not always work properly.

A minor bug with the Chat window appears to be its inability to automatically scroll when a user sends or receives a message.

While testing the plugin on different operating systems, issues arose with various browsers. For instance, an Ubuntu 64-bit user had trouble with Firefox 3.5.9, and a Mac 10.6.8 user had trouble with Chrome 13.0.782.112. Most successful testing was completed on Windows XP using Chrome 13.0.782.112 and Firefox 5.0.

Conclusion

Overall, LucidChart provides more options and is more user-friendly/intuitive than Gliffy. I easily reoriented a Sales Process template from left -> right to top -> bottom. (Arrows/lines move smoothly with their shapes and easily/accurately snap to grid lines.) New features like the ability to automatically change a shape from a circle to a square are in the works. Another great feature would be the ability to import a chart into a blank page.

While some right-click menu options are available, they are a bit limited. However, users can easily work around this minor inconvenience. After a quick overview of the templates, they seemed useful and logical. Additionally, user documentation (though a bit sparse) is clear and easy to read. In contrast, locating answers to help questions is not as easy.

The most frustrating feature was trying to share a template with the team. LucidChart stated that this feature should be easier in its next release. One of the most exciting features is the ability to work on charts with other users at the same time. While I briefly tried this feature, the prospect of real-time collaboration was exciting. When asked what would happen if two users change the same object at the same time, LucidChart replied that the last successful change (even a millisecond later) would be the visible one.

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Additional links of interest:

• Confluence Documentation
• Report a Problem