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

Team Calendars

Confluence has a new calendar plugin called Team Calendars. Unlike the free Calendar plugin, this pay-version allows users to create three types of calendars:

• Events - track work-related events.
• People - track the coming's and going's of people.
• JIRA - track JIRA issues.

Being able to see these types of calendars all together can help teams better organize people, tasks and events.

Users can also subscribe to and watch calendars. (Adding another user's calendar to your calendar makes you a subscriber of that calendar.) When another user creates, edits or deletes an event, Confluence sends an email notification to the subscribers. Most important is the automatic backup/export of deleted calendars. When a user deletes a calendar, Confluence sends the exported file to all subscribers.

Other features include the ability to:

• import Outlook, Google or iCal calendars and 
• to embed calendars into Confluence pages.

Adding and Configuring

So far, adding this plugin to Confluence has been frustrating and time consuming. The old Calendar plugin must be removed for Team Calendars to work properly. For instance, having both plugins installed causes the embedding features of Team Calendars to not work. Therefore, administrators must backup this data, export it as an .ics file, then provide it to users for import.

Figure 1. Export of the Sub-calendar "Birthdays"

For the JIRA calendar option to work in Confluence, a customer's instance of JIRA must be 4.3 to 4.3.4. These versions allow for the installation of the Team Calendars for JIRA Integration plugin. Administrators must also set application links between Confluence and JIRA (within each product). Review the Configuring Application Links documentation for help. NOTE: Administrators should use the following URL patterns when configuring trusted application access:

For the Local Instance of JIRA

/plugins/servlet/streams 

/sr/jira.issueviews:searchrequest 

/secure/RunPortlet 

/rest 

/rpc/soap

For the Local Instance of Confluence

/plugins/servlet/streams 

/plugins/servlet/applinks/whoami

Cost

As usual, the number of licenses for Team Calendars must match the number of Confluence user licenses. A user-base of 10 costs $10 while 2,000 or more users costs $6,000 ($3,600 with the discount). According to Atlassian, "Software licenses entitle you to perpetual use and include 12 months maintenance of updates and support. Renewing maintenance is entirely optional." See their pricing page for additional information.

Use

When using this feature for the first time to add a new calendar:

1. Select your login name in the top-right corner of Confluence.
2. Select Calendar from the dropdown.











3. If necessary, select your time zone.
4. Choose the Create a Calendar option. (This will be an Events calendar.)











5. Fill in the appropriate fields then press OK.













6. The calendar appears to the right of the My Calendars page.
7. To add more calendars, click the Add Calendar dropdown.
8. To add events:
1. Click on a particular day in your calendar.
2. The Create Event window opens.
















3. Choose the appropriate calendar from the Calendar dropdown.
4. Fill in the appropriate fields then press OK.

Documentation and Support

Upon purchasing a licensing package, users can contact Atlassian for support. Contact is most often made in the form of a JIRA ticket. User documentation for this plugin is available at their Team Calendars Home page.

Issues

The following lists a few issues with this plugin.

• Requires JIRA 4.3 to 4.3.4 for the installation of the Team Calendars for JIRA Integration plugin.
• Must backup/download old calendars, uninstall old Calendar plugin, then import them into new calendar.
• No ability to set permissions. Calendars are visible and editable by all.

Conclusion

I am rather surprised that this plugin is not free. Organizations looking for an alternative to Outlook may find it worthwhile; however, Team Calendars provides only a few extra features when compared to the free version. The top two being the ability to add JIRA calendars and recover deleted calendars.

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Check out these links for additional information.

• 1.1 Release Notes
• Licensing and Installing
  
• JIRA ticket regarding permissions
• Atlassian Blog
• AppFusions Blog (search for "Staying-up-to-date just got easier")
  

Gliffy

For users that want an easy way to create diagrams in Confluence, Gliffy is a good choice. Users can create network diagrams, organizational charts, general flowcharts and many others. Users do not have to attach an external flowchart and debate whether to embed the file or list it on a page. Once users save and close the plugin's interface, the diagram appears on the selected page.

Adding and Configuring

As usual, a Confluence administrator must add the plugin. Depending on your version of Confluence, there are a few options:

• Download the .jar file and upload through the Plugin Repository or Universal Plugin Manager.

• Use the Universal Plugin Manager to search for and intall the plugin.

This plugin also has specific configuration settings, including the ability to open the Gliffy editor in its own window and set the autosave interval.

Cost

Gliffy provides a 45-day trial license and allows users to test the plugin on its website. A yearly commercial license for one node ranges from free for 10 users to $6,000 for an unlimited amount of users. The academic price for unlimited users costs $3,000. The number of Gliffy licenses must match the number of Confluence users. For specific prices, see their Purchase page.

Use

Here are a few images to show basic functionality.

Add
Select Type
Save and Close
View

Documentation and Support

User documentation for this plugin is an online manual. Be sure to select the Gliffy Confluence Plugin option to see relevant information. After taking a glance at the documentation, it seems clear and useful for a beginner.

So far, in two years of use, I have not contacted Gliffy for support. No one company-wide (about 20 regular users) has either. I usually try all known options before contacting them. Gliffy support options include:

• help with installation,
• help with Gliffy troubleshooting problems and
• help with identifying work-arounds.

If you want usage help, see the online manual. Also, try their forums site.

Issues

I hear very few complaints from my coworkers, and rarely do people ask for help with how to use Gliffy. From my own experience, the most frustrating thing has been moving pages containing Gliffy diagrams. On more than two occasions, they have disappeared from the page. Most of the time, I found them again using Gliffy's Use an Existing Diagram option. On another occasion, I had to pull one out of a space backup. (Luckily, I had the space backup.) Always back up the page or space before moving a page containing a Gliffy diagram. While backing up can be a pain, and most of the time not used, you will be very thankful on the day you need it. (I do now know whether this is a Gliffy issue or an issue with our servers.)

Conclusion

I still prefer Visio to Gliffy. I rarely need to back up my diagram because I create it on my computer then upload it to Confluence. Visio also has other features (rulers, place-able guides, certain right-click options, zooming features, ...) that are very helpful. But if you're looking for something easy to use and integrated into Confluence, Gliffy is an excellent tool.

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If only I could write this blog using Confluence markup. Those images would totally be clickable thumbnails.

Atlassian Summit 2011

I'm back from Summit 2011 and excited to share what I know about some new and some old plugins for Confluence. As a few speakers commented, it's like being a kid in a candy store. From minor to complex, if you think that Confluence should do "X," there's a good chance someone else thinks so too ... and created a plugin to do just "X."

A huge plus for me was getting to meet the people developing these plugins. No sales pitches—just people interested in providing helpful products.

Some plugins of note were Scroll Wiki Exporter by K15t and Zen by Stepstone. In upcoming posts, I'll provide a detailed review of these and other plugins.