New Confluence Beta Feature - Company Hub
Company Hub
Company Hub is a new beta feature for Confluence Premium and Enterprise that I think many folks will find very interesting. Up until this feature released we were stuck making a “central space” and hoping folks could find it.. but now there’s a highly visible, accessible page everyone can see to help direct them to content - the Company Hub.
What is it?
The Company Hub attempts to answer the question “What is one place everyone knows to go to for information”. It does this by making itself available in the navigation bar of every page, meaning it’s always visible. Prior to this feature the best way to solve for this challenge was to build out a space and call it something like “Employee Home” - but then you end up with folks not knowing where to look for it, losing it in a list of spaces, etc.
Features
The first thing I noticed in the Hub was the inclusion of two new macros (also available in Beta for Premium/Enterprise groups outside of the hub). Both appear to be aimed at helping folks more easily display information in a more visually pleasing way. Prior to having these I’ve been forced to use add-ons like Aura to make things look better.
The new macros are:
Cards
The Cards macro allows you to organize and display information visually. Each card can include information like a name and a link making it easier for folks to find content. I can think of a lot of good uses for this, from directing people to interesting pages, to lining up a process by step, to guiding new hires around the company.
Setting up cards
Setting up cards is simple - just add the macro, then adjust the general settings (applied to all the cards in the macro).
If a card is linked, you can have it also show the last time the linked page was updated, and the image for it’s owner (helpful so folks know who to go to or to judge stale-ness)
Settings per card
Each individual card also has information associated with it, including a link to other information, description title, and - interestingly - an integration with Unsplash so you can find images to add.
Cards of different sizes
You can also arrange cards in smaller sizes or vertically for more display options
Carousels
Similar to cards, these display a rotating series of up to three items and help you showcase information.
These support up to three cards that users can click on for more information, or to link out to other resources. Each one supports a link, title, description and the same Unsplash integration as the Cards macro.
I can think of a number of uses for Carousels, ranging from highlighting regular information, to calling out specific parts of a how-to or process, or just breaking up the page with something that looks prettier.
Other Hub Features
While the Carousel and Card macros can be used on any piece of content in Confluence, there are a few Hub-specific features.
Naming
The default name of the hub is “Company Hub”…. which is boring. So, you can also name the Hub anything you want. This name appears on the Hub itself, but also in the navigation bar. I can easily see groups choosing something like “Home Base”, “Click here for info” or basically anything else to attract attention.
Permissions
The Hub also has its own permissions. These function almost identically to space permissions so you’ll have plenty of flexibility in determining who can view and edit the page.
One thing to note is that permissions are found under the “more actions” menu. Personally I find this a bit annoying as they’re a bit hidden, but they do function similar to Space permissions so you get a lot of control over who can do what.
Use Cases
Given the universal visibility of the Hub link in the Nav bar the Hub is an excellent place to put company-wide resources. Personally I can easily see HR/People teams leverage this to build a clearing house of information for workers - not only including pointers to HR policies, benefits, etc. but also things like
Calling out new hires - Use a carousel or card to link out to new folks
Company marketing materials - Link to the company blog, or references for workers (templates, brand materials etc)
Index team spaces - Provide easy access to each team’s spaces in Confluence
Company events - Hype up upcoming company events or provide access to the company calendar
Basically any company-wide information should be posted or linked from here. I wouldn’t use the Hub itself to host a lot of information, but instead leverage it for pointing folks to the appropriate spots. I also don’t think the hub should be a very long page - people should be able to use it to quickly find what they need and get to it - not scroll endlessly.
Potential Challenges / Limitations
Maintenance
Ensuring the Hub is regularly updated and maintained is another easy challenge I see cropping up (this is by no means unique to the hub!). If workers are told it’s the clearing house for information and find it to be out of date, incorrect or missing things, they’ll stop using it. That type of trust is very hard to rebuild, so groups using this feature should ensure they have someone regularly maintaining it.
Visible to Free / Standard
Less of a challenge and more of an annoyance is that the Hub is visible even for Free and Standard subscriptions… despite being unable to use it! There’s no way for admins to turn the link off, so those groups are essentially left with a sales-banner staring at them all day. (I certainly understand the need to upsell/etc. But having a way to disable the link would be nice).
It’s Beta
The hub is currently a beta release, meaning it can (and will!) change rapidly.There’s also a (very small) chance Atlassian decides that the hub shouldn’t be launched, meaning it would disappear.
Final thoughts
Overall I”m excited to see how more groups leverage the Hub. I think it’s a great feature that can help shorten the distance folks have to travel to find useful information. Certainly something worth checking out if you’re on Premium or Enterprise!
