The integration between Confluence and Jira can be set from either Jira or Confluence side, and it can be customized to best suit a particular need. Therefore, there is no ‘single’ way of how it should be done. Here are a couple of common examples to demonstrate the concepts, and they can be modified for a specific case.
Connecting to Confluence from Jira
Jira provides a place in the left side navigation to connect to a Confluence Space.
Connecting is quite simple – a click on the Connect button brings up the pop-up to select Confluence space to connect to.
Once connected, a full structure of the connected space is displayed in the Jira screen, pages can be browsed, and new pages can be created. Users can also search across both Jira and Confluence and get a single set of results that include Confluence pages and Jira issues that match search terms.
One thing to note is that this connection is a one-way connection, from Jira to Confluence. It does not create a Confluence to Jira connection, and that needs to be done separately.
An example of when this integration is beneficial is when Confluence is used to create and manage project documentation such as solution design or functional requirements for a project managed in Jira. Users who spent the most time working on Jira tasks don’t have to leave Jira to access the solution design or functional requirements.
For additional convenience, Jira and Confluence share the same user authentication system, allowing users to seamlessly transfer between two applications.
Connecting to Jira from Confluence
On the opposite side, it is quite common to include in a Confluence page Jira reports or specific sets of Jira issues, for example, top priority tasks. That is easily achieved using macros that come with Confluence, specifically Jira filter macro, which allows embedding Jira filters in Confluence pages.
The first step is to create a relevant filter in Jira and set its permissions. For example, if my goal is to include a list of high-priority Jira issues in the Confluence page, I would create a Jira filter for that purpose and name it ‘HighPriroityIssues’.
Once the filter is created and permissions are set, I can proceed further from the Confluence side by adding the ‘Jira issue/filter’ macro to the Confluence page where I want to include the list of Jira issues. One of the macro parameters is filter name, and I will specify my ‘HighPriroity’ filter.
In no time up to date information originating in Jira becomes available to users who work in Confluence.
Creating Jira issues from Confluence
Once the connection to Jira is established on the Confluence side, it becomes possible to create Jira issues directly from Confluence. While viewing the Confluence page, highlight the text that you want to include in the Jira issue and click on the Create Issue link that comes up.
You are then asked to specify the Jira project where you want a new issue to be created, and issue type (is it a story, or a task, or a bug) for the new issue. You can also add more details if you wish, and one-click on the Create button will create a new issue in the selected Jira project.
Connecting to Jira using Project Space
There is also a more straightforward way to create this connection – the creation of a project space. Creating Confluence project space will establish a connection between Confluence and Jira, and on top of that, it will pre-build several Confluence elements related to the specific project.
During the setup of a project space, a Jira project must be specified. That will initiate and complete the creation of all necessary connections between that project and the Confluence space being created.
Once the new project space is created, its home page contains a list of Jira tasks right away.
But Jira connection is not all that project space is providing. Five pages have been created during the space setup. Let’s have a quick look at what they are.
The ‘file list’ page allows for uploading files and sharing them with other Confluence users.
The ‘product requirements’ page is used for creating and managing product requirements with a heavy reliance on the requirements template.
The ‘meeting notes’ page is the central point for handling meeting notes, and the same goes for ‘retrospectives’ and ‘decision log’ pages.