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Overlay Introduction (Data Center and Server)

Overview

You know the problem: Small changes in long tables require many clicks. Switching between view and edit modes is very time-consuming. Use our solution and save time – every time! Change table cells quickly with a simple double-click.

The Inline Table Editing tool allows users to directly edit the content of a table without switching to the edit mode, which is very convenient when working on pages with a lot of content. In this documentation section you can find more information about inline edit in Data Center using overlay functionality.

Editing with overlay is done using the following icons:
A Confluence table in view mode with the Inline Table Editing menu open, offering insert column before or after, remove column, insert row below, remove row and merge this cell with the next

  • Move the full row by using the inserted gray arrow icon to drag it

  • Edit the cell by clicking on the inserted gray pencil

  • Dropdown icon for editing the following options:

    • Insert column before, insert column after

    • Insert row below

    • Remove column, remove row

    • Merge this cell with the next one

Configuration

The admin is able to configure the Inline Table Editing plugin up to a certain point.
The Inline Table Editing app banner in Manage apps, with the Configure button that opens its settings

To open app settings in Data Center, please navigate to Manage apps, expand app menu and click on Configure.

You will see Inline Table Editing settings page.

Inline Table Editing administration page with the settings for space scope, row overlay, performance and error handling
On this page you can decide, where overlay and Wrap to macro option should be shown, if Wrap to macro icon should be visible at all, set button layout, disable perfomance setting and decide, if it is allowed to collect anonymized error tracking.

The following settings are available:

Setting

How is used

Link

Enable Inline Table Editing

Provides possibility to specify, where overlay functionality and “Wrap to Inline Table Editing icon“ should be available.

Spaces select below radio buttons provides the ability to specify spaces, if “For selected spaces only“ or “For all except selected ones“ option is chosen

https://actonic.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/ITE/pages/7194640420/Data+Center+Administration+and+configuration#Set-overlay-and-%E2%80%9CWrap-to-macro%E2%80%9D-icon-visibility-for-specific-spaces

Macro icon visibility

Provides possibility to disable visibility of “Wrap to Inline Table Editing icon“

https://actonic.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/ITE/pages/7194640420/Data+Center+Administration+and+configuration#Macro-icon-visibility

Row button layout

Provides possibility to display cell pointer on the right or on the left side

https://actonic.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/ITE/pages/1646330012/Inline+Table+editing+documentation#Row-button-layout

Row button layout

The “Row button layout” setting, switched between Left and Right

This setting relate to overlay functionality only. The “Row button layout” option allows the user to choose, on which side of a table’s row the arrow should be shown.

Example: the arrow appears on the left side of the table

A table row whose drag handle sits on the left, as chosen in the row button layout setting

Or on the right side:

The same table row with the drag handle on the right instead

Use cases

Edit table elements (rows and columns)

The user is able to add/remove columns using the “insert column before”, “insert column after”, and “remove column” options. These options are available to be used in any cell in the table.

The newly created column will be added before/after the column with the cell:

A table after “insert column”, with the newly added column highlighted in green

  • In case you want to remove a column, a warning message will appear. The user needs to approve this action:
    Confirmation dialog asking to confirm the deletion of a column, showing the cell contents that would be lost

  • The user is able to add/remove or re-order rows, using the “insert row below”, “remove row” or “move row” options. Drag the row using these icons. These icons are available for use in all rows in the table, except the header row. It is not possible to delete or move the header row.

The newly created row will be added as shown below:

A table after “insert row below”, with the newly added row highlighted in green

  • In case you want to remove a row, a warning message will appear as well. In this case, the user also needs to approve this action:

Confirmation dialog asking to confirm the deletion of a row, listing the cells it contains

Edit table cells

The user is able to edit cells using the “Edit cell” pencil or just by double-clicking on the cell. These options are available in all cells in the table. 

Besides the ability to insert any new content, the user can use the rich text editor. It allows the user to format the text or to put macros inside the table as shown below:
A table cell open for editing with the rich text toolbar above the table

  • In order to save changes, click on the save button or use the hotkey “CTRL/Strg+S”
    An edited cell with the tick and cross buttons that save or discard the change

  • To cancel changes, click on cancel button.

  • Also, the user is able to merge cells using the “merge this and next cell” option. This option is available to all cells in the table, except the cells in the last column.A table where two neighbouring cells have been merged into one

  • After that, the cell can be split via the “Split the cell” option. This icon only appears for all merged cells.

The cell menu with the “Split the cell” option, which undoes a merge

Whitelisted macros

Inline Table Editing tool works inside whitelisted macros such as:

  • Column

  • Excerpt

  • Expand

  • Info

  • Note

  • Page properties

  • Panel

  • Section

  • Tip

  • Warning

  • Presentation slide

  • Presentation slide fragment


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