3 ms·

Don't use confluence :( In every team I've been, confluence feels like an huge hole, we can never find what we are looking for...

waibelp 9y ago
This! As we use JIRA for ticketing we thought Confluence would be the best way. But like you said the problem is not that the information is not there. The problem is that the information is not findable and the search is in my opinion really poor. To solve that problem we started with a "doc" directory in each repository holding multiple markdown files for each topic. That way all of our developers are able to find the information they need (even without an internet connection).
sz4kerto 9y ago
That's probably because you've used Confluence. If you used something else, then that'd have been the huge hole. Confluence is a very good wiki. There's no wiki that creates good structures for you automagically.
- dalemyers 9y ago
  We actually used Confluence but moved away from it. The interface was difficult to use, it was slow, the search wasn't great, etc.
  - pedrorijo91 9y ago
    yeah, same pains that I've felt. I get the feeling that Atlassian products always lack some UI love
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
  - ravitation 9y ago
    Away from Confluence and to the documentation directories?
- nwatson 9y ago
  Confluence is still the best Wiki out there for general documentation itself, in my opinion. It takes work though to create the initial structure with a realistic view of how projects will evolve, and to make sure that everything is reachable through an organized hierarchy (or lattice, or DAG) reachable from the Space root. What sucks is random "floating" pages not tied to anything else -- these get lost. There are various orthogonal concerns to deal with when documenting software development with Confluence: + knowing the underlying platforms / technologies your project uses + architecture / design of system (which will evolve over releases) -- Gliffy plugin works well for illustrations + documenting releases + engineering-level precursors to user documentation + meetings -- high-level overview of discussions, decisions, resulting actions + Confluence wiki integration with bug-tracker, source code repositories Without an up-front design one will run into problems. Even worse if managing several projects.
maxxxxx 9y ago
Definitely don't use SharePoint either! It's the ultimate data black hole.

waibelp 9y ago

This! As we use JIRA for ticketing we thought Confluence would be the best way. But like you said the problem is not that the information is not there. The problem is that the information is not findable and the search is in my opinion really poor. To solve that problem we started with a "doc" directory in each repository holding multiple markdown files for each topic. That way all of our developers are able to find the information they need (even without an internet connection).

sz4kerto 9y ago

That's probably because you've used Confluence. If you used something else, then that'd have been the huge hole. Confluence is a very good wiki. There's no wiki that creates good structures for you automagically.

dalemyers 9y ago
We actually used Confluence but moved away from it. The interface was difficult to use, it was slow, the search wasn't great, etc.
- pedrorijo91 9y ago
  yeah, same pains that I've felt. I get the feeling that Atlassian products always lack some UI love
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
- ravitation 9y ago
  Away from Confluence and to the documentation directories?
nwatson 9y ago
Confluence is still the best Wiki out there for general documentation itself, in my opinion. It takes work though to create the initial structure with a realistic view of how projects will evolve, and to make sure that everything is reachable through an organized hierarchy (or lattice, or DAG) reachable from the Space root. What sucks is random "floating" pages not tied to anything else -- these get lost. There are various orthogonal concerns to deal with when documenting software development with Confluence: + knowing the underlying platforms / technologies your project uses + architecture / design of system (which will evolve over releases) -- Gliffy plugin works well for illustrations + documenting releases + engineering-level precursors to user documentation + meetings -- high-level overview of discussions, decisions, resulting actions + Confluence wiki integration with bug-tracker, source code repositories Without an up-front design one will run into problems. Even worse if managing several projects.

maxxxxx 9y ago

Definitely don't use SharePoint either! It's the ultimate data black hole.