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#92 - When Restrictions Are the Answer
Patricia Modispacher
Today, we’re diving into the world of customized role-based restrictions in Confluence.
When Restrictions Are the Answer
Being denied access isn’t usually as adorable as this kitten is 🐱. Often, restrictions block an efficient and smooth workflow and leave employees feeling excluded. That’s why it’s worth remembering: Confluence works best as an open collaboration tool, and restrictions should only be used when absolutely necessary.
When to Restrict
In a few cases, restricting content is the safest choice to protect sensitive information and keep control over who can view or edit it. For example, when:
You’re updating HR policies like salary reviews or employee contracts.
Drafting legal documents that must be reviewed privately.
Working on confidential projects, such as mergers and acquisitions.
Handling compliance- or audit-related content that requires limited visibility.
We explained how space and global permissions work in our best practice article about Confluence permissions.
Since Confluence has introduced a new, Jira-like, permissions system based on roles in June 2025, you have a set of predefined roles to get you started.
But what happens when standard roles aren’t flexible enough to meet your team’s needs?
How to Set Up Custom Roles
Let’s say you’re part of an HR team and need the legal team to review contracts for a global hiring initiative. If they only needed to read and comment, the “viewer” role would be enough. But in reality, the legal team also needs to make changes and sometimes create or remove content.
Simply making them “collaborators” might be too broad, since that could also give them abilities you don’t want, like exporting sensitive data.
This is where custom roles come in. A Confluence administrator can create a role tailored exactly to your needs. For example, you could create a role for the legal team that allows them to add and delete content in the HR space but prevents them from exporting sensitive data.
Collaboration and Openness for the Win
The beauty of Confluence is that it works great as an open collaboration tool, while giving you tools to apply detailed role-based or page restrictions when you need to protect sensitive information.
👉 Want to learn more about how space and global permissions work? Watch our latest best practice video about Confluence permissions.
Easier Sharing After Publishing
If your page doesn’t reach the right people at the right time, even the best content risks being ignored. With The new post-publish sharing options make that step smoother by showing collaborator avatars and adding quick buttons to copy or share your page. No more hunting for the share menu or making extra clicks.
Highlight Key Links with Rovo Bookmarks
Organization, site, and product admins can now add bookmarks in Rovo Search to surface important URLs for your team. Give your teammates quick access to the right content.
Whiteboards News You Need to See
Missed our livestream last week? We sat down with Emily Ditchfield, Product Manager for Confluence Whiteboards, to talk about the latest innovations and what’s coming next.
👉 Catch up on the full session here and see how the newest features can level up your collaboration.
