Modern Questions for Confluence — User Guide
What is Modern Questions for Confluence?
Modern Questions brings a structured question-and-answer experience to Confluence. Team members can post questions, write answers, vote on the best responses, and mark an accepted answer — all without leaving Confluence. It works both within individual spaces and across your entire site, making it easy to capture and surface institutional knowledge.
Requirements
- A Confluence Cloud site with the app installed.
- Installation requires Confluence administrator access.
- An active Atlassian Marketplace license is required to use the app.
Installation
- Go to Settings → Manage apps in Confluence.
- Click Find new apps and search for Modern Questions for Confluence.
- Click Install and follow the prompts.
- Once installed, the app is available site-wide and within individual spaces.
How to Find the App
The app appears in two places in Confluence:
| Where | How to get there |
|---|---|
| Site-wide Q&A | Top navigation → Apps → Modern Questions for Confluence |
| Space Q&A | Open any space → left sidebar → Apps → Modern Questions |
The site-wide view shows questions from all spaces. The space view shows only questions posted within that space.
Using the App
Browsing Questions
When you open the app you see a table of questions with columns for status, title, votes, answer count, date, and author.
- Click the ▶ chevron on any row to expand it and read the full question and its answers.
- Click a column header (Votes, Answers, Date) to sort the table.
- The table shows 10 questions per page; use the pagination controls at the bottom to navigate.
Filtering and Searching
Use the toolbar at the top to narrow down the list:
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| All / Open / Answered buttons | Filter by question status |
| Search field + Search button | Filter by keyword in question titles |
| Clear button | Remove the active keyword search |
| My Questions button | Show only questions you posted |
| Topic chips (e.g. "Design", "Engineering") | Filter by topic — click again to deselect |
| Clear filters button | Reset all active filters at once |
| Author avatar (in the table) | Click any author's name to filter by that person |
Asking a Question
- Click Ask a Question in the toolbar.
- Enter a Title — a short, clear summary of what you want to know.
- Write a detailed description in the editor. You can use formatting, lists, code blocks, and links.
- Optionally assign one or more Topics using the topic picker (select existing topics or type a name and click + Add to create a new one).
- Click Submit Question.
The question appears in the list immediately.
Answering a Question
- Expand a question by clicking its ▶ chevron.
- Click Add Answer at the bottom of the expanded panel.
- Write your answer in the editor.
- Click Post Answer.
Voting
You can vote on both questions and answers using the ▲ (upvote) and ▼ (downvote) buttons. The vote count is shown between the two buttons.
Accepting an Answer
If you are the author of a question, you can mark the best answer as accepted:
- Expand your question.
- Find the answer you want to accept.
- Click ✓ Accept next to that answer.
The answer moves to the top of the list and is labelled ✓ Accepted Answer. The question status changes to ACCEPTED. Click ✓ Accepted again to remove the accepted status.
Editing and Deleting Your Content
You can edit or delete your own questions and answers.
Questions: Expand the question and click Edit or Delete in the action row. When editing, you can update the title, body, and topics. Click Save to confirm or Cancel to discard.
Quick title rename: If you are the question author, you can click directly on the question title in the table to edit it inline without expanding the row.
Answers: Expand the question, find your answer, and click Edit or Delete.
Notifications
The bell icon (🔔) in the toolbar shows a badge when you have unread notifications.
- New answer — someone answered a question you posted.
- Answer accepted — your answer was accepted by the question author.
Click the bell to open the notification panel. All notifications are marked as read automatically when you open the panel.
Configuration
Administrators can control who is allowed to view, ask, and answer questions. Settings exist at two independent levels — space and global:
| Settings page | Who can access | How to get there |
|---|---|---|
| Space settings | Space administrators | Open a space → Space Settings → Apps → Modern Questions Settings |
| Global settings | Confluence site administrators | Top-right cog → Settings → Apps → Modern Questions Global Settings |
Space settings apply only to questions posted within that space. Global settings apply to the site-wide Q&A view (accessible from the top navigation Apps menu). Each scope is configured independently — changing one does not affect the other.
Permissions
Both the space settings page and the global settings page have the same three permission controls:
| Permission | What it controls |
|---|---|
| Who can view | Who can see the Q&A list and read questions |
| Who can ask | Who can post new questions |
| Who can answer | Who can post answers |
Each permission can be set to one of:
| Option | Behaviour |
|---|---|
| Everyone | All logged-in users |
| Selected users only | Only the specific users you choose from the user picker |
Click Save permissions to apply your changes.
Topics
Both settings pages have a Topics section. Topics created in space settings are scoped to that space; topics created in global settings are scoped to the site-wide view. They are separate lists.
- Rename a topic: Click the topic name to edit it inline, then press Enter or click away to save.
- Delete a topic: Click Delete next to the topic. This removes the topic from all questions it was attached to within that scope.
New topics can also be created directly from the question form or the topic picker when asking or editing a question.
Tips & Common Workflows
- Find answers fast: Use the Answered filter combined with a keyword search to quickly locate questions that already have accepted answers.
- Organise by team or project: Create topics that match your team names or project codes, then use the topic chips in the toolbar to browse questions by area.
- Restrict a space: If a space is used by a specific team, go to that space's Modern Questions Settings and set "Who can view" to Selected users only to keep it private.
- Follow up on your questions: Check the notification bell regularly — it tells you when someone has answered your question or when your answer has been accepted.
Troubleshooting
"Access Restricted" message appears instead of the Q&A list → The administrator has restricted viewing for this scope. Contact your space admin or Confluence admin to request access.
"Answering is restricted by administrator settings" appears → Your account does not have permission to post answers in this scope. Contact the space or site admin.
Ask a Question button is greyed out → You do not have permission to post questions in this scope, or the app settings are still loading. Wait a moment and try again, or contact your admin.
No questions appear after searching → The search matches question titles only. Try a shorter or different keyword, or click Clear filters to reset all filters.
Notification bell shows a badge but the panel is empty → The notifications were already marked as read in a previous session. The badge resets when you open the panel.