Edit Lock for Confluence: better protection against simultaneous editing of Confluence pages

If two users (accidentally) edit the same Confluence document at the same time, data may be lost in some circumstances. Conflicts arise, the changes made by the users are not correctly merged, entries are lost and must be redone. The Edit Lock Confluence plugin developed by //SEIBERT/MEDIA ensures better protection and less confusion by displaying a more visible and interactive warning.

The “concurrent editing” challenge

In Confluence, concurrent editing still presents a problem. If User A opens the editor of a page that User B is already working on, User A can still edit the page. In this case, two different people are editing the same document at the same time.

This presents a challenge. Confluence cannot always successfully merge the changes after saving. Depending on the circumstances (e.g. modifications overlap or two people edit the same table simultaneously) work can be lost. This is unproductive, inefficient and frustrating for the user who must then redo the changes. When in doubt, it is advisable for User A to wait until User B has saved the changes before trying again.

But why would users still edit a page that somebody else is working on? Many users do not know how Confluence merges changes. Many users are not aware that competing changes can cause problems. Users often overlook or do not understand the standard Confluence warning issued during simultaneous editing.

Edit-Lock-Plugin-Confluence-1

Increased warning visibility from Edit Lock

The Edit Lock Confluence plugin developed by //SEIBERT/MEDIA can help you overcome this challenge by dramatically increasing the visibility of the notification. If User A wants to edit a page that User B is already working on, the plugin displays a pop-up window:

Edit-Lock-Plugin-Confluence-2

The two main benefits of presenting the notification like this are obvious. First, this kind of notification catches the eye and is understood as an important system notification. Second, users must interact before they can edit the page. In other words, the notification won’t simply be overlooked.

Edit Lock: warning but no prohibition sign

Edit Lock, however, does not display a prohibition sign. The principle here is that users are smarter than programs. User A can still edit the page:

Edit-Log-Plugin-Confluence-4

There are certainly reasons to change a Confluence document even though another user is logged in as the editor. Maybe User A can assume that User B simply forgot to save the document. Maybe Users A and B agreed to edit different sections of the page at the same time. Or maybe User A is familiar with the Confluence merging process and knows what he is doing. In any case, the notification is visible and User A must interact with it.

Conclusion

We believe that Edit Lock for Confluence is a simple yet effective solution to prevent changes from being lost due to simultaneous editing. This protects inexperienced users in particular against an accidentally editing a document at the same time as someone else and makes it easier and more efficient to work together on Confluence content.

The Edit Lock plugin for your Confluence instance is available for download on the Atlassian Marketplace (for Confluence version 5.0 and up). You of course can test this extension for free and with no obligation.

Do you want to want more? Do you need help installing or setting up the plugin? Or do you want to test Edit Lock with no obligation in an on-demand instance with our SWIFT hosting service? Feel free to contact us, we would be happy to help you!

Edit Lock for Confluence on the Atlassian Marketplace
Overview of all plug-ins for Atlassian products developed by //SEIBERT/MEDIA

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