Want to edit databases that say 'read-only'

[Tara Rachel Thomas]

Ever since Confluence acquired Orderly Databases, I am unable to edit the databases in the pages I had placed them. I don't see the 'Add Entry' option and I get a 'read-only' tooltip when I click on the database. I can only edit them by accessing the 'Databases (Alpha) tab. This is counter-intuitive, annoying, and not helpful. Is there a setting I can change to enable editing the databases in the pages I need to edit them?

[Tara Rachel Thomas · Accepted solution]

Hi @Matthias Gaiser _K15t_ @Divya Sriram Thank you for your responses.

Matthias, it is exactly as you said,

1) I'm editing databases in pages that have some text or links on them as well.

@Divya Sriram The entire benefit of the databases was to land on a page and be able to make edits directly. Its fast, and there's always a save option for once you're done. This is also the benefit of tools like notion. Landing in a page and being able to make direct edits saves folks the trouble of clicking and loading a new page, and helps them be more productive faster which is essential in an environment where say I may be joining a meeting and required to take notes immediately. 

The entire idea of going into 'edit' mode seems archaic (typical Atlassian). Pages should be editable, especially by the owner, who can then lock the page or give view/edit access to different parties when needed. This is the best behavior that Confluence could adopt, and the orderly team already built something that goes with this. Seems like now things are moving backward thanks to the idea of "a uniform edit behavior"  Is there no way to change this behavior? This is the exact same issue with other Confluence pages also. You should want to fix problematic behavior, not extend it to more products! 

Another annoying behavior of Confluence is the fact that I can't create and nest a page under an existing page without again doing 2 creates. I hope the team can learn something from the companies they acquire and not make good products worse

2) I was trying to add text, as well as add new entries or change dates, but couldn't do any of these without entering the edit mode. This isn't how it used to work before. 

Hope this answers your questions folks. 

[Matthias Gaiser _K15t_ · Accepted solution]

Hi @Tara Rachel Thomas

I feel with you since I encountered the same behavior and reported it in this post (It's in a closed group for Databases - you can apply for the group on this page).

You can actually edit the tables now in the edit mode of a page instead of the view mode.

@Divya Sriram replied to me and asked for some feedback

• Do you have pages with just databases in them or databases and other text? If it's databases and other text, you'd have to go into edit mode to make changes to text anyways so would this experience be more consistent with that?
• When you were editing in view mode, were you making updates to existing content (ie: change a status or tag) or were you adding new rows and columns and changing the structure of the database?

Hope that helps,
Matthias.

[Divya Sriram]

Thanks Matthias for directing to the Confluence databases community group. @Tara Rachel Thomas - Matthias is right, as we think about a uniform editing experience across Confluence I'd love to learn more about how you and your team use databases in Confluence and what is helpful about being able to edit databases in view mode. 

If you're open for a quick chat, I'd love to learn more: 

https://calendly.com/divyasriram