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Import from Confluence

Migrate your Confluence documentation into Topicary by importing an HTML export. Import is available on Pro, Team, and Business plans.

Before you begin

  • You need a Pro, Team, or Business plan

  • You need Space Admin or Site Admin permissions in Confluence to export a space

  • Export must use the HTML format — Confluence XML exports are not supported

Plan your migration

Before importing, assess what you're working with:

  1. Count your pages. Confluence spaces can contain hundreds of pages. Each page becomes one Topicary topic.

  2. Identify content that won't transfer. Jira macros, dynamic content macros, custom macros, page restrictions, and attachment-only pages don't have equivalents in Topicary.

  3. Decide on structure. Confluence page trees map to Topicary map hierarchies. Check whether your existing hierarchy is what you want in the final docs, or whether you'll reorganize after import.

  4. Plan for images. Embedded images in page content are preserved. Standalone attachments need to be re-uploaded manually.

Confluence macros are simplified or removed during import. Jira macros, dynamic content macros (user lists, activity feeds, database queries), and all third-party macros are stripped entirely. Only info, warning, note, and code macros have Topicary equivalents. Review your pages for macro-heavy content before importing so you know what will need manual reconstruction.

Export from Confluence

  1. In Confluence, go to the space you want to export.

  2. Select Space Settings > Content Tools > Export.

  3. Choose HTML export format.

  4. Export the space. Confluence generates a .zip file.

Import into Topicary

  1. Go to Topics and click Import.

  2. Select the Confluence .zip file.

  3. Preview cards appear for each page detected.

  4. Check "Create a map from folder structure" to preserve the page hierarchy as a map.

  5. Click Import.

What's preserved

  • Page content (headings, paragraphs, lists, tables, images)

  • Page hierarchy (parent-child structure → map nesting)

  • Basic formatting

What's cleaned up

Topicary strips Confluence-specific page chrome (navigation, sidebars, breadcrumbs) and converts Confluence macros to their closest equivalents:

Confluence element

Topicary equivalent

Info macro

Callout block (note)

Warning macro

Callout block (warning)

Note macro

Callout block (note)

Code macro

Code block

Table of contents macro

Removed (Topicary generates these automatically)

Column layouts

Simplified to linear content

Custom fonts and colors

Stripped to semantic HTML

What's not preserved

  • Jira macros and Jira links — removed entirely

  • Dynamic content macros (user lists, activity feeds, database queries) — removed

  • Custom or third-party macros — removed

  • Page restrictions and view permissions — not imported

  • Author names, modification dates, and labels — not preserved

  • Standalone attachments — only images embedded in page content are preserved

  • Column layouts, custom fonts, and colors — simplified to semantic HTML

  • Deeply nested lists — complex nesting may flatten by one or two levels

After import, use the Topics page filter to find Empty topics. Confluence pages that consisted entirely of macros (such as Jira boards or dynamic reports) import as empty topics and can be safely deleted.

Post-import checklist

  1. Review each imported topic for formatting accuracy, especially tables and lists.

  2. Re-upload any images that appear as broken references.

  3. Check that the map hierarchy matches the intended structure — adjust nesting and order as needed.

  4. Look for leftover macro artifacts (empty paragraphs, orphaned labels) and clean them up.

  5. If you need multi-audience output, set up conditions and variables now.

  6. Publish a test target and review the output before going live.

See also

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