Native Confluence tables
Use Simple Table with Body when you already have a Confluence table on a page and want to make it easier to read, sort, filter, and format.
This is one of the supported data sources in Simple Tables. If your team uses reusable table patterns in Confluence, see also Table Excerpt / Table Excerpt Include.
What changed in version 6.5.0
Simple Table with Body now includes a preview mode selector in setup, making large native Confluence tables easier to inspect before publishing.
- Switch between the final Simple Table render and the original Confluence source table.
- Review the source table in read-only mode without changing the editable table in the page body.
- Compare source content and final viewer output more easily during configuration.
What changed in version 6.3.0
Simple Table with Body now keeps native Confluence tables closer to how they were originally created, while still adding Simple Table features on top.
- Statuses, emojis, mentions, links, colors, and text styles are handled more consistently.
- Mentions now use Confluence-like styling, including highlighted styling when the mentioned user is the current viewer.
- Two-column detail tables are easier to display as page or project information.
- Columns with mixed value types now get clearer guidance in the setup editor.
- The setup flow gives clearer guidance when there is no valid Confluence table on the page yet.
How it works
- Edit your Confluence page.
- Create or paste a native Confluence table.
- Wrap or select the table and insert the Simple Table with Body macro.
- Choose the table options you need, such as sorting, filtering, colors, data types, or aggregations.
- Publish the page to use the interactive table.
What stays from the original table?
Simple Table with Body reads the table that is already on the Confluence page. Where supported, it keeps the content and appearance that people expect to see from the original table.
Content
- Mentions
- Confluence statuses
- Emojis
- Links
- Formatted text effects
Appearance
- Header and cell colors
- Text colors when available
- Bold, italic, and other text styles
- A layout that stays closer to the original Confluence table
You can still use Simple Table features such as sorting, grouping, filtering, and calculated columns.
Mentions are preserved for display. They use neutral styling for other users and highlighted styling when the mention matches the current viewer. Because they are rendered inside the macro, they do not send Confluence native mention notifications.
Two-column detail tables
Some Confluence tables are used to describe a page, project, request, or record. In these tables, each row is usually a detail, with the first column acting as the label and the second column acting as the value.
Version 6.3.0 improves this layout so these tables can be shown as structured details instead of forcing them to behave like a normal data grid.
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Owner | Product Operations |
| Status | On track |
| Review date | Quarterly |
This is useful for project summaries, ownership details, page metadata, request information, and other tables that teams already maintain directly in Confluence.
If Simple Table detects mixed value types in a two-column property-style table, enable Display > Use first column as field names.
Setup guidance
Simple Table with Body needs an existing Confluence table on the page. If the setup screen says that no valid table was found, add or paste a Confluence table first and then insert Simple Table with Body around it.
- Use the regular Simple Table macro when you want to import CSV, JSON, Excel, or attachment-based data.
- Use Simple Table with Body when you want to keep editing a native Confluence table in place.
- Use macro preview or published view to confirm the final interactive behavior.
Previewing the source table
In the setup screen for Simple Table with Body, the preview footer includes a Preview selector. Use Simple Table to review the final table that viewers will see, or Confluence source to inspect the native table stored in the macro body.
The Confluence source preview is read-only. To edit the source table, return to the Confluence page editor and change the table inside the macro body.
Display options for Simple Table with Body
When you use Simple Table with Body, the Display tab includes two extra options for native Confluence tables.
Preserve native appearance
Keeps Confluence table colors and text styling where Simple Table can read them. Use this when the original table formatting is important.
Use first column as field names
Use this for two-column detail tables. The first column is treated as the label, and the second column is treated as the value.
These options only appear for Simple Table with Body because they depend on reading an existing Confluence table from the page.
Important limitations
In edit mode (Confluence editor), changes inside the table may not be fully reflected by the macro. This is due to how the Confluence Cloud editor renders bodied macros.
To see the final result, use the macro preview or publish the page. In view mode, all features (sorting, filtering, formatting) work as expected.
Mentions rendered inside Simple Table with Body are visual preservation only. They do not trigger Confluence native mention notifications from the macro-rendered table.
Table Excerpt / Table Excerpt Include works with the standard Simple Table macro. It is not currently supported with Simple Table with Body when a Confluence table must be embedded inside the macro body, due to current Confluence Cloud macro nesting limitations.
Why use it?
Turn native Confluence tables into interactive tables without moving your data out of the page. It is useful when teams want to keep editing directly in Confluence while adding better table controls.
All data remains within Atlassian infrastructure, aligned with Forge’s no data egress model.
Use case: Collaborative status board
Product Team
Acme Co — Product Development
Context: The team maintains a native Confluence table with features, owners, due dates, and statuses, and wants more advanced interactions without changing their workflow.
Solution: Wrap the table with Simple Table with Body to enable sorting, filtering, and aggregations directly on top of the existing data.
Benefits:
• In-place editing: continue using native Confluence tables.
• Interactive features: sorting, filtering, and aggregations.
• No data migration: no need to import or convert data.
• Single source of truth: one table for both editing and viewing.
Impact: Teams can enhance their existing workflows without introducing new tools or data duplication.
Differences vs Simple Table (standalone)
- Simple Table macro: imports external data (CSV, JSON, XLSX) into a new table.
- Simple Table with Body: enhances an existing Confluence table in place.
- Table Excerpt / Table Excerpt Include: supported with the standard Simple Table macro, but not with Simple Table with Body when the workflow requires a table inside the macro body.
- Both support the same core features. Simple Table with Body keeps the native Confluence table as the editing source.
Admin note
Version 6.3.0 is useful for teams that rely on Confluence as their source of truth. It improves the reliability of native table rendering and makes Simple Table with Body easier to adopt without asking teams to migrate content out of Confluence.
Want to try it in your site? InstallSimple Tables for Confluence from the Atlassian Marketplace.