Rule types

A rule is one or more groups plus one thing to watch: a space, a page tree, or a single page.

A whole space

Everyone in the group watches the space. Confluence then tells them about new and changed pages anywhere in it. This is one watch per person, so it's the lightest rule, and the right choice for big groups.

A page and all its child pages

Everyone watches the page and every page under it, at every level. Child pages added later are picked up at the next sync. Use this for a section of a space, like Onboarding or a team's handbook.

One page only

Everyone watches just that page. Child pages are left alone.

How syncing works

• The app syncs every hour by default (or once a day, set in Settings). Use Sync now on a rule to run it straight away.
• An hourly sync first checks whether the group or the page tree changed. If nothing did, it skips the rule.
• Once a week the app does a full check of every watch it made, to catch anything missed.
• Someone joins a group: they start watching at the next sync.
• Someone leaves a group: the app removes only the watches it added for them.
• People who can't see a page are skipped and counted on the rule ("3 people skipped: they can't see some of these pages"). If they get access later, the weekly full check picks them up (or click Sync now).

Two rules covering the same page

A person gets one watch, however many rules cover the page. If you delete one rule, watches another rule still covers stay in place.

Size limit

Each rule can cover up to 50,000 person-page pairs (people × pages, for example 500 people × 100 pages). Bigger rules can't be saved. Use a whole-space rule instead, or a smaller group or page tree. See Email and big rules.

Changing or deleting a rule

Edit a rule and the next sync adds and removes watches to match. When you delete a rule you choose: Delete and remove watches, or Delete, keep the watches. Watches people set up themselves are never touched either way.