Nesting macros in language macros: Restrictions in Confluence Cloud

The following information applies to the cloud apps Navitabs - Tabs for Confluence and Translations for Confluence.

In a nutshell

⚠️ Confluence Cloud has limitations when nesting built-in and 3rd-party macros in some bitvoodoo macros. Affected macros:

Tab macro (previously Localtabs)
Tab Group macro
language macros (Translations)

The nesting of macros is possible if they don't have a rich body (prevented by Atlassian; see below)
Gadget macros are not working (e.g., Jira gadget), as Atlassian does not support gadgets inside nested macros.

Background information

Currently, nested rich body macros are not supported in Confluence Cloud. This is a frequently voted-for Atlassian issue; see this ticket. We are watching that issue and will adapt as soon as Atlassian changes anything.

Rich body vs. block macros

Rich body macro: a container in which the page editor can type text or insert page elements.
Examples: Tab&Tab Group, Info, Panel, language macros
Block macro: a static element that pulls content into the page based on properties set in the macro. The page editor cannot type inside the macro.
Examples: Table of Contents, Children Display, Labels List

What you’ll experience when trying to nest bodied macros is one of the following:

Error message in the preview or on the published page
Strangely formatted content on the published page (see formatting issues in nested macros)
No content at all or incomplete content on the published page (even if the preview worked fine)
New Cloud editor: If you try to insert a macro inside another, it will be placed below the first macro.

Possible workarounds

Use nested macros mindfully: Only use complex nesting if this is absolutely necessary for your use case. Try to reduce the macro complexity whenever possible.
If you are facing difficulties nesting macros, you should use them separately on your pages or spread them over various pages.
If you are using the new Confluence Cloud editor, please use the option Tab Wizard - Create your own tabs with its built-in editor.
Switch to Tab Content Layout (Beta) and try to use your macros there. However, as stated before, nested rich body macros are not currently enabled in Confluence Cloud, so various macro combinations will not work in the macro editor either.

List of Atlassian and 3rd-party macros & whether they work within Navitabs/Translations macros

To help you clarify which macro combinations are possible and which are not, we have created a list of Atlassian macros and popular 3rd-party macros (listed alphabetically).

New Confluence Cloud vs. old (legacy) editor

In the following table, we distinguish between macros used in the old (Legacy) and the new Confluence Cloud editor.
When migrating pages from Server or Data Center to Cloud, all content is transferred to the Legacy Cloud editor. The Legacy editor allows for certain nested rich body macros while the new one does not. However, the Legacy editor might not be supported forever.
Please consult the documentation on the differences before deciding which editor to use in the future.

Macro	Legacy Editor	New Editor	More details
Tab / Tab Group (Navitabs)	NO	NO	Legacy & New Editors: “Tab” and “Tab Group” cannot be nested within language macros. NEW Beta Layout: Existing Tab navigations will be rendered and continue to work. Translations: Nesting a Tab Group within a language macro (Translations) will cause a rendering issue.
Translations macro		NO	Legacy Editor: Translations macros will work as expected when they are placed within Tab Groups. New Editor: Nesting Translations is not possible. NEW Beta Layout: The selected language will be displayed, but no dropdown to change the language will be available.
Anchor	NO	NO	ℹ We recommend avoiding the placement of Anchors or Anchor links within Navitabs, as this can lead to unexpected behavior: Legacy Editor: Links leading to anchors inside the Tabs may cause the page to reload or create a new page with the anchor's name. New Editor: The page will be redirected to the Confluence Home. NEW Beta Layout: Anchors will work within the Tab content.
Attachments	PARTLY	PARTLY	Legacy & New Editors: Clicking attachments will trigger their download. NEW Beta Layout:: The thumbnail is genebetarated and can be expanded, but clicking it will enlarge it to the size of the tab rather than fullscreen.
Blogposts			Legacy & New Editors: The spacing of the text is different and looks more condensed. NEW Beta Layout: Blog posts are rendered as normal.
Change History			All Editors: Macro will be working as usual. Clicking a version will redirect the current page.
Chart	NO	NO	Legacy editor: Nothing is rendered. New editor: Macro cannot be nested. NEW Beta Layout: Charts will be rendered as expected.
Cheese		Not Available	ℹ Discontinued Atlassian has discontinued this macro, so we cannot guarantee it will still work when nested.
Child pages (formerly Children Display)			New & Legacy Editors: Clicking on a children page will redirect the current page. NEW Beta Layout: Clicking on a page will open the page in a new window.
Code Snippet			New Editor: The macro will be rendered using a different visual and textual style. NEW Beta Layout: The macro will be rendered in its normal style.
Column	NO	Not Available	ℹ Deprecated While this functionality works rudimentarily, it will soon be deprecated. Therefore, using Sections and Columns inside other macros is not recommended.
Content by user		Not Available	ℹ Discontinued Atlassian has discontinued this macro, so we cannot guarantee it will still work when nested.
Content report table			Legacy & New Editors: Clicking a page redirects the current window while clicking the “Creator” opens a new page. NEW Beta Layout: Clicking on a page creator opens a new window.
Contributors			Legacy & New Editors: Clicking on a username redirects the current window. NEW Beta Layout: Clicking on a username opens a new window.
Contributors Summary			Legacy & New Editors: Clicking on a username redirects the current window. NEW Beta Layout: Clicking on a username opens a new window.
Create from Template	NO	NO	New editor: Macro can be inserted but does not work. Beta layout: Macro will work normally.
Create Space Button		Not available	ℹ Discontinued Atlassian has discontinued this macro, so we cannot guarantee it will still work when nested. It will be rendered, but it is no longer available for selection.
Decision	Not available		Legacy Editor: This macro will not be available for selection. New Editor & NEW Beta Layout: The macro will be rendered normally.
http://Draw.io diagrams, boards and embeds	(Navitabs) NO (Translations)	(Navitabs) NO (Translations)	Navitabs: All editors can display these macros New editor: Full screen and edit option will redirect the current page. NEW Beta Layout: Full screen will create a new page. The “Edit“ button won't be available in this view. Translations: Nothing will be displayed when the diagram macro is placed within a language macro for Legacy and New Editors. Please place the diagram macro outside a language macro.
Emoticons / Emojis	NO use workaround		Legacy Editor: The emoji browser functionality may not work correctly. However, emojis can be used normally by copy/pasting or using Unicode emojis. New Editor & NEW Beta Layout: Unicode and Confluence emojis can be used.
Excerpt	NO	NO	ℹ Please note this macro is different to Include Excerpt (see below). Legacy Editor: Excerpts can be placed within a Tab Group but they won’t be identified by the "Excerpt Include" macro. New Editor: Excerpts cannot be nested. NEW Beta Layout: Excerpts won’t be detected by the “Excerpt Include“ macro; the original page must be selected manually.
Expand		NO	Legacy Editor: Nested expands are supported and rendered in the old visual style. New Editor: Nested expands are not supported. NEW Beta Layout: Expands are rendered normally and can be interacted with.
Favourite Pages	Not Available		ℹ Discontinued Atlassian has discontinued this macro, so we cannot guarantee it will still work when nested.
Filter by label (formerly Content by label)			Legacy & New Editors: Macros can be nested and will be rendered with slightly different spacing and font styles. Clicking the links within will redirect the current page. NEW Beta Layout: Macros will be displayed as usual. Clicking a link will open it in a new browser tab.
Gallery			Legacy & New Editors: Macros can render images, but the images are not clickable. NEW Beta Layout: The gallery feature works. Clicking on an image expands it to the size of the tab.
Global Reports	Not available	NO	ℹ Discontinued Atlassian has discontinued this macro, so we cannot guarantee it will still work when nested.
Include Page			Legacy & New Editors: Text will be rendered with slightly different spacing and font. NEW Beta Layout: Text will be displayed as usual.
Info		PARTLY	Legacy & New Editor: Info panels can be nested but will use the old visual style. NEW Beta Layout: Info panels will be rendered with the modern style.
Insert Excerpt (formerly Excerpt include)			All Editors: Excerpts will be rendered, but the content might be clipped or displayed with a different style.
iFrame			All Editors: Content will be rendered if the source URL allows a connection.
Inline comment	NO	NO	All Editors: This is a known limitation where inline comments cannot be added. Existing inline comments won’t be displayed in tabs or translations.
Jira Issues	PARTLY	NO	Legacy Editor: Pasting Jira issues will transform them into a Jira Legacy macro (see below). New Editor: Jira issues will be displayed correctly while editing. However, the format will change after publishing. Views like inline, card, and embed will be rendered as URL hyperlinks. NEW Beta Layout: Jira issues will render correctly. Clicking an issue will open it in a new window. The embed view will cause a “refused to connect” error due to Cloud limitations.
Jira Chart
Jira Issues Calendar		PARTLY	Legacy and New Editors: The macro will render, but the calendar will be clipped, meaning the last days of the month won’t be shown. NEW Beta Layout: The macro will be rendered and can be synced. Clicking an issue will trigger the corresponding action.
Jira Legacy		NO	Legacy Editor: Jira issues will be rendered correctly. However, views like inline, card, and embed won’t be available. Clicking an issue will redirect the page. New editor: Jira Legacy filter will be stuck in “Loading“ indefinitely.
Jira Gadgets (Reports)	NO	Not available	ℹ Discontinued Atlassian has discontinued this macro, so we cannot guarantee it will still work when nested.
Labels List			Legacy & New Editors: The macro can be nested. It will render with slightly different spacing and font. Clicking it will redirect the current page. NEW Beta Layout: The filter will be displayed normally. Clicking it will open the page in a new browser tab.
Live Search	PARTLY	PARTLY	Legacy & New Editors: The macro will render correctly, but it will not offer search suggestions. Instead, it will redirect the page to the Confluence search when a search term is entered. NEW Beta Layout: When a search term is entered, the macro will dynamically offer suggestions without redirecting the page.
Lorem Ipsum		Not available	ℹ Discontinued Atlassian has discontinued this macro, so we cannot guarantee it will still work when nested.
Multimedia	NO	Not available	ℹ Discontinued Atlassian has discontinued this macro, so we cannot guarantee it will still work when nested. Nothing will be rendered.
Navigation Map		Not available	ℹ Discontinued Atlassian has discontinued this macro, so we cannot guarantee it will still work when nested.
No format		Not available	ℹ Discontinued Atlassian has discontinued this macro, so we cannot guarantee it will still work when nested.
Note		PARTLY	Legacy & New Editor: Note panels can be nested but will use the old visual style. NEW Beta Layout: Note that panels will be rendered in a modern style.
Page Index			Legacy & New Editors: The macro can be nested. It will render with slightly different spacing and font. Clicking it will redirect the current page. NEW Beta Layout: The filter will be displayed as normal. Clicking an index letter will not trigger any action. Clicking a page title will create a new tab with the selected content.
Page Properties		NO	Legacy Editor: The macro can be nested and will be detected by the Properties report. New Editor: The macro cannot be nested within Navitabs. NEW Beta Layout: The macro will be rendered successfully and will not cause duplicated values.
Page Properties Report			Legacy & New Editors: The macro can be nested. It will render with slightly different spacing and font. Clicking it will redirect the current page. NEW Beta Layout: The macro will render as usual. Clicking it will successfully redirect the page.
Page Tree	NO	NO	Legacy & New Editors: The macro cannot be inserted, and the preview will show content. However, when published, the macro will not load. NEW Beta Layout: The macro will be rendered, and pages can be expanded. Clicking it will open a new page in the browser.
Page Tree Search			Legacy & New Editors: The macro can be nested. Using a search term will redirect the current page to Confluence Search. NEW Beta Layout: The macro will be rendered, but performing a search will cause a “refused to connect” error due to Cloud limitations.
Panel		Not Available	ℹ Discontinued Atlassian has discontinued this macro, so we cannot guarantee it will still work when nested.
Popular Labels			Legacy & New Editors: Clicking the label will redirect the current page to the respective label. NEW Beta Layout: Clicking the label will open a new page with the respective label.
Profile Picture			All Editors: Clicking a profile picture will create a new page with the respective user profile.
Recent Updates & Rec. Updated Dashboard			Legacy & New Editor: Clicking on the content will redirect you to the current page. NEW Beta Layout: Clicking on the content will open a new page with the requested information.
Related Labels			Legacy & New Editor: Clicking on a displayed label will redirect you to the corresponding page. However, browsing through label categories may fail to retrieve information or result in a 405 error page. NEW Beta Layout: Macro will be rendered and is fully interactible.
Roadmap Planner		PARTLY	Legacy & New Editor: Roadmaps will be displayed, but no action will occur when clicking on them. NEW Beta Layout: Macros will be displayed; when clicked, they will provide traditional options such as linking or creating a new page.
Search Results	NO	Not available	ℹ Discontinued Atlassian has discontinued this macro, so we cannot guarantee it will still work when nested.
Section	NO	Not available	ℹ Discontinued Atlassian has discontinued this macro. While it works rudimentarily, using sections and columns inside tabs is not recommended, and we cannot guarantee it will still work.
Space Details	NO	Not available	ℹ Discontinued Atlassian has discontinued this macro, so we cannot guarantee it will still work when nested. Legacy editor: Works, but doesn't display the space logo.
Spaces List	PARTLY	NO	Legacy Editor: Macros and pages will be rendered. However, it's essential to specify the "Scope of spaces" parameter, as clicking on default navigation headers (such as favorites or categories) will redirect the page to a 404 error. Additionally, icons next to pages may load indefinitely. New Editor: Macros can be nested, and initial categories will be displayed. However, switching categories may cause items to stop displaying, and icons may become stuck and load infinitely. NEW Beta Layout: Categories can be switched normally. A new page will be opened when clicking a space. Clicking the button “Add Page“ will cause a “Refused to connect error“
Status	PARTLY	PARTLY	Legacy & New Layout: Macros can be nested but will appear with their old visual style. NEW Beta Layout: Status macros will be rendered in their modern style.
Table of Contents	NO	NO	Legacy & New Editors: No headings will be displayed when this macro is nested. BetNEW Beta Layout: Content headings will be shown, but clicking on them will not trigger any action. Translations: If the macro is placed outside a language macro, the Table of Contents (TOC) for all available languages will be displayed. However, the entries in the TOC cannot be clicked.
Task report			Legacy & New Editor: Clicking on an item will redirect the current page to the selected item. NEW Beta Layout: Clicking on an item will open a new page with the selected item.
Team Calendars	Not available		New Editor: Macros may not render and can remain indefinitely in a "loading" state. NEW Beta Layout: Macros will render properly and can be interacted with. Events can also be created directly from this view.
Tip			ℹ Discontinued, Atlassian has discontinued this macro and replaced it with info panel elements.
Trello Board	Not available	Not available	ℹ Discontinued Atlassian has discontinued this macro, so we cannot guarantee it will still work when nested. Legacy editor: Trello boards can only be inserted as links.
Trello Card	Not available		ℹ Discontinued Atlassian has discontinued this macro, so we cannot guarantee it will still work when nested. Legacy editor: Trello cards can only be inserted as links.
User List			All Editors: Works, but the contents might be clipped, and some emails might not show.
User Profile			Legacy & New Editor: The profile picture and name will be displayed. Clicking on them will redirect you to the respective page. NEW Beta Layout: The name and email will be displayed. Depending on the item clicked, a new page will open to view the profile or to compose a new email.
View macros: view-file, viewdoc, viewpdf, viewppt, viewxls	NO	NO	Legacy and New Editors: No thumbnails or content will be generated for these attachments. Instead, an empty space with the file size will be created. NEW Beta Layout: Attachments will be rendered, and buttons to interact with them will be available. Fit to page and Presentation mode will expand the view to match the tab size.
Warning		PARTLY	New Layout: Warning panels can be nested but will be rendered within their old, different visual style. NEW Beta Layout: Warning panels will be rendered with their modern style.
Widget Connector	PARTLY		Legacy editor: Twitter and YouTube are displayed okay, but others are not.

If you believe this list is incorrect or incomplete, please contact us.

Resources

Open Atlassian tickets (please vote)

Suggested reading

In a nutshell

Background information

Possible workarounds

List of Atlassian and 3rd-party macros & whether they work within Navitabs/Translations macros

Resources

Related content