Confluence Spaces
A Space is the top-level container in Confluence. Everything you write, share, or organise lives inside a space. Choosing the right space structure at the start saves your team from confusion later.
What a Space Really Is
Picture a large office building. Each department — Marketing, Engineering, HR — has its own floor. People from outside a department can visit, but each floor belongs to one team. A Confluence Space works the same way. Each space belongs to one team, project, or purpose.
Office Building Analogy
OFFICE BUILDING (your Confluence site)
│
├── Floor 1: MARKETING SPACE
│ ├── Campaign Briefs
│ ├── Brand Guidelines
│ └── Social Media Calendar
│
├── Floor 2: ENGINEERING SPACE
│ ├── Architecture Docs
│ ├── API Reference
│ └── Release Notes
│
└── Floor 3: HR SPACE
├── Employee Handbook
├── Leave Policies
└── Onboarding Checklist
Three Types of Spaces
Confluence offers three space types. Each serves a different purpose.
Space Types Compared
TYPE WHO SEES IT BEST USED FOR ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Team Space Your team members Ongoing team work Project Space Project members Time-limited projects Personal Space Only you (by def.) Your own notes & drafts
A Team Space works for permanent teams that exist beyond any single project — like your engineering team or HR department. A Project Space works for a specific initiative that has a clear end date, like a product launch. A Personal Space is your own private notebook where you draft ideas before sharing them.
Creating a Space
Click Spaces in the top bar, then click Create Space. Confluence asks you to pick a template — choose Blank Space to start fresh or pick a pre-built template for common use cases like software projects or HR documentation.
Space Creation Steps
STEP 1 → Click Spaces → Create Space STEP 2 → Choose a space type (Team / Project / Personal) STEP 3 → Select a template (Blank or pre-built) STEP 4 → Enter a Space Name e.g. "Marketing Team" STEP 5 → Enter a Space Key e.g. "MKT" STEP 6 → Click Create STEP 7 → Your space opens with a blank homepage
What Is a Space Key?
A Space Key is a short code Confluence uses internally to identify your space. It appears in every page URL within that space. Keep it short — three to five capital letters works best.
SPACE NAME SPACE KEY EXAMPLE PAGE URL ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Marketing Team MKT /wiki/spaces/MKT/pages/... Engineering ENG /wiki/spaces/ENG/pages/... HR Documentation HR /wiki/spaces/HR/pages/...
The Space Homepage
Every space has a homepage — the first page visitors see when they enter the space. Treat the homepage like a welcome desk. It should tell visitors what the space contains, who owns it, and where to find key pages.
Good Space Homepage Structure
[Space Name] — Home ──────────────────────────────────────────────── 👋 About This Space What this space covers and who it belongs to. 📌 Key Pages Link to: Team Handbook | Meeting Notes | Roadmap 👥 Space Owners Priya Sharma (lead), Raj Mehta (backup) 📅 Last Reviewed June 2025
Space Permissions Overview
Each space has its own permission settings. The space admin controls who can view, edit, or administer the space. This topic introduces the concept — Topic 16 covers space permissions in full detail.
Basic Permission Levels
PERMISSION LEVEL CAN DO ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── View Read pages only Edit Read and write pages Delete Remove pages Admin Change space settings and permissions
How Many Spaces Should You Create?
More spaces means more places to search when you cannot remember where something lives. A common mistake is creating a new space for every project. Instead, think about whether the content needs its own navigation or whether it fits inside an existing space as a section of pages.
Decision Guide
SITUATION RECOMMENDATION ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── New permanent team joining Confluence Create a new Team Space Short project (under 6 months) Add pages inside existing space Sensitive content (HR only) Create a restricted space Personal drafts Use your Personal Space
Start with fewer spaces. You can always split a space later, but merging two spaces with lots of existing pages is harder work.