The theme archetype will not be supported anymore starting with Confluence 5.10.8. Beginning with Confluence 5.10.6 we encourage you to use the Linchpin Theme or Linchpin Theme Plugin - Enterprise.
Every professional wiki needs a custom design
Every professional enterprise wiki should use an individual design. Adjusting the layout to the corporate design of the enterprise is not an unnecessary luxury, but essential for the success of the system. An individual design not only improves system usability in critical spots, it also increases acceptance among employees and promotes identification with the application. Furthermore, it sends a clear message that Confluence is important to the company and is not just another piece of software. This subtle message, combined with greater user friendliness, is critical for the success or failure of the introduction.
Costs vs. Benefits
Individual layouts, however, are always a financial balancing act for our customers. Implementing a high-quality layout exclusively designed for a customer takes between 50 and 100 hours. Additionally, the individual layout is imported as a theme plugin into the system. And, like for any other plugin, the theme has to be adapted when a new Confluence version is installed and the software that it was initially developed for changes.
The archetype as a uniform master theme
For this reason, //SEIBERT/MEDIA has created a theme archetype. This master theme contains numerous customization options that we typically implement for each customer during the customization process. When we create a personal layout for a customer, we use the theme archetype as the foundation. Doing this saves us a lot of effort and you a lot of money. Additional modifications are implemented after consulting with you and as requested. Almost 80 percent of our customers, however, want only minimal additional adaptations that typically only take between 20 and 30 hours.
One great benefit of the theme archetype is less maintenance effort is needed for updates. Since our customers’ themes are almost all based on the archetype, we only have to adapt it once and can spread the costs for the adaptation among all our customers. The customer only has to bear the full costs for any additional individual adaptations. The effort to do this is generally quite manageable.
Overview of the theme archetype
What are the differences between the //SEIBERT/MEDIA archetype and the Atlassian standard theme?
- Semi-flexible layout with minimum and maximum width
- Content area with 90% width
- Header area with logo
- Toolbar in the content navigation
- Adapted icon set, different font colors, custom print previews, neutral use of colors
- Meta navigation: attachment and authorization icons in meta navigation
- Back-to-top button
- When licensing the Navigation Menu Editors with horizontal main navigation with drop-down menus
Which other customization options are performed during the implementation process?
- Log-in (placing a logo image on the log-in page)
- Personalization of the header bar (customize color values for background, contour, font)
- Customization of the area below the header bar (customize the background color, place a logo image, place a background image, define a wiki name)
- Extension of the side bar (change the background color)
- Page layout (new font color and even new font)
- Back-to-top button (new element for better navigation on long pages)
- When licensing the Navigation Menu Editors customize colors and even the style of the navigation bar
Example: archetype vs. Atlassian standard
All theory is gray – so here is an example of what a personalized Confluence theme based on the archetype might look like. For comparison, the same page with the Atlassian standard theme is placed next to it. The screenshots were created with Confluence version 5.2. We have, of course, used dummy text for the content displayed as to not divulge sensitive information. You can see an enlarged view by clicking on the image.
Costs for an archetype based theme
| Service | Time | Costs |
|---|---|---|
| archetype theme license | n.n. | US$ 2,000.00 |
| individual configuration and implementation | 45 h | US$ 5,625.00 |
| Sum | 45 h | US$ 7,625.00 |
These are estimates based on projects we have completed. A Confluence theme that has been created based on the archetype can be used without limits. A lump €750.00 fee is due when a new version of Confluence is released in order to use the theme archetype customized for the new version.
Further customization for specific use cases
We are happy to provide a completely unique layout to customers who want a fully customized layout and are not satisfied with the adaptations described above. This is often the case when Confluence is used as a social intranet or if Confluence is implemented for specific use cases that go far beyond just a company wiki. Feel free to contact us. We would be happy to make you an individual offer and advise you based on your needs.