Thank you 5dd6d3cdd988  it’s excellent to hear that you’re considering support for nested tables. Could you kindly provide us with an update on the anticipated timelines? Thanks

Hi everyone,

I'm pleased to share that we are now exploring support for nesting of tables inside tables in Confluence Cloud Editor. I'll look to provide timeframes on what we'll support as soon as I can. 

Thanks to everyone that has provided further details or screenshots recently. 

For those interested, feel free to email use cases/templates through to me or use the link below to book in time to discuss. I'd love to ensure that we hit the mark in how you use nested tables today - what types of content you include, any layout/structuring considerations, etc.

Email: kgray3@atlassian.com

Booking link: https://www.userinterviews.com/projects/kSgPv-jN0A/apply

Thanks 

Kieran Gray

Product Manager, Confluence Editor. 

Phil Oye wrote: "Less than 1% of pages have these nested tables showing there are other ways to get the message across."

This is fine, except when it isn't. Sometimes the very best way to do it is to nest a table.

Also, it's harder to view anything on a mobile device. A smartphone is an aid, not the best way to manage a documentation system. Watching movies is suboptimal on a smartphone too, but somehow we get along with it. Not sure why mobile devices are the gating factor for a decent feature set.

We  are experiencing the same issue. Over this past year from 2023 - 2024, we have moved from server based Confluence to Cloud based Confluence. In doing so, if we want nested tables, then we are forced to use "legacy editor" page. We have a great deal of pages that use nested tables. Until this is rectified, this will continue to be the process. 

Definitely look forward to this being updated in Confluence Cloud.

5dd6d3cdd988, the primary concern is that the on-premise version of Confluence supported nested tables, which means all existing pages with nested tables are stuck with the Legacy editor until this functionality is implemented in the Cloud Confluence.
Additionally, the inability to utilize macros within tables and other macros is causing frustration, but this issue may be associated with the CONFCLOUD-78513. Nest Expand or other Bodied Macros in another Macro ticket.
I have sent a separate email to you containing a screenshot from one of our Confluence pages demonstrating the use of nested tables.

Here is an example from a release dashboard to measure progress on release readiness. We first used an excerpt but it looked terrible. In this case we split and merged cells of the "parent" table to get the layout - but this is a huge pain. There are other cases where we need this but it is a barrier.

Jonas Frilund about summed it up for what we need from nested tables (not so much the Jira macros though)

Thanks 5dd6d3cdd988 for starting the discussion.
I understand that it could be complex to support all combinations of macros etc in a nested table, so it make sense to collect requirements and implement support in some order of prio.

Obviously the wish would be that a column in the nested table would support all macros, but being humble to the complexity, these are my suggestions. Note that I have not a full analysis on my need but would like to start the discussion. Others will most likely have other needs  

1. For technical documentation the basic prio is simply to be able to structure the page using nested tables. That nested table might only support plain text, as a start. This would solve the majority of the issues I'm experiencing now.
2. I would like to be able to place an expand macro in a column in a nested table. This to make the page more readable, hiding blocks of information that might only be relevant for some readers.
   1. That expand macro should be able to contain a code block macro. For example when communicating code samples etc.
3. Working a lot with Jira it would make sense that a nested table column would support Jira macros.

I guess thats it for now.

Take care,

//Jonas

Thanks for the plug 2e8decdce737 - Yes, we are actively looking at how to best support this in the cloud editor, i just can't provide specific timeframes right now. I know this is one of the biggest frustrations we hear after customers migrate to the cloud editor and we want that experience to be much better. 

I realise putting a table in a table is somewhat a straightforward proposition to most users, however if anyone would like to shed some light on what macros or the types of info they're inserting within the nested tables (e.g. an excerpt in a nested table) that would assist us in ensuring the experience meets expectations.

I know this is a passionate area for some, so all i'd ask is to please be respectful and I'll do what I can to rely the needs to the team   Feel free to provide general info here or reach out directly to me kgray3@atlassian.com

"Nested Tables" - Cloud Workaround

1. Create a standard table on your page and populate it as needed.
2. Below, create an "Excerpt" with a new table inside.
   • This table will eventually be nested inside the first table from step 1. Populate the table as needed.
   • Configure the "Excerpt" macro with a unique name and enable the box to "Hide excerpt on this page."
   • Publish the page to save the excerpt macro details; resume editing mode.
3. In the cell (or merged cells) where you want to nest your second table, insert the "Insert Excerpt" macro.
   • Configure this macro to use the current page as the "Source page" and select the "Excerpt name" as defined in step 2.
   • Also select the option to "Remove title and frame."
4. Publish the page and observe the result.
   • The table in the excerpt should now load in the original table as a "nested" secondary table.
   • The excerpt itself should be hidden.