What's the difference between Field Instance, Field Definition and Field Query?
A Field Definition ist the highest level of abstraction. It defines an abstract object, that can be instantiated abitrarily often, with different independent values. A Field Defintion is used to define a typed input field, give it a label and possibly group multiple input fields together.
The concrete creation of an instance, filled with values, placed in a concrete page is called Field Instance.
These Instances can be analyzed with Field Queries. They take a Field Defintion and collect all matching instances. Changes to a Field Instance are directly reflected in a matching Field Query.
How do I copy a Field Instance to another Confluence page?
Copying is not support by Data Field Instances. To instantiate a new Filed Instance, add a new Data Field Instance macro and fill it with the required values.
How do I integrate Managed Data Fields into Confluence page templates?
Managed Data Fields can be perfectly integrated with Confluence blueprints. Whether you want to insert a placeholder Field Instance to be filled with values when the user creates a page from the blueprint, or if you preset values while defining the template. Both - Field Instances and Field Query - will work like a charm.
What happens when I delete a Field Definition?
Usually, all changes to Field Defintions are directly applied to all matching Field Instances. When possible, existing instances are merged with the changes applied to the definition.
When a Field Defintion is deleted completely, all Field Instances matching this Definition are of course preserved. The app will not delete any data without your approval. A Field Instance without an underlaying Field Definition is marked with a little hint. Additionally, they are still found by Field Queries runnig on the old Field Definition. However, these Queries cannot be edited anymore.