There are some macros that I regard almost as core functionality, macros that I don't know how I would use Confluence if they weren't available to me. Here's my top 5 macros, or sets of macros, that I couldn't be without:

1. Roundrect

My first one is the {roundrect} macro - What doesn't look better inside of a roundrect? It's my go-to macro to quickly layout Confluence pages - whether I want to simply structure my page, highlight some important text, or segment a set of links, the roundrect macro helps me do this in a professional, modern looking way. It's a key part of our Content Formatting macros - available in the free Essentials Pack of Confluence plugins.

2. Div/Span

My next ones are the {div} and {span} macros, which are also part of the content formatting macros. These are really handy as a way to wrap parts of pages in a custom CSS class, managed with our Confluence Theme tool (Theme Builder), to apply some custom styling to it. And apparently I'm not the only one who likes them either - one reviewer, Herbert Pelzer, says that he "can't imagine life without {div} or {span}!"

3. Section/Column

OK, so these ones actually are core functionality - Atlassian's {column} and {section} layout macros. They provide a quick way to vertically align and format your pages and they're a great time saver too - they mean I don't have to wrestle with formatting Tables, if all I want is to break my text in to columns, add some structure to my page, or leave nice areas of white space around images or other page elements.

4. Advanced-search

The {advanced-search} macro allows you to include the results of Advanced Search configs in a page. I've written literally hundreds of Advanced Search configs in my time using Confluence. I've found them to be the best way to automatically include content from around the Wiki, in an efficient and scalable manner. Custom HTML/JavaScript, as well blog/RSS or other types of report macros have proved too difficult to style and don't perform well on popular, high-traffic pages.

5. Cache

My final one is a great complement to the {advanced-search} macro, as well as lots of other macros when using them on busy pages. Some macros can put a lot of strain on your system's resources, resulting in slow page loading times and poor user experience. Bob Swift's simple, yet hugely useful {cache} macro comes to the rescue - by storing a copy of the output of other macros, saving your system from having to generate that same output for each page visitor. It's a must for any Wiki with more than just a handful of users.

So there we have it - my favourite Confluence macros. Though it was tricky to keep it to just 5. I'd love to know if you agree and have any others you think are worth a mention - let me know via our community site.