Sectionmark documentation

Get started

Install Sectionmark from the Atlassian Marketplace (Confluence admin). Every site gets a 30-day free trial. After that it is $13.50 a month for up to 10 users, then billed per user.
Open a published page or blog post, click ••• (More actions) and choose Number headings.
Check the preview, then click Number headings.
Click Reload the page to see it.

Sectionmark writes the numbers into the heading text itself (for example "2.1 Scope"). Nothing is wrapped in a macro, so the numbers show while you edit, in the table of contents, in links, in search and in PDF and Word exports.

The Number headings window

The window names the page and shows the numbering options, with a live preview underneath. Every change to an option updates the preview straight away. Nothing is saved until you click the button.

Options

Number style: 1, 1.1, 1.1.1 (the default), 1, 1.1, 1.1.a, 1, 1.1, 1.1.i, or A, A.1, A.1.1.
Start numbering at and Down to: the heading levels to number, from Heading 1 to Heading 6. The default is Heading 1 down to Heading 4. The highest level you choose gets the top-level numbers, so starting at Heading 2 numbers your H2s as 1, 2, 3.
First number: the first top-level number, for example 4 to continue from another document.
Text before every number (optional): for example 4. (giving 4.1, 4.2) or REQ- (giving REQ-1, REQ-1.1). Up to 20 characters.
Add a dot after numbers (1. and 1.1.)
Letter appendices: top-level headings from the first one starting with "Appendix" become Appendix A, A.1: on by default. From the first top-level heading that starts with "Appendix", top-level headings become Appendix A, Appendix B, and the headings under them A.1, A.2.
Also number headings inside panels, expands and tables: off by default. Headings inside panels, expands, tables and quotes are left alone unless you turn this on. Headings in page layouts and inside other macros are always numbered.
Remove the wrapper of other numbered-headings macros (the content stays): on by default. See "Switching from another numbering app".
Replace numbers typed into headings by hand: on by default. See "Numbers already in your headings".
Never number these headings (comma separated): starts with Table of contents, Contents, Revision history, Change log. Matching ignores capitals.
Keep numbers up to date every time this page is published: on by default. See "Keeping numbers right".

The page remembers the options you used, so the next time you open the window it starts from them.

Preview

A line such as "5 of 12 headings will change" sums up the result, including any links to headings that will be updated and any other app's macros that will be removed. The table lists every heading with its Level, the Heading after, what it was Before, and a status:

Numbered
No change
Not numbered, with the reason: inside a panel, expand or table; outside the levels you chose; or on the "do not number" list
Removed (when removing numbers)

Buttons

Number headings saves the numbers. On a page that Sectionmark has numbered before, the button says Renumber.
Remove numbers appears when the page has been numbered before or has numbers the preview would change. See below.
Close

After saving you see Headings numbered (or Numbers removed) with how many headings and links changed, or Already up to date if nothing needed to change. Each change is saved as one new page version with the message "Heading numbers updated by Sectionmark", so you can restore the previous version from Page history.

The page must be published first, and you need permission to edit it. If someone saves the page at the same moment, Sectionmark retries once with the fresh version.

Keeping numbers right

With Keep numbers up to date every time this page is published on, Sectionmark renumbers the page each time it is published: add, move or delete a section and the numbers follow. Draft saves don't trigger it. If the numbers are already right, nothing is saved.

When this runs after a publish:

It saves one extra page version, and only when a number changed.
It replaces only numbers it is sure are outline numbers (like 1.2, 3. or Appendix B). Plain numbers at the start of a heading, like "3 Results", are only replaced from the window, where you see the preview first.
It never removes another app's macro. That only happens from the window.
It runs as the app, so Confluence shows the app on that version. If a page's restrictions keep the app from editing it, the page is skipped; you can still number it yourself from the ••• menu.

Turn the switch off in the window to stop automatic renumbering for that page.

Numbers already in your headings

Sectionmark always recognises the numbers it wrote itself, so renumbering never doubles them up.

With Replace numbers typed into headings by hand on, it also replaces numbers people typed, so a page numbered by hand can be switched over in one step:

outline numbers such as 1.2, 1.2.3, 2.1.a, A.1, 3. and Appendix B
from the window only, also a plain number of up to 3 digits (3 Results) or a single capital letter with a dot (B. Scope)

Years such as "2026 roadmap", versions such as "v2" and abbreviations such as "U.S." are never treated as numbers. Check the preview before saving.

Removing numbers

Remove numbers takes out every number Sectionmark wrote (and, with Replace numbers typed into headings by hand on, typed outline numbers too) and puts "Appendix" back in front of appendix headings. It also turns off Keep numbers up to date for that page, so the numbers don't come back on the next publish. On a page that had no numbers of its own, numbering and then removing gives you back the original headings.

Links to headings

A heading's link anchor is built from its text, so it changes when the number changes. When Sectionmark saves, it updates links on the same page that point to its headings: #anchor links and full links to the page followed by #anchor. The preview tells you how many links will be updated.

Links from other pages to a heading anchor are not changed. See "Limits and known trade-offs".

Space defaults and automatic numbering

Space admins can open Space settings > Numbered headings (under Integrations or Apps, depending on your Confluence version).

Number every page in this space automatically when it is published: off by default. When on, every page and blog post in the space is numbered with the space defaults the next time it is published, even if nobody numbered it by hand. Pages where someone turned off "Keep numbers up to date" are left alone.
Default numbering: the same options as the window. New pages start from these; anyone who can edit a page can still choose different options for that page from the ••• menu.
Click Save.

People who are not space admins see the settings as Read only.

Switching from another numbering app

Pages that use another app's numbered-headings macro (including pages migrated from Data Center) can be converted from the window. With Remove the wrapper of other numbered-headings macros (the content stays) on, the macro wrapper is removed, everything inside it stays on the page, and the headings are numbered as text. The preview counts how many wrappers will be removed. Use Page history to go back if needed.

Licensing and trials

Sectionmark is paid through Atlassian, with a 30-day free trial. If the license is not active, the window and the space settings show License not active. The preview still works, but numbering, removing numbers, saving space settings and automatic renumbering on publish are paused until a site admin renews in Apps > Manage apps. Numbers already in your headings stay, because they are ordinary text.

Permissions and data

Sectionmark runs on Atlassian's Forge platform and sends nothing to any outside server. The app has no external network permissions.
It reads a page's content and saves it back with the new numbers. When you use the window, the read and the save run as you, so you can only number pages you can edit, and the new version is yours.
It records the options used and the numbers it wrote in a content property on each numbered page (key gw-numbered-headings), so it can renumber and remove them exactly. The property is stored by Confluence with the page.
Space defaults, the automatic numbering switch and, for people who dismiss it, a "don't ask again" flag for a review prompt (stored by account id) are kept in Forge storage for your site.
No copy of your pages is kept.

Permissions requested: read and write pages and blog posts, read spaces (to check that you are a space admin before space settings change), read content summaries (needed to receive the publish events that drive automatic renumbering), and app storage.

Limits and known trade-offs

Every change is a page version. Numbering from the window saves one version; automatic renumbering saves one extra version after a publish, only when numbers changed.
Links from other pages to a heading's anchor stop jumping to that heading when its number changes. Links on the same page are updated.
Numbers are added to the published page. Unpublished drafts are numbered on their next publish if automatic numbering is on.
Pages the app can't edit because of page restrictions are skipped by automatic renumbering.
Headings inside panels, expands, tables and quotes are only numbered if you turn that option on.

FAQ

Can I see the numbers while I edit? Yes. The numbers are part of the heading text, so they show in the editor, the table of contents, links, search and exports.

Do I have to wrap my page in a macro? No. Sectionmark is a page menu action. Nothing wraps your content, so code blocks and other macros on the page keep working.

Can numbering start at 4, or use a prefix like REQ-? Yes. Set First number, or put the text you want in Text before every number, such as 4. for 4.1, 4.2.

Are numbers kept in PDF and Word exports? Yes, and only once, because they are ordinary text that every exporter sees.

Will it publish surprise new versions? Only if you ask it to. Automatic renumbering is controlled per page with Keep numbers up to date, and per space by a space admin. It saves a version only when a number changes, with a clear version message.

Will it change the year at the start of "2026 roadmap"? No. Four-digit numbers, versions and abbreviations are never treated as heading numbers.

What happens to "copy link to heading"? Anchors are plain heading anchors. Links on the same page are updated when numbers change; links from other pages are not (see Limits).

Does it work on blog posts? Yes, the same way as pages.

Uninstalling and your data

The numbers in your headings are your content and stay after you uninstall. Use Remove numbers first if you want them gone, or restore an earlier page version. The page content property stays with the page until the page is deleted. When the app is uninstalled, Atlassian deletes Sectionmark's Forge storage for your site.

Support

Open a request in the Great Work support portal (linked from the Marketplace listing) or email hello@greatwork.company. First response within 1 business day.