JUST ADD+ WORKS ON REFINED SITES NOW (Here’s Why That’s a Big Deal)
- Jerry Nettles
- Jul 1
- 3 min read
As part of the Product Studio team at Modus, a big part of my job is keeping up with dev team lingo, learning just enough technical context to grasp the real problems we’re solving for Atlassian users, then figuring out how to clearly present those solutions in a way that’s useful, authentic, and not salesy.
Recently, I started seeing “Refined” pop up in Slack and in our Just Add+ release notes. Naturally, I started Googling. Poking around. Asking questions (mostly in my head at first) that were probably obvious to everyone else.
Fast forward to now: I get it. And it’s pretty freakin’ great.
Just Add+ now works on Refined Sites for Confluence Cloud, and that’s a real win for teams building polished, branded Confluence experiences.
And yes, it’s absolutely worth a blog post.
First, What the Heck Is Refined?
If you’re not familiar, Refined Sites is a platform that lets teams customize Confluence into something that looks and feels like a real website.
Think branded support portals. Internal wikis with real navigation. A clean UI that doesn’t scream “this was built in Confluence.”
If your team has ever said, “This content is great but the UI leaves room to be improved,” Refined is an answer that turns that frustration into a better experience.
Why This Update Matters
Just Add+ lets you embed Markdown, GitHub files, diagrams, OpenAPI docs, and more, right inside your Confluence pages.
It’s super helpful for product and dev teams...
...until that content doesn’t render properly on your Refined site.
That used to be the case.
But now, thanks to Refined’s Embedded Pages feature, Just Add+ macros render beautifully. No duct-taped workarounds.
Wait, How Does That Work?
Refined offers an Embedded Pages mode that lets specific Confluence pages be displayed inside Refined using the native Confluence layout, what they call a wrapper view.
That “wrapper” is basically the custom styling and layout Refined adds around standard Confluence content.
Since Just Add+ renders everything inside Confluence itself, enabling this setting allows your:
Markdown
Mermaid / PlantUML diagrams
GitHub / GitLab embeds
Swagger / OpenAPI files
HTML blocks
...to display as expected – styled, functional, and fully visible inside Refined.
Important: There Are Some Limits
This will only work under a specific setup:
It won’t work on custom domains (like docs.example.com), it will work on the default Refined domain (like yourteam.refined.site)
The Refined site needs to be private
These aren’t Modus or Refined limitations. They come from Atlassian’s sandboxing policies around how iframe embedding works in cloud environments.
Still, if your setup fits those criteria:It just works.
Real Use Cases
If you’re already using Refined and Just Add+, this unlocks a smoother, more powerful experience for things like:
Building dev portals with live diagrams and embedded Markdown
Publishing support docs that include real code and system visuals
Creating Git-backed internal wikis with zero copy/paste
Surfacing GitHub or Swagger content directly inside branded Confluence pages
Just Add+ Markdown macro rendering inside a private Refined site^^
How to Set It Up
If you're ready to try this, here’s the flow:
Use a private Refined site on the refined.site domain
Enable Embedded Pages → Refined’s setup guide
Install Just Add+ for Confluence
Add a macro (Markdown, Git, Diagram, etc.) to your Confluence page
View that page from your Refined site
Done. No extra config. Just clean rendering.
Before I sign off. .
I really do think Refined is an excellent tool for leveling up the Confluence experience. If you're not using it yet, we highly recommend checking it out.
If you are using Refined already – we hope you'll give Just Add+ a try and see how it fits into your everyday workflows.
Here are Atlassian Marketplace links:
Thanks for reading!
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