---
title: "Pro Tips"
canonical: "https://support.appfire.com/space/SQL/74318334/Pro%20Tips"
format: markdown
---
> Macro (aura-html)

> ✅ **Have a tip of your own to share?**<span style="color: #333333"> </span>[Drop us an email](mailto:support@bobswift.appfire.com?Subject=SQL%20for%20Confluence%20-%20Pro%20Tip)<span style="color: #333333"> </span><span style="color: #333333">and we will reward you with some SWAG ;-)</span>

Eleven years, day in and day out, into this application, you learn a thing or two. We polled our team and asked them for their **top 5 pro moves** while using SQL for Confluence and here's what they said:

## 1. Start with a valid SQL

<span style="color: #000000">Where possible, test your SQL using a native database client. This allows you to validate and optimize your statements before you use it a SQL Macro.</span>

## 2. Copy + Paste 

<span style="color: #000000">When using SQL macros on a page, it's often easier to copy and paste an existing SQL macro and use it as a template. Save time and ensure that the configuration works.</span>

## 3. Cache for better performance

If your Confluence pages have many visitors, you can drastically improve the page performance by [caching](https://marketplace.atlassian.com/plugins/org.swift.confluence.cache/server/overview) your SQL macro and reduce costly database round trips.

## 4. Use Application Data Source Profiles

For larger environments, we strongly encourage that you configure our app to leverage [application data source profiles](https://appfire.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/SQL/pages/74321534/Configure+Application+Server-based+Data+Sources+-+10.x) and [data source profiles](https://appfire.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/SQL/pages/74321547). Although there is slightly more configuration work, performance improvements can be quite significant.

## 5. The Future is bright

<span style="color: #172b4d">Our favorite pro tip is to leverage the</span><span style="color: #172b4d"> </span>[Future Macro](https://appfire.atlassian.net/wiki/x/kwP4Aw)<span style="color: #172b4d"> for</span><span style="color: #172b4d"> Confluence pages that are busy with one or more SQL Macros or external calls. This macro allows your Confluence users to render some content right away while the server works its magic to present the remainder of the page in its entirety.</span>