Archive Manager - 'Auto-Messages'

The "Archive Manager" automates the normal "Delete" and "Move" functions that are otherwise available through the Page Manager. The 'Auto-Messages' tab applies to the number of messages in a thread -- if you are looking to limit the number of total threads that can be posted, visit the 'Auto-Threads' tab instead. Here are the terms that this interface uses:

• Archiving: Moving older messages into another subtopic. This is the equivalent of selecting one or more messages in the Page Manager and clicking on the "Move" button. Then, you would scroll to the bottom of the page and select to move the messages into a new subtopic. The net result is a new subtopic of the page on which the messages were originally posted containing the messages you have chosen to archive.

• Pruning: Deleting older messages. This is the equivalent of selecting one or more messages in the Page Manager and clicking on the "Delete" button. This permanently removes messages -- there is no way to "undelete" messages once you have pruned them using this interface or using the Page Manager.

Automatic archiving and pruning, when set up using this interface, allows you to limit the size of conversations on your board (i.e., the number of messages that can be posted in a particular thread). Automatic settings that you specify are processed when messages are posted, meaning that you do not have to log into administration to cause the board to archive or prune messages. Note that when you save the settings in this section, this does not cause your archiving action to take effect immediately. Archiving and pruning will take place in each conversation the next time a message is posted there.

Automatic archiving/pruning of messages explained

When messages are automatically archived, a new thread will be created as a subtopic of the thread where the messages were originally posted. By default, this new thread will be named "Archive through <date>" where <date> is the date of the newest message that becomes part of the archive. The new thread will be marked as an archive (meaning that it cannot be re-archived, and in some skins, its icon will include a paper-clip icon that indicates its status as an archive). Posting within the archive thread is turned off.

When messages are automatically pruned, they are deleted permanently. There is no way to recover these messages, other than restoring your board from a backup to put it at a state before the messages were pruned. Thus, it is extremely important to use automatic pruning with caution.

There is no automatic "Undo" of automatic archiving or pruning. Take care to set up these parameters carefully!

Options for automatic archiving/pruning

To enable automatic archiving/pruning for any topic, change the selection box under "Action" to something other than the default, "No Action." The choices are explained here, with the most commonly used items shown in green:

• No Action: No automatic archiving or pruning based on messages is performed in any threads for this topic.

• Archive by Date: The OLDEST messages in the thread, when automatic archiving is invoked, will be moved into an archive. The number of messages to be moved depends on the number of messages that were already there, and the settings you select for invoke and leave. This is the most commonly used option.

• Prune by Date: The OLDEST messages in the thread, when automatic pruning is invoked, will be permanently deleted. The number of messages to be removed depends on the number of messages that were already there, and the settings you select for invoke and leave.

• Archive in Order: The FIRST messages in the thread, in the order they appear from top to bottom, when automatic archiving is invoked, will be moved into an archive. The number of messages to be archived depends on the number of messages that were already there, and the settings you select for invoke and leave. Typically, board administrators wish to use "Archive by Date" rather than this option.

• Prune in Order: The FIRST messages in the thread, in the order they appear from top to bottom, when automatic pruning is invoked, will be permanently deleted. The number of messages to be removed depends on the number of messages that were already there, and the settings you select for invoke and leave. Typically, board administrators wish to use "Prune by Date" rather than this option.

Setting up "Invoke" and "Leave" thresholds

In the first box labeled Invoke, enter the number of messages that must be present in the conversation in order to invoke the automatic archiving (think of this as the maximum number of messages that can ever be present in a conversation, because when the number of messages on a page reaches this number, an archiving/pruning action will occur).

In the second box labeled Leave, enter the number of messages to leave in the conversation when the archiving/pruning takes place.

Examples

Say you set up automatic pruning by date, invoked at 10 messages, leaving 6 messages. Then, when the conversation reached 10 messages, the oldest 4 (10-6=4) messages would be deleted, and the most recent 6 messages would remain.

If you set up automatic archiving in order, invoked at 5 messages, leaving 0 messages, when the length of the conversation reached 5 messages, all existing messages (5-0=5) would be moved into an archive thread. The original thread would contain the link to the new archive and the "Add a Message" box, but would itself no longer have any messages.