When you archive a forum post, you can attach an archive note that records why you removed it and, when enabled, sends a message to the people affected. This keeps your moderation decision transparent to your team and clear to your members.

In the platform, archiving is labeled Remove. When you select Remove, the content is archived-it is hidden from members but van be restored any time. Archiving is not the same as permanent deletion.

About the three note fields

When you archive a post, you can add up to three separate notes. Each one has a different audience:

• Internal note — a private note, visible only to moderators and admins on the archived post. This note is saved.
• Note to author — a message included in the notification sent to the post’s author. This note is not saved.
• Note to reply authors — a message included in the notification sent to the authors of any replies you archive at the same time. This note is not saved.

The Note to author and Note to reply authors fields appear only when author notifications are turned on for your community and your account has the extended moderation permission. If you do not see them, you can still add an internal note.

Only the internal note is saved. The note to author and note to reply authors are sent in a notification and are not stored afterward. Keep your own record if you need one.

Archive a post and add a note

Follow these steps to archive a forum post and record why:

1. Go to the forum post you want to archive.
2. Open the moderation actions for the post and select Remove.
   The Remove post dialog opens. It confirms that the post will be hidden from members but can be restored anytime.
3. In Internal note (optional), enter the reason you are archiving the post.
   This note is saved and shown only to moderators and admins.
4. In Note to author (optional), enter a short message to the author, if this field is available.
   This message is included in the author’s notification.
5. To archive the replies as well, select Remove all replies:
   • Leave Notify reply authors selected to tell reply authors their comments were removed, or clear it to archive the replies without notifying anyone.
   • In Note to reply authors (optional), enter a message for those authors, if this field is available.
6. Select Remove to archive the post.
   A Post removed confirmation appears with an Undo option for a few seconds. The post is now hidden from members.

Add or edit a note after a post is archived

You can add a note to an archived post, or update an existing one, at any time. Follow these steps:

1. Open the archived post.
   Moderators and admins see a highlighted Archived on [date] message. If a note already exists, it appears below under Archived Note.
2. Select Add note, or select Edit note if a note is already there.
3. In the Internal note field, enter or update your note.
4. Select Save.
   An Archive note saved confirmation appears, and the message updates to show who last changed the note and when.

Restore an archived post

To make an archived post visible to members again:

1. Open the archived post.
2. In the Archived on [date] message, select Restore.
3. To bring back any archived replies too, select Restore all replies.

You can restore a post only if your moderator rank is equal to or higher than the rank of the person who archived it. If a higher-ranked moderator or administrator archived the post, only someon of that rank or higher can restore it.