How can I archive or delete a topic or pathway?

There may be some cases where you have created some training only to realise that you no longer need it. This article will step you through the differences between archiving and deleting as well as how to archive or delete a piece of knowledge, when required.

Archiving vs Deleting

The first step is to decide if you want to archive or delete your content.

Below is information on both options to help you decide which one is right for you. Please read the details carefully before proceeding to delete any topic or pathway in your portal.

Note: As a general rule, if you're not sure - always archive something rather than delete it as deleting is an irreversible action.

Archiving

You can archive topics and pathways in your portal.

Archiving topics or pathways will remove them from explorer dashboards and disable enrolment options, but retain the content and historical enrolment data in case it's needed again in future.

Explorers will no longer have access to a topic once it's archived, however, creators and admins will still be able to see and edit any archived topic.

Explorers will no longer be enrolled in pathways once they're archived, however, the topics included in the pathway will retain their visibility status (i.e. 'draft' or 'active') and enrolments in those items that are separate to the archived pathway will not be affected (for example, if an explorer is enrolled in two pathways with a common topic, their enrolment in the topic will be retained for the pathway that isn't archived).

Here's a list of everything that happens when a topic or pathway is archived:

The topic or pathway is removed from learner dashboards. Learners can no longer access it, but it remains in their training history.
All notifications, including reminder notifications, are disabled (and no longer sent). If you unarchive the topic or pathway again in future, you'll need to reconfigure notifications.
Internal auto-enrol links are deactivated.
Recertification settings are disabled.
LMS Links are deactivated (not applicable for pathways).
Catalogue rules are deleted. If you unarchive the topic or pathway again in future, you'll need to reconfigure any desired catalogue rules.
Self-registration tokens are deactivated.
Due dates are removed.
Enrolments into an archived topic or pathway that are triggered by a 'Next enrolment' or 'Next certification' automation will no longer work.

Note: Topics that are part of a pathway are not automatically removed from the pathway if archived.

Once a topic is archived, you can change it back to 'draft' or 'active' mode at any time via the general settings for the topic. Similarly, you can change pathways back to 'active' via the or general settings for the pathway. Changes to visibility status can also be achieved using the bulk actions on the 'Topics' or 'Pathways' tab in Knowledge, when you select one or more items.

Deleting

Deleting topics or pathways will delete all data associated with it.

This information cannot be restored once it has been deleted, so only use this option if you do not require any historical information to be retained.

Once deleted it will be removed entirely from the admin area of your portal and explorer dashboards. Data related to the deleted item will also be removed from any reporting it was previously included in.

WARNING! Deleting a topic or pathway will remove all of the data associated with it, including reporting information. Deleted topics and pathways and their associated data cannot be restored. Only proceed to delete items you are confident you will not need again.

Expand the rows below for steps to archive or delete topics, or pathways.

Archiving a topic or pathway

To archive a topic or pathway, follow these steps:

Navigate to Admin → Knowledge.
Select the Topics or Pathways tab, depending on the type of knowledge you want to archive.
Select the checkboxes next to each topic or pathway you want to archive.
Note: You may like to first use the filters or search box to locate specific training you want to archive.
Click the 'Bulk Actions' button and select 'Archive knowledge'.
Confirm you want to archive the topic or pathway by clicking 'Archive topics' (pathways).

A final pop-up will confirm that the topic or pathway has been successfully archived.

Alternatively, you can archive a single topic or pathway via the general settings for the topic or pathway by clicking 'Edit General' and changing the visibility status back to 'active' or 'draft' for topics or back to 'active' for pathways (note: the 'draft' status is not available for pathways).

Deleting a single topic or pathway

If you are confident you wish to delete a topic or pathway, follow these steps:

Navigate to Admin → Knowledge.
Select the Topics or Pathways tab.
Click the title of the topic or pathway you want to delete to access it's overview page.
From the overview page, select 'I want to...' at the top right.
Select 'Delete Topic (or Pathway)' from the drop-down menu that appears.
Confirm you want to delete the topic or pathway by clicking 'Delete topic (or pathway)'.
Further confirm the deletion by entering the text into the text box as requested, then click 'Confirm delete'.

A final pop-up will confirm that the topic or pathway has been successfully deleted and no longer exists in your portal (along with all of its associated data).

Note: Deleting a pathway will not delete the topics within the pathway.

Deleting topics or pathways in bulk

If you are confident you wish to delete topics or pathways in bulk, follow these steps:

Navigate to Admin → Knowledge.
Select the Topics or Pathways tab.
Select the checkboxes next to each topic or pathway you want to delete
Note: You may like to first use the filters or search box to locate specific training you want to delete.
Click the 'Bulk Actions' button and select 'Delete knowledge'.
Confirm you want to delete the selected topics or pathways by clicking 'Delete topic (pathway)'.
Further confirm the deletion by entering the text into the text box as requested, then click 'Confirm delete'.
A final pop-up will confirm that the topics or pathways have been successfully deleted and no longer exist in your portal (along with their associated data).

Note: Deleting a 'Pathway' will not delete the Topics within the Pathway.

Help! It won't let me delete my selected topic or pathway!

There are generally two reasons why a topic or pathway cannot be deleted.

The first reason is that the text to confirm deletion has been entered incorrectly. Check you have typed the text exactly as it is displayed before selecting 'Confirm delete'.
The second reason is that you have the 'Deletion Protection' feature enabled for one of the topics or pathways you're trying to delete. Check the details in our Deletion Protection article to learn more about this setting. This option must be disabled in order for you to delete the training.