Discontinued assets or documents that you no longer wish to show in the Asset library should be removed. Do not delete them however, as you may want to reuse them again in future. Instead, simply unpublish or archive the asset.

Deleting assets permanently removes them from the system. Therefore, follow best practice asset management protocol and simply unpublish or archive them — so they can later be retrieved, if required.

There are multiple ways to remove an asset from the Asset library:

1. Unpublishing the Asset Version,
2. Archiving the Asset (recommended), or
3. Unassigning all Member Group permissions.

Choose the method that best suits your purposes.
 

Unpublishing the Asset Version

Unpublishing an Asset Version hides it from view in the Asset library and on any other page across the site where it appears.

When to use this method?
When assets are first created, they are unpublished. It’s best to keep them unpublished until they are ready for release. Also, if you want to temporarily hide an asset, simply unpublish it, as all other asset properties, member attributes and asset details are kept intact.

To unpublish the asset:

1. Go to the Asset Version node within the Asset folder of the document you want to unpublish.
2. Click the Published toggle to Unpublished.
    
   
3. Remember to click the Save button.

Note: All Asset Versions within an Asset must be unpublished for the asset (document) to remain hidden from view in the frontend.
 

Archiving the Asset

Archiving an Asset hides it from view in the Asset library^^ and on any other page across the site where it appears.

^^ Please note that there is an exception to this rule. Privileged member groups (usually Editors & Admins) can be given access to these archived assets without logging into the backend. See “Frontend display settings” below for more detail.

When to use this method?
If a previously published asset becomes discontinued and is no longer needed, simply archive it. Archiving tells users that the asset was once available but is now no longer current or in use. It should not be deleted however — You never know when you might need it again! Remember, some Government agencies require you to keep a copy of all asset versions for a period of seven years.

Also, it’s easier to toggle the archive checkbox on/off to hide an asset, than to unpublish all asset versions. Additionally, the asset version number might not give a true indication of which asset was last in use (e.g. asset V6 could have been in use after V7 because V7 was only a temporary release — if you use the unpublish method to hide assets, it may not be clear to the next user that V6 is the latest asset).  

To archive an asset:

1. Go to the Asset node and select the Properties tab.
2. Check the Archive checkbox.
    
   
3. Remember to click the Save button.

Note: It is not necessary to unpublish an asset if you simply want to archive it. Although unpublishing an asset hides it from public view, unpublishing overrides the “Archive” state, so references to the asset will be flagged as “Unpublished” or “Deleted” rather than “Archived”.

If you want to discuss the best method appropriate to your asset management needs, please contact our Professional Services team.
 

Unassigning all Member Group permissions

Removing all member access privileges to the asset also hides the asset from view in the frontend.

One issue with this procedure is that, if you wish to re-enable the asset in future, you need to remember which Member Groups initially had access to the asset.

To unassign Member Group permissions to the asset:

1. Select the Asset.
2. Under the Properties tab, in the Member Group permissions box, uncheck all Member Groups that appear in the right column to the left column.
3. Click the Save button and your asset will no longer appear in the Asset library.
   
   

Deleting an Asset

To delete an Asset, right-click the Asset within the Assets Folder and select Delete. Note that this will delete the Asset and all versions of the Asset.

Deleting an Asset Version

To delete an Asset Version, right-click the Asset Version and select Delete.

Note: We recommend you Unpublish or Archive the asset rather than delete it, as it can be re-published again at a later date. Deleting an asset will move it to the Recycle Bin and it will be permanently deleted when the Recycle Bin is emptied.

Note that items in the Recycle Bin are automatically deleted once they have been in the bin longer than 30 days.

Generally, archived assets do not appear in the frontend. However, privileged member groups (Editors & Admins) can be given access to these archived assets without logging into the backend.

When given access, these member groups will see an additional asset status drop-down list on the frontend.

 
The list allows assets to be filtered by Published or Archived assets.

Please note that you should not give all member groups access to these assets, as they are still downloadable.
 

Enable access to “Archived” assets

To enable Archived image access:

1. Go to the “Content” section.
2. Locate the “Repositories” node.
3. Select Member Group.
4. Select the “Settings” tab.
5. Check the “Can View Unpublished/Archived Assets” checkbox
6. Click Save and publish.

 
Members from that member group will now be able to view archived assets in the frontend via the drop-down list.