Archived Post Status

Allows posts and pages to be archived so you can unpublish content without having to trash it.

Contributors: fjarrett
Tags: admin, posts, pages, status, workflow
Requires at least: 3.6
Tested up to: 4.3
Stable tag: 0.3.3
License: GPLv2 or later

Description

Did you find this plugin helpful? Please consider leaving a 5-star review.

This plugin allows you to archive your WordPress content similar to the way you archive your e-mail.

• Makes a new post status available in the dropdown called Archived
• Unpublish your posts and pages without having to trash them
• Compatible with posts, pages and custom post types
• Ideal for sites where certain kinds of content is not meant to be evergreen

Languages supported:

• English
• Deutsch
• Español
• Français
• Nederlands
• Português
• Русский

Development of this plugin is done on GitHub. Pull requests welcome. Please see issues reported there before going to the plugin forum.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where are the options for this plugin?

This plugin does not have a settings page. Simply put, I don't like bloating my plugins with a bunch of options.

Instead, I try to develop functionality using the 80/20 principle so that for 80% of use cases you all you need to do is activate the plugin and it "just works".

For the other 20% of you who want things to behave differently there are numerous hooks available in the plugin so you can customize default behaviors.

Many of those hooks are listed below in this FAQ.

Why are Archived posts appearing on the front-end?

This is most likely because you are viewing your site while being logged in as an Editor or Administrator.

By default, any user with the read_private_posts capability will see Archived posts appear on the front-end of your site.

You can change the default read capability by adding this hook to your theme's functions.php file or as an MU plugin:

function my_aps_default_read_capability( $capability ) {
	$capability = 'read';

	return $capability;
}
add_filter( 'aps_default_read_capability', 'my_aps_default_read_capability' );

Can I make Archived posts appear on the front-end for all users?

Yes, simply add these hooks to your theme's functions.php file or as an MU plugin:

add_filter( 'aps_status_arg_public', '__return_true' );
add_filter( 'aps_status_arg_private', '__return_false' );
add_filter( 'aps_status_arg_exclude_from_search', '__return_false' );

Can I make Archived posts hidden from the "All" list in the WP Admin, similar to Trashed posts?

Yes, simply add these hooks to your theme's functions.php file or as an MU plugin:

add_filter( 'aps_status_arg_public', '__return_false' );
add_filter( 'aps_status_arg_private', '__return_false' );
add_filter( 'aps_status_arg_show_in_admin_all_list', '__return_false' );

Please note that there is a bug in core that requires public and private to be set to false in order for the aps_status_arg_show_in_admin_all_list to also be false. There are many bugs in core surrounding registering custom post statuses, so if something doesn't work the way you want on the first try be prepared to do some digging through trac :-)

Can I exclude the Archived status from appearing on certain post types?

Yes, simply add this hook to your theme's functions.php file or as an MU plugin:

function my_aps_excluded_post_types( $post_types ) {
	$post_types[] = 'my_custom_post_type';

	return $post_types;
}
add_filter( 'aps_excluded_post_types', 'my_aps_excluded_post_types' );

Isn't this the same as using the Draft or Private statuses?

Actually, no, they are not the same thing.

The Draft status is a "pre-published" status that is reserved for content that is still being worked on. You can still make changes to content marked as Draft, and you can preview your changes.

The Private status is a special kind of published status. It means the content is published, but only certain logged-in users can view it.

The Archived post status, on the other hand, is meant to be a "post-published" status. Once a post has been set to Archived it can no longer be edited or viewed.

Of course, you can always change the status back to Draft or Publish if you want to be able to edit its content again.

Can't I just trash old content I don't want anymore?

Yes, there is nothing wong with trashing old content. And the behavior of the Archived status is very similar to that of trashing.

However, WordPress automatically purges trashed posts every 7 days (by default).

This is what makes the Archived post status handy. You can unpublish content without having to delete it forever.

Screenshots

Post list table screen

Quick Edit mode

Publish metabox controls

Changelog

0.3.3 - September 12, 2015

• New: Indicate support for WordPress 4.3

Props fjarrett

0.3.2 - March 25, 2015

• Fix: Non-object warnings when $post is null (#6)

Props fjarrett, stevethemechanic, edwin-yard

0.3.1 - January 27, 2015

• New: Added language support for Nederlands
• Tweak: Refreshed existing language files
• Fix: Missing argument warning on the_title filter

Props fjarrett, RavanH, htrex

0.3.0 - January 26, 2015

• New: Added language support for German, Spanish, French, Portuguese and Russian
• New: Users with the read_private_posts capability can now view Archived content
• New: Automatically close comments and pings when content is archived
• Tweak: Allow mulitple post states to exist alongside Archived in edit screen
• Fix: The aps_excluded_post_types filter now works as expected on Edit screens

Props fjarrett

0.2.0 - January 21, 2015

• New: Make archived content read-only

Props fjarrett, pollyplummer

0.1.0 - January 4, 2015

• Initial release

Props fjarrett