Archive and Data Retention
Overview
Q&A sessions in TimelyChurch follow a two-stage end-of-life: Closed (the conversation is over but the session is still in your dashboard) and Archived (the session is ended for good but its data is kept). On top of that, sessions can be deleted, which removes the session and its questions and votes from your account.
This page documents what each step does and what data survives.
Status Lifecycle Recap
The full lifecycle is documented in Q&A Overview. Briefly, the relevant terminal states are:
| Status | Visibility to Participants | In Admin Q&A List | Editable? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Closed | "This Q&A session has ended." Existing questions still visible (read-only). | Yes, in active list | Reopenable to Live |
| Archived | "Session ended." Plain-text page, no question history shown. | Yes — stays in the main list with an "Archived" status pill (there is no separate archived filter) | Read-only. Terminal state — cannot be un-archived in-app |
| Deleted | Same "Session ended" page. | Removed from all admin lists | Cannot be undone |
Archiving a Session
From the admin session detail page, click Archive. This:
- Moves the session into Archived status.
- Closes any still-active polls and records when they closed.
- Records when the session was archived.
Archiving is a one-way, terminal transition — there is no in-app un-archive or restore-to-Closed action. Once archived, a session stays archived. All of its data is still fully preserved and CSV-exportable (see What Survives Archive below), so archiving is safe -- it just cannot be undone from the admin panel. Only archive a session once you no longer need it in an active (Closed) state.
What Participants See After Archive
Anyone who visits the participant page for an archived session sees a simple "Session ended" page. The full question and poll history is not shown to participants in this state -- it is only available to admins.
This is intentional: archived sessions are out of the audience's hands, but admins keep access for follow-up, reporting, and CSV export.
What Survives Archive
Everything. Archive is a status flip, not a data operation. After archive:
- All questions (approved, pending, rejected, deleted) are preserved.
- All votes are preserved.
- All polls and their option vote tallies are preserved.
- All host replies are preserved with their original timestamps.
- The blocklist of participants is preserved.
- The Host PIN and Display Token are preserved (and still functional if an admin opens those URLs, though there's no live audience to serve).
You can still download the CSV export for an archived session at any time -- the Download CSV button on the session detail page works in any status from Closed onwards. See Moderation -> Exporting Session Data.
Deleting a Session
Click Delete session on the admin detail page (or Delete session in the row menu on the Q&A Sessions list) and confirm. The warning reads "All questions and votes will be permanently removed." Deleting needs the Q&A Delete permission. The deletion:
- Removes the session from the Q&A list -- it no longer appears anywhere in the admin area.
- Removes its questions, votes, polls, and blocked-participant list along with it.
There is no Trash or Restore for Q&A sessions, so treat Delete as permanent. Prefer Archive (which keeps the session and all its data available in the admin area) when you only want to put a session away.
Retention Recommendations
There is no enforced retention policy in TimelyChurch. Sessions stay in your account indefinitely (Closed or Archived) until you act. Most churches find the following pattern works:
- Active series (a 6-week sermon series with weekly Q&A): keep all sessions in Closed so they're easy to compare week over week.
- Completed series: archive the lot to clean up the active list, but don't delete -- the data is small and the CSV exports remain available.
- Old / one-off events (a single town hall from two years ago): archive immediately. Delete only when you're confident you'll never want the data back.
- Deletion requests: delete the session. If you have questions about removing someone's data, contact TimelyChurch support.
Data Volume
Q&A data is light. A typical Sunday session has under 200 questions, a few hundred votes, and a few polls. Even a year of weekly sessions occupies negligible storage. You should not feel pressure to delete sessions for performance reasons.
Audit Trail
Every status change (going live, pause, resume, close, archive, reopen, and delete) is recorded with who did it and when. This record is not shown on the session page, which has only the Overview, Questions, Polls, and Settings tabs; contact TimelyChurch support if you need to review it.
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