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 removed from active lists but data is preserved). On top of that, sessions can be deleted, which soft-deletes the record and removes it from your dashboard (the data is preserved at the database level, but there is no in-app restore).
This page documents what each transition does, what data survives, and how to get it back if you need to.
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 (the system treats deleted sessions as not found). | Hidden entirely (removed from all admin lists) | No in-app restore — recoverable only via support/DB |
Archiving a Session
From the admin session detail page, click Archive Session (or the same button in the host panel's overflow menu). This:
- Moves the session into Archived status.
- Closes any still-active polls and records when they closed.
- Records the archive timestamp on the session.
- Logs the transition to the activity log.
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
Deleting a session from the admin soft-deletes it — the record is marked deleted in the database rather than physically wiped, but there is currently no in-app Trash view, Restore button, or Force Delete action for Q&A sessions.
Deleting
Click Delete Session on the admin detail page (requires the Q&A Delete permission). The deletion:
- Marks the session as deleted with the current timestamp.
- Removes the session from the Q&A list -- it no longer appears anywhere in the admin area.
- Cascades to associated questions, votes, polls, and blocks (they are also marked as deleted).
Recovery
Because the data is only soft-deleted, a deleted session is not permanently gone, but it cannot be restored from within the app -- there is no Trashed filter or Restore button. If you delete a session by mistake and need it back, contact TimelyChurch support; recovery requires database-level access. Treat Delete as effectively permanent from the admin UI, and prefer Archive (which keeps the session and all its data accessible in the admin area) when you only want to clear a session from the active list.
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.
- Compliance / deletion requests: contact support to permanently remove the session and its data, since there is no in-app force-delete.
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 transition (going live, pause, resume, close, archive, reopen, and delete) is logged internally, recording which user performed the action and when. This activity log is captured behind the scenes for audit purposes — it is not currently displayed as a viewable tab in the session detail page (that page has only Overview, Questions, Polls, and Settings tabs). Deleted sessions retain their internal activity log at the database level.
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