Retire outdated content
You can either:
- withdraw the content - this keeps the content on the site, but it does not appear in internal search results and there’ll be a banner to it to explain that the content is no longer current
- unpublish the content - this removes the content from the site completely and lets you set up a redirect to current content
Some content can be ‘retired’ automatically. This is called ‘history mode’, which can be applied to certain content if the government changes. This:
- puts a banner on the content to explain that it was published under a previous government
- makes the content appear less prominently in internal search results
If you want to retire mainstream content, you can only unpublish it. Ask the Government Digital Service (GDS) if you want to unpublish mainstream content.
When to withdraw content
Guidance should usually be updated rather than withdrawn. However, you can withdraw and create a new content item if there’s a new and distinct user need.
Other content can be withdrawn if it’s no longer current. For example:
- news articles and press releases that are over a year old
- details about expired schemes and services
- policy papers that are not current or relevant
- content that shows earlier versions of infrastructure plan changes, such as old plans for the HS2 train line route - withdraw eveything but the most up to date plans
Do not withdraw consultations unless you know that a subsequent consultation directly supersedes an existing one.
A broad test to keep in mind when deciding to withdraw a content item is, ‘will leaving it as it is get in the way of a non-specialist user?’ For example, an old policy announcement about a benefit that’s appearing in the search results above the guide on how to claim that benefit.
You can edit content after you withdraw it. You can also ‘unwithdraw’ it later if you change your mind.
If your organisation closes
Only withdraw pages that are no longer relevant. Examples of items that should not be withdrawn are:
- guidance that’s still useful about things people can still do (consider retagging this to the new organisation if there is one)
- transparency data
- freedom of information responses
The guidance on organisation pages explains more about what to do when an organisation closes, including which content to retag to a new organisation.
What happens to withdrawn content
Withdrawing content means it’s still available at the same URL. You will not be able to create any new versions of the content while it’s withdrawn but you can edit the public explanatory text that appears on the page.
Links to the withdrawn content on other pages will not be automatically removed from other pages.
It will not appear on:
- internal site search results
- document collections
- the list of announcements on a person’s profile page
- topic pages
It will still appear in:
- Google search results, and attachments can still be reached directly from Google
- featured link slots on organisation pages if you’ve featured it - you’ll have to un-feature the content separately
The guidance on how to update content on GOV.UK explains how to withdraw content.
When to unpublish content
Content should not normally be unpublished from the GOV.UK website.
However, you can unpublish a page when:
- the content has been included in another page
- the user need is better met elsewhere on GOV.UK
- you published it in error, or before you were meant to
- someone has exercised their right to erasure (right to be forgotten)
- it contains someone’s personal details
- it contains details of a spent conviction
- it’s out of proposition for GOV.UK
- it infringes copyright
- it’s defamatory or obscene
You can republish content later if you change your mind.
Unpublished content will go into an ‘unpublished’ state in Whitehall publisher. You cannot delete this unpublished content from Whitehall publisher.
The guidance on how to update content on GOV.UK explains how to unpublish content.
When history mode gets applied
There’s content on GOV.UK related to the government’s process of policy formation. It’s useful for users to understand the context of this content, which includes whether a previous government was in place when it was published.
For this content, users will see a message telling them the content is from a previous government. We call this ‘history mode’.
History mode is applied to content when:
- there’s a new government, such as after a general election or if there’s a new Prime Minister
- the ‘first published’ date of the content (or the ‘delivered on’ date for a speech) is during a previous government
- it’s a standard content type on Whitehall Publisher which is eligible for history mode
The following standard content types are automatically eligible for history mode if they were tagged to a ‘political’ organisation (such as a ministerial department) when they were first published:
- calls for evidence
- case studies
- consultations
- news articles – this includes government responses, news stories, press releases and world news stories
- certain types of publications – these are corporate reports, impact assessments and policy papers
- speeches – this includes transcripts, draft texts, speaking notes, authored articles and written and oral statements to Parliament
All standard content types can also be automatically eligible if they’re tagged to a minister when they’re first published.
You can add or remove eligibility from all standard content types if you tick or untick the ‘political’ box. This is the box under the ‘Political’ heading you can see when updating content that’s already been published.
The exceptions to these rules are fatality notices and statistics, which are never eligible for history mode.
If there’s a possibility of a new government, affected organisations will be asked by GDS to do a history mode audit of their content. If you’re part of that audit, you’ll need to:
- review what content will go into history mode if the government changes
- prevent content from going into history mode if there is a problem
Managing content in history mode
Content in history mode cannot be updated or unpublished.
If you want to update or unpublish the content, ask GDS to remove history mode.
Content in history mode does not need to be ‘withdrawn’ as well, unless you find evidence that users need a link to a newer document that replaced it.