Title: BackBurner Post Archiver Author: techygeekshome Published: August 23, 2026 Last modified: August 26, 2026 --- Search plugins ![](https://ps.w.org/backburner-post-archiver/assets/banner-772x250.png?rev=3661954) ![](https://ps.w.org/backburner-post-archiver/assets/icon-256x256.png?rev=3661957) # BackBurner Post Archiver By [techygeekshome](https://profiles.wordpress.org/techygeekshome/) [Download](https://downloads.wordpress.org/plugin/backburner-post-archiver.1.0.5.zip) * [Details](https://wordpress.org/plugins/backburner-post-archiver/#description) * [Reviews](https://wordpress.org/plugins/backburner-post-archiver/#reviews) * [Installation](https://wordpress.org/plugins/backburner-post-archiver/#installation) * [Development](https://wordpress.org/plugins/backburner-post-archiver/#developers) [Support](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/backburner-post-archiver/) ## Description BackBurner Post Archiver quietly retires old content from the parts of your site where “latest” matters — the homepage, category and tag archives, search results, and your RSS feed — once it passes an age threshold you choose. Nothing is deleted. Anyone with a direct link, a bookmark, or an existing search ranking can still open an archived post exactly as before; it simply stops surfacing in listings of your newest content. This is useful for sites that accumulate a lot of time-sensitive posts (news, deals, version-specific tutorials, event write-ups) where old items cluttering the homepage and archives hurts the reading experience, without wanting to actually remove any of that content or its SEO value. **Key features:** * Set a single site-wide age threshold (in months) after which content is archived * Choose exactly which post types are included (Posts, Pages, Media, Products, and any other public custom post type) * Restrict archiving to specific categories and/or tags, or run it site-wide * Mark any individual post “Never auto-archive this post” to permanently exempt it, regardless of age * Archived content is moved to a dedicated “Archived” status — never trashed or deleted * Archived posts are automatically excluded from the homepage, category/tag archives, internal search, and the RSS feed * Archived posts keep their original permalink and load normally (no redirects, no 404s) for anyone visiting directly * Un-archive any post at any time from the normal status dropdown in the post editor * Built-in Dry Run mode — preview exactly which posts would be archived before changing anything live * Runs automatically once a day via WP-Cron, or on demand with a “Run now” button * A master Enabled switch so the whole feature can be turned off instantly without losing your configuration * Clear “Last run” status shown right on the settings screen **Recommended workflow** 1. Install and activate the plugin — it does nothing until you turn it on. 2. Use Dry Run first, ideally scoped to a single small category, to see exactly what the plugin would archive. 3. Review the Dry Run results and mark any posts that should never be archived. 4. When you’re confident, turn off Dry Run for a normal, real run. ## Screenshots [⌊The BackBurner settings screen — age threshold, post type selection, category/ tag scope, and Run now.⌉⌊The BackBurner settings screen — age threshold, post type selection, category/tag scope, and Run now.⌉[ The BackBurner settings screen — age threshold, post type selection, category/tag scope, and Run now. ## Installation 1. Upload the `backburner-post-archiver` folder to the `/wp-content/plugins/` directory, or install the plugin directly through the WordPress Plugins screen. 2. Activate the plugin through the “Plugins” screen in WordPress. 3. Go to Settings BackBurner to configure your age threshold, post types, and category/ tag scope. 4. Leave “Dry Run” enabled and use “Run now” to preview what would be archived before switching it off. ## FAQ ### Does this delete anything? No. BackBurner never deletes content. It changes a post’s status to “Archived” so it stops appearing in listings of new/latest content. The post itself, its media, and its URL are untouched. ### Will archived posts 404 or redirect? No. An archived post’s permalink continues to load exactly as it did before — full content, no redirect, no 404 — for any visitor who reaches it directly (a bookmark, an external link, or an existing search engine ranking). ### Can I stop a specific post from ever being archived? Yes. Every post has a “Never auto-archive this post” option. Enable it and that post is permanently excluded from BackBurner’s daily run, regardless of its age. ### How do I get a post back out of Archived status? Open it in the editor and change its status back to Published from the normal status dropdown, the same way you would with any other status change. ### Does this affect my SEO? Archived posts keep their canonical URL and continue to be included in your XML sitemap, so search engines can keep indexing them. BackBurner only changes where the post appears within your own site (homepage/archives/search/RSS) — it does not add noindex, does not redirect, and does not remove the post from your sitemap. ### What happens if I turn off the “Enabled” switch? Nothing runs. The daily cron check does nothing at all while Enabled is off, and no previously-archived posts are affected — they stay exactly as they are until you turn BackBurner back on. ## Reviews There are no reviews for this plugin. ## Contributors & Developers “BackBurner Post Archiver” is open source software. The following people have contributed to this plugin. Contributors * [ techygeekshome ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/techygeekshome/) [Translate “BackBurner Post Archiver” into your language.](https://translate.wordpress.org/projects/wp-plugins/backburner-post-archiver) ### Interested in development? [Browse the code](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/backburner-post-archiver/), check out the [SVN repository](https://plugins.svn.wordpress.org/backburner-post-archiver/), or subscribe to the [development log](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/log/backburner-post-archiver/) by [RSS](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/log/backburner-post-archiver/?limit=100&mode=stop_on_copy&format=rss). ## Changelog #### 1.0.5 * Internationalised the whole admin interface. Every user-facing string now goes through the translation functions with the backburner-post-archiver text domain— around 70 calls, where there were two. The post count in the last-run summary uses _n() so it pluralises properly in any language. * The TechyGeeksHome hub page now lists BackBurner Post Archiver itself, now that it is live on WordPress.org, alongside AppGeek, PDFGeek, Ultimate Settings Panel and NeoDark Pro, which were all missing. * Fixed: the DiskGeek link on the hub page pointed at an old announcement post rather than its product page. #### 1.0.4 * Housekeeping only, no functional change from 1.0.3. Added explanatory comments and tidied formatting so that PHPCS against WordPress-Extra, and PHPCompatibility against PHP 7.4 to 8.4, both report zero errors and zero warnings. #### 1.0.3 * Fixed: missing wp_unslash() on three array inputs. * Fixed: replaced a deprecated current_time( ‘timestamp’ ) call. * Fixed: two unescaped echoes. * Fixed: private posts were being stripped from archive listings for users entitled to see them. #### 1.0.2 * Fixed: admin menu was registered at a prominent top-level position; moved to the bottom of the menu near Settings, per Plugins Team review feedback. * Fixed: renamed all functions, defines and options from the generic “tgh” prefix to unique, plugin-specific prefixes, per Plugins Team review feedback. #### 1.0.1 * Fixed: the manual “Run now” button did nothing if the Enabled toggle was switched off. Manual runs now work regardless of that setting. #### 1.0 * Initial release. Configurable age threshold, per-post-type scope, category/tag scope, per-post exemption, Dry Run mode, daily cron run, manual “Run now”, and Archived status with full homepage/archive/search/RSS exclusion. ## Meta * Version **1.0.5** * Last updated **4 days ago** * Active installations **Fewer than 10** * WordPress version ** 5.8 or higher ** * Tested up to **7.1** * PHP version ** 7.4 or higher ** * Tags * [archive](https://wordpress.org/plugins/tags/archive/)[cleanup](https://wordpress.org/plugins/tags/cleanup/) [content management](https://wordpress.org/plugins/tags/content-management/)[evergreen content](https://wordpress.org/plugins/tags/evergreen-content/) [housekeeping](https://wordpress.org/plugins/tags/housekeeping/) * [Advanced View](https://wordpress.org/plugins/backburner-post-archiver/advanced/) ## Ratings No reviews have been submitted yet. [Your review](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/backburner-post-archiver/reviews/#new-post) [See all reviews](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/backburner-post-archiver/reviews/) ## Contributors * [ techygeekshome ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/techygeekshome/) ## Support Got something to say? Need help? [View support forum](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/backburner-post-archiver/) ## Donate Would you like to support the advancement of this plugin? [ Donate to this plugin ](https://ko-fi.com/techygeekshome)