If you don't want a page to display, you have two options:
- hide the menu item
- unpublish the node
- (You might also just be interested in hiding text on a node.)
Hiding a menu item
Beneath the "Section Parent" autocomplete field on every node, is a "Hidden" checkbox. If you want a page to not showup in the menu, check this box.
However, a hidden menu item is still technically in the menu — that's why the breadcrumb still shows up correctly and the node is available through the my sections interface.
Nodes with Hidden menu items are still accessible on the web and can be found by a user directly entering the URL or coming from a search engine such as Google.
When hiding a node, you cannot assign children nodes to it. Additionally, children of a hidden node are not displayed in the menu, even if they are not hidden.
"Hidden Menu Items" are still in the menu!
This is mostly a note for Power Users.
It is important to remember that just because an item does not show up in the menu doesn't mean that it is not in the menu. Remember that the menu is also used for assigning permissions, setting the URL, and building the breadcrumbs on the page.
Unpublishing a Node
To unpublish a node, uncheck the "Published" check box at the top of the node editing interface. To republish a node, check this box. Note that to edit an unpublished node, you must access it by clicking "Edit" from "My Sections"—you won't be able to browse to it.
An unpublished node is not accessible to the public (including through search engines). This differs from a node with a hidden menu item.
When unpublishing a node, you cannot assign children nodes to it. Additionally, children of a unpublished node are not displayed in the menu but remain published unless otherwise specified.
Deleting a Node
At present, only site administrators have the power to delete nodes. Deleting a page removes the entire history of the page, including all old revisions. During normal site updates, we don't delete the nodes, we unpublish them.
Unpublishing a node is a "nondestructive" edit and has the same effect on visitors (they can't access the node), but preserves the history of the site.
Site administrators (e.g. webguys) normally only delete pages in two situations:
- When a node is created by accident (e.g. an editor accidentally creates a person node for someone who already has a person node in another department)
- Immediately after an annual (or semiannual) archive of the site (because the archive copy of the site will retain the old history of the deleted pages).
If you need a node deleted, please contact the webguys.
Archiving a Node
Some content is outdated or incorrect but should still be on the website as a record. See Archiving a Node to learn more about marking nodes as archived.
