This is part of a series of Tech Tips aimed to assist Orchard users in adjusting to our migration from Invision Board 1.3 to Invision Board 2.0.

Technically, this particular "tip" isn't an upgrade tip at all, but in going over the various board features it seems like it's one we've rarely talked about, and a reminder of it's existance would probably be a pretty good thing.

Inside your PM system, don't forget that there's an option called "Archive Messages".

The Orchard has a pretty good track record when it comes to data integrity. Chances are, as long as you aren't approaching the limits of your mailbox, whatever you've got in your PM box today will be there both tomorrow, and a year from tomorrow.

But it's still useful to back up your mailbox, and the Archiving Tool is an easy way to do that. If you are near the limits of your mailbox capacity, you may want to back things up before you delete them to make more space. You may be a packrat, who likes to keep off-line copies of everything. Or the Orchard may announce scheduled "down time" and it might be useful to have access to that PMed information while the board is down.

Whatever your reason, the actual process of USING the Archive Tool is pretty straight forward. Inside your PM system, simply click on the item on the left labeled "Archive Messages" and you will see a list of options.

At this point, it's just a matter of choosing the "rules" for your Archive (which folder to archive from, how far back to go, a total "cap" on how many messages to archive -- up to 50 per run, and whether or not to delete the originals inside your PM box). Choose a format (Excel or straight HTML) and Archive away...