Removing a page or component from the website is a two-step process which involves:
Unpublishing the item from the live website (this is the content that visitors to the website see)
Deleting the item from the content tree (this is the item that Sitecore CMS users see)
It is important that they are done in this order to ensure the item is correctly removed and not left visible on the website.
Before you unpublish
Do any other pages link to this one?
Do any campaigns link to this page? e.g. emails, printed media
If the answers to the above are yes then you may need to consider requesting a redirect is configured before unpublishing the page. Get in touch with the Digital Experience Team to discuss before proceeding. This will help avoid broken links being seen by visitors to the website.
Unpublishing the item
Navigate the content tree to the item you wish to unpublish from the website
Select the item and lock it by choosing ‘Edit’ from the ribbon
Select the 'Publish' tab from the Sitecore ribbon
Select ‘Change’ from the ‘restrictions’ section.
A pop up window called 'Publishing settings' will open
Navigate to the ‘Item’ tab and uncheck the ‘Publishable’ check box.
Once unticked select 'OK'
Publish the page as normal
Now try viewing the webpage or component again on the website
The page or component should have been removed
Deleting the item from the content tree
Should you now wish to completely delete the page or component from Sitecore follow these steps:
In the Sitecore content tree select the item you wish to delete
Select either ‘Delete’ from the ‘Home’ tab in the ribbon or right click on the item and choose 'Delete'
You will see a message asking you to confirm you want to delete the item
Press 'OK' to confirm
The item will now be removed from the content tree
Linked items
Removing pages or items that are linked to other pages elsewhere on the site can cause conflicts. If the page or component is linked to from another area of the site, a warning box will show when attempting to delete the item.
Select the action which is most suitable:
Remove links – removes the link from the related page.
Link to another item – provides the option to redirect the conflicting link to another page (for example, if you are removing a duplicate page, link to the original; if deleting a page in favour of an update one, link to the new one).
Leave links – this will leave the broken link in place on the conflicting page.
Items can be recovered from the recycle bin if deleted by mistake. However any links edited or removed when deleting will not be restored to their original state.
