The bin: bringing back what was deleted
Where deleted things go, how to bring them back with one button and when they vanish for good.
What you delete on the site does not vanish at once: pages, news, products, files and entries of other modules go to the common Bin (an item in the left menu). From there an entry can be put back or deleted for good. The module that owns the entry does this work: the bin only gathers everything in one list.
Restore or remove for good
Pick an entry and press “Restore” — it appears where it left from, with everything attached to it. After many deletions the panel offers an undo button right away. “Delete permanently” erases the entry with everything attached; there is no return, so the panel asks you to confirm and names what exactly is being deleted. You can tick entries and restore or delete several at once; “Empty the bin” names the number of entries and also asks for confirmation.
If an entry cannot be removed for good — the module that created it cannot do it or is switched off — the panel says so. Switch the module on and try again.
Accounts
Deleting a person also goes through the bin. If you remove an account from the bin for good, it is irreversibly anonymised and loses access, while historical orders, messages and entries stay without personal data.
How long things stay
By default deleted things stay in the bin until you remove them by hand. If you want the bin to clean itself, set a period in Settings → General → “Keep in the bin, days”: once a day whatever has stayed longer is deleted for good. Zero means do not remove. Deletion goes in portions (up to a hundred entries per module at a time), so a big bin empties over a few days.
Some kinds of data also have their own period. For example, copies of deleted custom sections and fields are kept separately, and digital-product keys in the shop’s bin are erased after the period set in the shop settings.