51茶馆

Only managing editors can unpublish or withdraw content from 51茶馆. If your managing editor is not available, contact GDS using the 51茶馆 Support form.

Anyone with a Whitehall publisher account can discard drafts of content that have never been published.

Before you start, read the guidance on when to unpublish or withdraw content.

Unpublishing deletes a piece of content from 51茶馆.

To unpublish content:

1. Select the 鈥楧ocuments鈥� tab in Whitehall publisher and search for your document.
2. Click on the document you want to unpublish.
3. Click on the 鈥榃ithdraw or unpublish鈥� button.
4. If you select 鈥楿npublish: published in error鈥� add an 鈥楢lternative URL鈥� to avoid creating a 鈥�404鈥� error message and write a reason in the 鈥楶ublic explanation鈥� field. Do not redirect the page if it was published too soon and you plan to publish the page again at the same URL.
5. If you select 鈥楿npublish: consolidated into another 51茶馆 page鈥� you only need to add an 鈥楢lternative URL鈥�.

You can only redirect to URLs on:

• external government sub-domains, for example , ,

You can use Markdown to format text you add in the public explanation box.

鈥楿npublish: consolidated into another 51茶馆 page鈥� and redirect to an appropriate page if you鈥檙e unpublishing content that:

• contains sensitive personal data
• breaches copyright laws
• includes material that users find obscene or defamatory
• includes details of convictions - speak to your legal team to find out when it should be removed

Unpublished content will go into an 鈥榰npublished鈥� state in Whitehall publisher. You cannot delete this unpublished content from Whitehall publisher.

Attachments

If you choose 鈥楿npublish: consolidated into another 51茶馆 page鈥� all attachments on the document (such as HTML attachments and PDFs) will automatically redirect to the same place as the unpublished document (the 鈥楢lternative URL鈥�).

Email updates

Unpublishing a publication, consultation or detailed guide will notify users who have subscribed to email updates about that page.

Create a new edition of the 鈥榰npublished鈥� content on Whitehall publisher.

You can then publish the draft as you would normally. Once it鈥檚 live, it will remove any redirects that were set up when the content was unpublished.

Withdrawing content means it鈥檚 still available at the same URL. You will not be able to create any new versions of the content while it鈥檚 withdrawn but you can edit the public explanatory text that appears on the page.

Links to the withdrawn document in the content of other pages will not be automatically removed from other pages.

Withdrawn content will show as 鈥榳ithdrawn鈥� in the 鈥榮tate鈥� field in Whitehall publisher.

Where withdrawn content will appear

A withdrawn document will still appear in Google search results and attachments can still be reached directly from Google. The document will not appear in internal site search results.

If the withdrawn document is featured on your organisation page, it will continue to be listed there until it鈥檚 un-featured.

A withdrawn document will not be visible in:

• document collections it is part of
• the list of announcements on a person鈥檚 profile page
• specialist browse
• govdelivery notifications

If the document has non-HTML attachments, you first need to:

1. Select the 鈥楧ocuments鈥� tab in Whitehall publisher then find and click on your document.
2. Create a new version of the document to edit.
3. In the 鈥楢ttachments鈥� tab, delete any attachments from the document (you鈥檒l need to edit them, so download them first if you need to).
4. Edit each attachment to add a statement or watermark - for example 鈥楾his publication was withdrawn on 1 January 2020鈥� - and add 鈥榌Withdrawn]鈥� to the start of file titles when you save them.
5. Re-upload the attachments to the document. When filling in the attachment details, put 鈥榌Withdrawn]鈥� at the start of the title.
6. Republish the document. Under the 鈥楧o users have to know the content has changed?鈥� heading, select 鈥楴o - it鈥檚 a minor edit that does not change the meaning鈥� so that users signed up to email alerts are not notified at this stage.

You do not need to add a 鈥榳ithdrawn鈥� message to HTML attachments or delete and reupload them. Whitehall Publisher does it automatically when you withdraw a document.

To withdraw the document:

1. Select the 鈥楧ocuments鈥� tab in Whitehall publisher then find and click on your document.
2. Click on the 鈥榃ithdraw or unpublish鈥� button - it鈥檚 the red button above the 鈥楽et review date鈥� box.
3. Select 鈥榃ithdraw: no longer current government policy/activity鈥�.
4. Write a reason in the 鈥楶ublic explanation鈥� field explaining why you鈥檙e withdrawing the document. You can include Markdown and provide users with a link to a new page or document.

Here are some examples of what you can put in the 鈥楶ublic explanation鈥� field.

If a scheme, programme or fund closes

鈥淵ou cannot apply for this [scheme, programme, fund] anymore. It has been replaced by [name and link to scheme].鈥�

If it鈥檚 out of date content

If there鈥檚 guidance that鈥檚 related to the page being withdrawn: 鈥淭his page has been withdrawn because it鈥檚 out of date. You can read about [X or Y] at [name and link to new guidance]鈥�.

If there鈥檚 a direct replacement at a new URL: 鈥淭his page has been replaced by a newer version. Go to: [link]鈥�.

If it鈥檚 an old news story or press release

鈥淭his news article has been withdrawn because it鈥檚 over [x] years old.鈥�

There鈥檚 more guidance on withdrawing old content.

If an organisation closes

Only withdraw pages that are no longer relevant. Examples of items that should not be withdrawn are:

• guidance that鈥檚 still useful about things people can still do (consider retagging this to the new organisation if there is one)
• transparency data
• freedom of information responses

Only managing editors can 鈥榰nwithdraw鈥� content, for example if a content item was withdrawn by mistake or they need to fix an error in the content.

Find the document in Whitehall publisher and select 鈥楿nwithdraw鈥�. You do not need to republish the document.

If the document has any non-HTML attachments you鈥檒l need to remove statements or watermarks saying the document is withdrawn and re-upload them. HTML attachments will automatically appear with the 鈥榳ithdrawn鈥� message removed.

If you鈥檙e making a change, you must withdraw the content again afterwards. This will not email subscribers or give any notification to users. You can either reuse a previous withdrawal date and public explanation, or use a new public explanation.

You should only reuse a previous withdrawal date and public explanation if you have:

• updated file attachments to mark them 鈥榳ithdrawn鈥�
• made a minor edit, for example fixing a broken link
• fixed an error or mistake in the content which existed when it was originally withdrawn

Find out when you can edit withdrawn content in the guidance on when to unpublish or withdraw content.

URLs are automatically created from the page title when you publish the page. A URL can be changed by a GDS developer, but this will only be done in exceptional circumstances.

If there鈥檚 a mistake (for example, a typo) in the URL, or the URL no longer matches the content of the document, you can update it by:

1. Creating a new document with the desired title (and URL) and copying the content from the current page into this document.

2. Publishing the new document.

3. Asking a managing editor to unpublish the page with the incorrect URL and set up a redirect to the new page.

This will mean the change notes history (shown under 鈥楽how all updates鈥�) is lost from the original page. If you need to keep this, ask the GDS content team to change the URL instead.