An archive is a single account under capture — one Facebook page, one X account, one Instagram profile. The Archives page lists every archive you have, and adding one is how capture begins.
Add an archive
- Go to Archive → Archives.
- Choose Add Archive. The dialog lists accounts already connected to CivAll Social that are not being archived yet.
- Select one or more accounts and choose Create Archive.
If the account you want is not in the list, it has not been connected yet. Choose Connect a new account instead in the same dialog to connect and archive it. If your organization does not have CivAll Social, Add Archive takes you straight to that connect step.
Tip
Connecting an account for CivAll Social publishing and archiving it are separate steps. An account can be connected for publishing without being archived, so it is worth reviewing the Archives list against your actual account inventory when you first set up.
What happens next
A new archive does not populate instantly. CivAll Archive first captures the history the network makes available, then settles into ongoing capture of new activity. While the initial pass is running, the archive's Records count climbs as history lands.
How much history you get back depends on the network, not on CivAll Archive. Some networks expose a deep history through their APIs; others expose very little, and capture is effectively forward-only from the day you connect. This is the single most common surprise when setting up, so it is worth setting expectations with anyone who is counting on old content being there.
Reading the inventory
The Archives table gives you one row per archive:
| Column | What it tells you |
|---|---|
| Account | The account being captured, and its network |
| Records | How many records have been captured. Select the count for a breakdown by type, the oldest and newest record, and the number deleted |
| Source health | The connection's standing — this is where an expired token shows up |
| State | Whether the archive is active, paused, or import-only |
| Legal hold | Whether records are held against deletion |
| Actions | Manage, export, pause or resume, and reconnect the archive |
Use the filter box at the top to narrow by network, account, or status when the list gets long. Select a row to open that archive's records in Search.
Reading archive health explains what the Source health and State columns mean and when they need attention.