Is there a way to add a delete function for content items only after an item has been archived inside the content explorer? Is there a way to add this in the workflow process or into a content list? I know that by running an unpublish process, the items are left in the archive state inside the explorer, but removed from the published site. I need to take this one step further to delete items from within the content explorer.
You could create a workflow action that removed (or purged) content from a folder. This action would then be attached to each transition to an archive state.
Many implementations disable purge for non-admin users because once its gone, its gone. You lose all history/audit-trail info etc. for the item. However, if you have good reasons to purge then why not.
One thing to be aware (maybe its different in 6.6) but if you purge an item after its been moved to an archive state before its been unpublished, Percussion doesn’t know about the item so cannot unpublish it, and you’re left with an orphan file on the your website, which is probably undesirable.
Perhaps a timed workflow action on the archive state could check the publishing logs to see if the item has been unpublished and only then purge the item…
If you just want to clean up your views in the content explorer, then you could create a custom view which doesn’t select archived items. As David says, this is normally a better option rather than deleting the items.