Past events are hidden automatically on Groundplan sites - typically there is no need to manually archive them, but it is possible and useful in certain situations like annually recurring events.

Search Engine Implications

There can be SEO negatives to simply unpublishing or deleting events if they are not being redirected to new events.  Search Engines tend to not like it when content gets published and then unpublished later. The Groundplan plugin automatically publishes rich event data for those events to help search engines sort those old events - but each event also helps build up search engine reputation and backlinks, all of which help your discoverability.

When you want to archive old events

Follow the rule of thumb: If your audience is getting confused between an old event and a new event, archiving and redirecting old events is a good idea.

Search Engine indexing typically causes a problem when you have an event that reoccurs annually or periodically (e.g. Nutcracker, Christmas Carol, or a returning performer), and the audience tries to find the newer event by looking up an old version - we want those old indexed events to point audiences to the next event from search engines, so that the new event gets the benefit of the search engine ranking that has been built up over time.


Redirecting Old Events to New Events

When you have old events that want to be archived and redirected to a new version, follow these steps:

  1. Edit older versions of the event (for example "/christmas-carol") and modify the permalink to include the year, (e.g. "/christmas-carol-2023" Make note of each old URLs, as you'll want to reuse and redirect these. Tip: The permalink needs to be modified to release the "clean" permalink to your newest event.
  2. Create the latest version of the event, and give it the old permalink (e.g. "/christmas-carol")
  3. Save these old events as a draft, or delete them.  (A draft is safer in case you make a mistake)
  4. Go to Tools >> Safe Redirect Manager.  For each of the old events you have drafted or deleted, create a new redirect from the old address (e.g. '/christmas-carol-2023') to the new address  (e.g. '/christmas-carol').  
  1. Over the next few weeks, search engines will see these new redirects and update search results to point to the upcoming event.