Here's what we do: We have a workflow state called "Obsolete". Our workflow allows any object to be moved to that state from any other state. We also have a folder within the repository called Z_Obsolete that contains subfolders for each object type (topics, images, publications, etc.). The "Z" places it at the end of the folder list. 

To make an object obsolete, the writer changes it to the Obsolete workflow state and moves it to the Z_Obsolete folder. This obviously takes it out of the immediate view of other writers.

But there's still the repository search to deal with. Here's how we deal with that: we modified the search UI in both the Publication Manager and Web client so, by default, only objects that are in states other than Obsolete are searched. The user can still change this value if necessary.

Note: I'm not an SDL employee, just a hacker. You can safely fool around with the Publication Manager UI on your local system as I describe below, but when you start making modifications on the SDL web server, you are in danger of messing up your SDL implementation corporate-wide. Consult your SDL rep before making any changes on the server.

Changing in the Publication Manager

For the Publication Manager, we added a default value to the search UI by modifying the MetadataConfig.xml file, as follows:

<ishmetadadataconfig ... >
  <ishfrmdef>
    <ishfrms>
      <ishfrm id'"Trisoft.InfoShare.Forms.Searcher.SearchControl">
        <ishfrmgroup ...>
          <ishfrmfield name="StatusField" ishfieldref="FSTATUS" level="lng">
            <label resourceref="FSTATUS.Label">&amp;Status</label>
            <description resourceref="FSTATUS.Description">Indicator of the progress of the object.</description>
            <typetext assist="yes">
              <valuelist>
                <lovlist ishlovref="DSTATUS"/>
              </valuelist>
            </typetext>
            <multivalue/>
            <fulltextsearchoperator>equal</fulltextsearchoperator>
            <value>Draft, In Review, Ready for Release, Released</value>
          </ishfrmfield>
        </ishfrmgroup>
      </ishfrm>
    </ishfrms>
  </ishfrmdef>
</ishmetadataconfig>

To test Publication Manager UI modifications without risking anything, modify the copy of the file that is stored locally on your system. This file can be found  in \Users\name\AppData\Local\Trisoft\InfoShare Client\num\Config\ClientConfig\MetadataConfig.xml

• name is your login name.
• num is an arbitrary 10-digit number that corresponds to the name of the Local Storage directory used by the Publication Manager. If you have multiple user accounts registered in your SDL configuration, there will be more than one of these, and you'll have to figure out which one to use.

Then restart Publication Manager, and answer "no" to the "wanna sync?" prompt. When you want to return the Publication Manager to its original configuration, just restart it and answer "yes" to the prompt. The original MetadataConfig.xml file is downloaded from the SDL web server.

Of course, to make the change SDL-installation-wide, you'll need to modify the copy of the file that is on the server. On our Web server, it is found in the following location:

\InfoShare\Web\Author\ASP\ClientConfig

Changing in the Web Client

For the Web client, modify the SearchNewGeneral.xml file. This can be found in \InfoShare\Web\Author\ASP\XSL\SearchNewGeneral.xml. Modify as follows:

<ishsearch>
  <ishquery showcriteriaoptions="no" operator="and">
   <ishfield name="FSTATUS" label="Status" level="lng" sort="no" info="Select the status(es)" disabled="yes" assist="DSTATUS" datatype="text" value="Draft, In Review, Ready for Release, Released" operator="equal"/>
 

Restart InfoShare and the change will appear.

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Good luck! And ping with questions.