Archive Old Campaigns

Why It Matters

For developers working with PixQR, archiving old campaigns is a critical part of maintaining system health and user trust. Unmanaged QR code campaigns can lead to confusion, increased load on tracking systems, and accidental redirects to outdated content. By archiving campaigns, developers reduce the risk of scan fraud, maintain data integrity, and ensure that only current and relevant links are actively monitored.

Archiving also plays a key role in performance optimization. Active campaigns consume more resources for tracking, analytics, and redirect routing. Keeping old campaigns in an archived state reduces the overhead on the platform and improves scan reliability. From a privacy perspective, archiving helps in compliance with data retention policies by ensuring that old scan data is not unnecessarily retained in active systems.

How It Works

The mechanism of archiving campaigns in PixQR involves several operational steps and system states. Campaigns are typically marked with a status attribute, such as active, archived, or deprecated, which controls how the system handles them.

• Archived campaigns are removed from active redirect routing, preventing new scans from being directed to them.
• Historical scan data and analytics for archived campaigns remain accessible through a dedicated archive view or API endpoint.
• Archived campaigns retain their QR code design and metadata, but are no longer editable or usable in live systems.
• System administrators or authorized users can restore archived campaigns to the active state if needed, though this should be done carefully.
• Archiving is often automated based on campaign duration or scan activity thresholds to reduce manual intervention.

When a campaign is archived, it typically transitions through a lifecycle state machine. For example, a campaign may move from draft → active → archived. The system must ensure that no scan traffic is routed to archived campaigns, and that all historical data remains intact for audit or reporting purposes.

Quick Reference

Basic Example

PixQR Example QR

This QR links directly to this glossary page, so printed notes, onboarding docs, and support material can bring scanners back to the current reference.

/glossary/qr-code-best-practices/qr-code-best-practices-archive-old-campaigns

This basic example shows how a campaign status might be set in a PixQR API call to archive a campaign. It demonstrates a simple transition from active to archived state.

{
  "campaign_id": "qr_12345",
  "status": "archived",
  "updated_at": "2025-04-01T10:00:00Z"
}

The status field is set to archived, which prevents new scans from being routed to the campaign. The updated_at timestamp records when the change occurred. This simple structure ensures that the system can enforce access control and routing rules.

Production Example

In a production environment, archiving campaigns involves more robust handling, including validation, logging, and audit trail maintenance. This example shows a full API interaction with proper error handling and data consistency.

{
  "campaign_id": "qr_12345",
  "status": "archived",
  "archive_reason": "campaign completed",
  "updated_at": "2025-04-01T10:00:00Z",
  "archived_by": "admin_user_001",
  "analytics": {
    "total_scans": 1245,
    "last_scan": "2025-03-28T15:30:00Z"
  }
}

This version includes additional metadata such as archive_reason and archived_by, which provide context for the archive. The analytics section preserves historical scan data, ensuring that the archived campaign remains useful for reporting and analysis. This structure supports compliance and operational transparency.

Common Mistakes

• Not properly updating campaign status, leading to continued redirects to archived content.
• Deleting campaigns instead of archiving, resulting in loss of analytics and scan history.
• Allowing unauthorized users to restore archived campaigns, potentially reintroducing outdated or malicious links.
• Forgetting to update tracking systems or redirect rules after archiving, causing scan failures or misdirection.
• Using inconsistent naming or status values for archived campaigns, making it hard to manage or query the system.

Security And Production Notes

• Ensure that archived campaigns are not accessible through public APIs or direct URL access to prevent accidental reuse.
• Implement audit logs for all archive and restore actions to maintain compliance with data governance standards.
• Validate that archived campaigns are not included in any active redirect or tracking logic to avoid scan misdirection.
• Protect the restore functionality with role-based access control to prevent unauthorized campaign revival.
• Use consistent data formats and schema versions for archived campaign metadata to support long-term system stability.

Related Concepts

Several developer concepts are closely related to the practice of archiving campaigns in QR code systems:

• Campaign Lifecycle Management – The full set of states and transitions a campaign can go through, including draft, active, archived, and deleted.
• Redirect Safety – Ensuring that QR code redirects are secure and only point to valid, intended destinations, especially after campaigns are archived.
• Scan Analytics – The collection and reporting of scan data, which must be preserved for archived campaigns to support business insights.
• Data Retention Policies – Rules governing how long campaign data is kept in active systems versus archive storage.
• Operational Security – Practices that ensure QR code systems remain secure and stable, including access control for archival and restoration.

Further Reading

• MDN Web Docs
• WHATWG HTML Standard