# Archiving

This guide explains the retention and custody options that appear in Namirial Notify site and user configuration tabs. Use it when you need to understand how online retention, notarial retention, access control, and long-term archive storage are represented in the admin UI.

Configuration defaults apply to web-created transactions. API and web service submissions must send their own values explicitly.

## Where archiving options appear

Archiving and custody-related options can appear in both:

- **Organization > Configuration** service tabs, where values become site-wide defaults.
- **Profile > Configuration** service tabs, where values become defaults for one user.


They can appear under service tabs such as EviPost, EviMail, EviSMS, EviNotice, and EviSign.

## Custody options

Custody option groups can include:

- **Universal message access control** - controls how generated evidence can be accessed.
- **Default online retention period** - default period, in years, during which generated evidence is kept online.
- **Default notarial retention period** - when enabled, a notarial retention period can be applied so evidence is kept in safe custody.
- **LTA Storage** - when available, evidence can be archived in LTA service, shown in the UI as Namirial Archive. See [What is Namirial Archive](/products/namirialnotify/user-guides/namirial-archive) for how this long-term archive works.


Exact availability depends on the service, tenant configuration, and enabled modules.

## Site defaults and user defaults

Namirial Notify can apply retention and custody defaults at different levels:

1. **Site settings** define organization-wide defaults.
2. **User profile settings** can define per-user defaults.
3. **Transaction settings** selected while creating a communication apply only to that transaction.


When the same option exists at more than one level, the transaction value normally takes precedence over the user default, and the user default takes precedence over the site default.

## What to check before changing retention defaults

Before changing custody or archiving defaults, confirm:

- the service is enabled for the site
- the selected retention behaviour matches the organization's retention policy
- LTA storage is available before enabling an LTA-related default
- changing the default should affect future web-created transactions
- existing evidence retention is not assumed to change retroactively
- API or web service integrations are not relying on these web defaults


## Expected result

Administrators understand where retention and custody defaults are configured and can decide whether a change belongs at organization level, user level, or transaction level.

## Related

- [Admin overview](/products/namirialnotify/admin)
- [Site settings](/products/namirialnotify/admin/site-settings)
- [User profile settings](/products/namirialnotify/admin/user-profile-settings)
- [What is Namirial Archive](/products/namirialnotify/user-guides/namirial-archive)
- [Using Namirial Archive](/products/namirialnotify/user-guides/using-namirial-archive)