If I recall correctly, there isnt a feature to automatically purge older content. But here is a solution that may get you similar results.
1) Go to Control Panel > Forum Settings
2) Click on "Details" next to the forum row you want to manage
3) Toward the bottom, find "Default Topic View (Days):"
4) Select "Active in the last 1 week" for 7 days, or "Active in the last month" for 30 days...etc
5) In the "Default Sort Field and Direction?" field, update it to "Topic Start Time" and "Descending"
6) Click the "Submit Changes" button.
This will not purge the topics from the selected forum, but it will set the default display of the topics in that forum to only the last XX days. And it will sort the posts by TOPIC, rather than by replies.
NOTE:
[*] Users can change their own account settings per forum to show what they choose, or use the forum default settings (what you've selected here)
[*] These older topics can still be found by users when accessing the forum search, unless they exclude those forums or adjust their search range.
Manual-Purging directions:
-As and admin, use the page-jumper in that forum to go to the end of Topic Listing.
-Choose the drop-down arrow from the inline moderation column (far right of the topic list header).
-Choose "Select All Topics".
-Then from the Inline moderation selector at the bottom of the column, choose "Delete Topics" and click the "Go" button.
This will delete only the topics in your selection.
EDIT:
Someone else could probably expand on what I've written - or provide an easier solution. or even a more-correct way of doing it. This is just a quick write-up from my memory of how I resolved my "For-Sale" / "Want-To-Buy" section issues a few years ago. I dont purge those sections, because the discussions in them are useful content. They also keep a paper-trail for if a bad-transaction might happen. But as for the purging you're asking for, at this time my memory is not recalling a built-in easier solution.
Last edited by id242; 08/18/2015 8:28 PM.
