Archiving Pages

Backdrop supports two archiving approaches, depending on how you save a page:

Server-side archiving (via the dashboard)

When you submit a URL through the dashboard, Backdrop fetches the page on its servers. The page is processed through a background job queue that generates each format you selected. This approach works well for publicly accessible pages but may fail on sites with bot protection, paywalls, or complex authentication.

Client-side archiving (via the browser extension)

The browser extension captures the page directly from your browser's DOM. This means it can archive pages you are already logged into, pages behind authentication, and dynamic content that is rendered by JavaScript. The extension sends the captured data to Backdrop for storage and processing.

Each archive can include up to four different formats, giving you flexibility in how you access saved content:

• HTML — A full-fidelity copy of the page including layout, images, and styling. What you see is what was saved.
• PDF — A print-quality PDF version of the page, useful for sharing as documents or offline reading.
• Screenshot — A visual screenshot of the page as it appeared at the time of archiving. You can annotate screenshots with ovals and notes.
• Readable — A clean, distraction-free text version of the page content, extracted using Readability. Best for focused reading and searching.

Each archive moves through several statuses during processing:

• Pending — The archive request has been received and is waiting to be processed.
• Processing — The page is being fetched and your selected formats are being generated.
• Complete — All selected formats have been successfully generated and stored.
• Failed — The page could not be archived. This can happen if the site blocks automated requests, requires authentication, or returns an error.

You can check the status of any archive from the Archives page in your dashboard.

When creating a new archive, you can choose which formats to generate. By default, all four formats are selected. You can also set default format preferences in your settings so every archive automatically uses your preferred combination.

Archives that include fewer formats process faster and use less storage. You can always add additional formats to an existing archive later if needed.

All archives are private by default. Only you can see them unless you explicitly add them to a public collection. Archive content is stored in secure cloud storage and is not indexed by search engines.

You can control team visibility for individual archives if your plan supports team features.