feat: Implement Archive Chat Button/Feature for Improved Organization and User Experience

[silentoplayz]

Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe.
Users may want to temporarily move chat conversations out of their current active chat list but not delete them entirely.

Describe the solution you'd like
Adding an Archive Chat button would allow users to easily access and review archived chats without affecting their active chat list.

Describe alternatives you've considered
None, as this feature request aims to improve the organization, user experience, and communication management for users.

Interface Design:
Create a clean and simple design for the button to match Open WebUI's existing aesthetics. The button should be easily identifiable and recognizable by its function.

Accessibility:
Ensure that the button is accessible to all users, including those with disabilities. This might involve providing text labels for the button and ensuring proper contrast and keyboard accessibility.

Implementation Details:

Database Structure:
Archived chats could be moved to a new table in the database, allowing for better organization and easier retrieval of data.

Front-end Changes:

• A new archive button for each chat element on click, located to the left-hand side of the chat title for the conversation. This button would allow users to archive the chat with a single click.
• A new "Archived Chats" option could be added somewhere within the Settings menu, accessible by clicking on the username in the bottom left side of the UI. This new Archived Chats option when clicked, would display a list of all archived chats, allowing users to search, filter, and manage their archived conversations.

Back-end Integration:

• Admins would have the ability to control the archive expiration period, setting the duration for which chats remain archived before being automatically deleted or moved back to the active chat list.
• Create a function for archiving chats: The back-end can include a function that moves chats from the active chat table to the archived chat table, updating the chat status accordingly.
• Update the UI with the new status: The user interface would be updated to reflect the new chat status, displaying the appropriate visual cues and options based on whether a chat is active or archived.

Benefits to Users:

• Improve organization: Provide users with more control over their chat history by allowing them to archive conversations they no longer need to see in their active chat list. This will help users maintain a clean and organized chat interface, making it easier to find and manage their conversations.
• Enhance user experience: By providing an Archive Chat button, users can quickly find and revisit old conversations without having to scroll through or search through a large number of chats. This will save users time and effort, improving their overall experience with the Open WebUI platform.
• Streamline communication management: Users can better manage and organize their chat history by using the archive feature instead of deleting or ignoring conversations. This will help users maintain a tidy chat interface while preserving important conversations for future reference.
• Improved accessibility: The new "Archived Chats" option, accessible from the user options, ensures that users can easily find and manage their archived conversations. This will help users quickly locate and restore archived chats, improving their overall experience with the Open WebUI platform.
• Admin control: Admin users will have the ability to control the archiving feature, including managing user permissions and access levels. Additionally, admins would have the ability to control the archive expiration period, setting the duration for which chats remain archived before being automatically deleted or moved back to the active chat list. This will help admins maintain a clean and organized chat environment, ensuring that users can efficiently manage their conversations.

This feature request proposes adding an Archive Chat button to allow users to temporarily move chat conversations out of their current active chat list without deleting them entirely. This will help users maintain a clean and organized chat interface, making it easier to find and manage their conversations. Additionally, an "Archived Chats" option will be added to the user options, allowing users to search, filter, and manage their archived conversations. Admins will have control over the archiving feature, including managing user permissions and access levels, as well as controlling the archive expiration period.

[mherrmann3]

An interim alternative could exploit the tagging system to only show chats without a tag: #1060

[silentoplayz]

An interim alternative could exploit the tagging system to only show chats without a tag: #1060

This sounds like a great suggestion that could work for now until any further changes could be done for deeper integration, if that’s a direction developers want to see taken with the WebUI!

[mherrmann3]

Thanks for implementation! Very useful feature!

A related bug: when unarchiving a chat, the tags are not restored.

[silentoplayz]

Thanks for implementation! Very useful feature!

A related bug: when unarchiving a chat, the tags are not restored.

No need to thank me, thank @tjbck for implementing the features. :)
But I will thank you for pointing out a related bug. It has been noted.

[tjbck]

@mherrmann3 good catch, issue opened here: #1690