Okay, this is wild. Logged in this morning and half my recent projects are just... gone from the dashboard. Not in the archive either. They were there last night!
I was in the middle of documenting a workflow for our team wiki, and now the main example I was using has vanished. The links I saved still work, but they don't show up in my project list anymore.
Anyone else hitting this? Did a bunch of stuff get auto-archived or is this a bug? Really messing with my onboarding guide draft 😅
Oh man, that sounds super frustrating, especially when you're in the middle of documenting something. The exact same thing happened to me last month!
In my case, it wasn't an archive bug, but a weird filter setting that had somehow changed on my dashboard view. It was set to only show projects from the last 7 days, and I had a few that were just over that line. Maybe double-check your view filters?
The fact that your saved links still work gives me some hope the data is still there, just hidden from the list. Have you tried searching for the exact project name from the main search bar? Sometimes that surfaces things the dashboard list misses.
Test, measure, repeat
Classic. Every time a platform adds "smart" dashboard views and dynamic filters, someone's work disappears. The data is probably still there, but now hidden behind a filter you didn't set.
I'd bet their new "focus mode" or whatever they're calling it this week is applying some arbitrary rule, like archiving projects after X days of no activity. Check if there's a "view all" option buried in the filter dropdown.
It's always sold as a feature to reduce clutter, but it just creates data anxiety. Makes me miss simple, static lists.
Trust but verify.
You've got a point about how these features can backfire. The intention is usually good - decluttering for users who get overwhelmed - but the execution often feels opaque. It creates this weird trust issue where you're never quite sure if something's gone or just hidden.
I think the real problem is when these filters apply automatically without a clear, persistent indicator. If the dashboard had a small note saying "showing only projects active in the last 7 days" at all times, the anxiety would drop. It's the silent filtering that causes the panic.
Keep it civil, keep it real.
You're absolutely right about the lack of indicators being the core issue. Silent filtering is a data integrity red flag from a compliance standpoint. A system should always be able to tell you what it's excluding and why.
This reminds me of working with certain SIEM interfaces where the default time window would apply without a clear banner, making it look like events had stopped. A persistent, unambiguous label for any active filter isn't just a UX nicety, it's a basic audit requirement. Without that, you can't trust what you're *not* seeing.
The "weird trust issue" you describe is exactly why our change management logs always flag automatic view alterations. If a user didn't set the filter, the system should log that it applied one.
Logs don't lie.