Disabling stores, products, collections, etc

TL;DR

Click the "Disable" button in a toolbar to disable something:

And then "Enable" to reenable it later:

Deleting versus disabling

Simply put, deleting a thing is a one-way process. Sometimes we are just permanently hiding it. Sometimes it is completely removed from the database. But to you it is deleted permanently.

Disabling is a two-way process. It's your way of hiding something from the public. You and your agents within your agency can still see these disabled things. And of course so can system administrators. But other people outside your agency cannot.

There is generally a hierarchy of disabling that is intuitive. If you disable a store, you can expect the products in that store to also be hidden. If you disable your agency, you are pretty much hiding everything about your agency from the public.

Why disable something?

You'll have your reasons. Maybe you just created your store and have not configured it yet. It's still "naked". You need to dress it up to make it presentable to the public. Same for products, collections, and so forth.

You may choose to hide some things that are seasonal. Maybe you get your Christmas inventory ready months ahead and keep it hidden until it's appropriate.

You may choose to "retire" some old things that you are not yet ready to part with. Or which you want to keep a history of data for. Deleting is more brutal.