We often hear about photo requests that are out of date or no longer valid. In some cases a grave photo has been added to the memorial, but the request was not fulfilled or closed. In other cases, someone has reported a problem with the request, but the request just hangs around. These can be a frustration for those of you who want to go out and help with the requests.
We still have some work to do but we recently rolled some changes that we hope will help. These include:
- not showing photo requests with problems in the list unless you choose to see them
- adding the option to remove a problem report you’ve added to a request
- making it easier to select an “Other Location” to see open photo requests in
- looking for photos that may fulfill or have fulfilled requests but didn’t close the request
We also made some changes to how you request photos to try to avoid adding more problem requests in the future. These include checking to see if the memorial already includes a photo marked as a grave photo and if there is any plot information on the memorial and letting the requestor know about those problems if they are there.
We have also begun “expiring” requests that are over 2 years old that haven’t been fulfilled. We’ll keep a record of them, but they won’t appear in the list of requests any more.
We hope these changes will make it easier for those people who are willing to volunteer their time and will make it more likely that photo requests will be fulfilled.
If you have any other suggestions for improving the photo request process, please send them to us at feedback@findagrave.com.
Update: Thanks to everyone for your feedback on the photo request updates. Based on your feedback we have decided not to expire the older photo requests. You should see all the open requests again. We really appreciate all the work you are doing to fulfill those requests.