As you probably know, we’ve been working for a while to update the Find a Grave edit system. We’ve just released an update to the site that brings the latest changes to all memorials on the site and updates pages where you process edits that have been suggested to memorials you manage.
A lot of the important work for these updates is behind the scenes to modernize the code, but it has allowed us to make some nice updates to the process now and will make it easier for us to improve the edit process in the future.
Some improvements you may notice with this change include:
• The ability to suggest edits for all fields, including Bios and Burial Details.
• The option to add a note explaining and providing support for the edits you are suggesting.
• A way to mark the memorial of a veteran.
• An option for members to mark (or suggest that a memorial page be marked) as a Cenotaph or Monument (formerly Memorial Site) without contacting support. To see these options, click “Additional grave marker options” just below Gravesite Details.
• A cancel option on the Suggest Edits page, so that if you change your mind or make a mistake, you can easily cancel a suggestion you have made there before the manager processes it.
• An edit in one field will no longer lock related fields. (Notice the name fields in the image above)
These updates will make it easier to suggest edits, but we know there will still be reasons to contact a manager, so we’ve added a “Contact manager” option that lets you send them a message.
We’ve also made important updates to the Suggested Edits page where you process edits suggested for memorial pages you manage. These changes support the new edit options, simplify the processing of edits and include:
• Options to accept or decline individual parts of a suggested edit.
• A comparison tool for reviewing edits suggested for long text fields like the bio and inscription. This tool includes some different viewing options to help you evaluate the changes and color choices for people with different viewing abilities. You can also edit longer text suggestions in this tool before accepting it by clicking the “Modify” button.
• A quick view of the main grave photo to help you review suggestions. You’ll find the preview by clicking the thumbnail image on the left of the suggested edit.
• Improved search, grouping and sorting options for edits.
You can learn more about suggesting edits from these articles on our support site:
- Suggest Edits and Community Interaction
- Processing Suggested Edits
- Suggest Edits
- Sending Suggest Edits and Notes
This has been a big project and we really appreciate the help of everyone who has given us feedback, helped with testing new ideas or pitched in in any way. We hope you’ll find these updates helpful. If you have feedback or suggestions, please leave a comment on this page.
Just looked at my email, and I have over 20 messages for edits accepted that should have been auto accepted. Not only do they not say they are auto accepted, but they do not appear on my accepted edits page. I can cross them off my list, once I sort out which day of my list they are on because they are not in the order I submitted them. The first email is for an edit I submitted on 5/7 and the second is for an edit I submitted on 5/5.
It looks like they have finally turned auto-approve back on. All of the edits I had which were still sitting in the pending queue from 5/5 and 5/6 are now approved.
I had 3 suggested edits from May 5 approved today. They do appear in my “Suggestions I’ve Sent” approved page.
They intentionally removed the “auto accepted” message from the e-mails. I did like that to identify possibly inactive users, but …
Yes, it’s on but no indication that it was “auto” and not someone pushing a button because there’s no AUTO in the subject line. For some of my edits, I have one email with multiple edits listed and for others I have multiple emails with only 1 edit listed in each one. That’s very inconsistent.
They have previously stated here that there is no longer an e-mail generated when edits are automatically approved.
That’s not true. There is an e-mail generated, it just no longer indicates that it is auto-approval.
Correct. You don’t get an e-mail anymore that states specifically that something was auto-approved.
I am now receiving gender only edit requests where it is clearly discernible if the individual is male or female. Don’t know if this edit field is necessary. Thanks!
From what I understand it will be a searchable field.
I have a problem with finding a reason why even if a photo of said person is posted, is it necessary to post a gender–can’t your eyes tell you that? And secondly, now my work pages, scrolling etc is way smaller and very hard to navigate (for an 80 year old researcher) or know if my mission was accomplished. Sometimes the enemy of “good” is “better”. I’m not all that impressed with the site anymore–maybe time for me to stop adding to it.
I agree with you
These added options are important to fill out because one can now search for males in a certain cemetery or females in a certain cemetery because of that toggle button. Same with veterans you cannot create a way of searching simply because the words are in the bio, or the inscription has a rank or the name is obviously male or female.
One obvious reason for gender is that it is exported to ancestry.
Why did they remove the auto accepted statement? And why has it not been working over the weekend until today? What do we do about an edit for information we ask to be added to the bio that is declined? Who do we send it to next? The Edit folks or the Support folks? Basically what do we do if we get no answers to questions we ask? On the 25th I submitted an edit to a memorial, and then decided to remove it. The memorial does not show up in my list of suggested edits so I can’t cancel it from there. When I edit the memorial, there’s no cancel button for the edit either.
Site seems to be running a lot slower than previously! Yesterday it frustrating!
Where are you experiencing slowness on the site? What type of pages are you loading?
Hi, I’m having a lot of trouble getting my great grandparents transferred over to me. The woman managing is inactive. I did get a response from the team back in January, but they said “Aunt.” I did make it clear it was my great grandparents. I haven’t been on here long, but they would automatically go over if there was no response. There’s no option to transfer. Will it stay this way?
Please reply to the email from our support team. It sounds like a mistake was made. They will help you with the transfer of your great grandparents.
I like the idea of the new way of requesting changes to existing memorials. I just made my first suggestion today and will wait to see the result before I can say that it is definitely a good idea!
Thank you for the improvements. But I wish that when we edit a page to make suggestions and there are already pending suggestions that it would show us who had suggested them.
I review all the photo requests for my local cemetery and sometimes I notice that somebody else has already done it but suggested incorrect information. The one today was easy, I know the page manager so I messaged him to let him know a suggestion was incorrect. But if it was a manager who pays no attention to suggestions I have to wait 3 weeks for auto approval and then suggestion my own edit. So I end up having to set reminders for 3 weeks out.
If the page showed us who had suggested it I could message them directly and let them know of the error so they could cancel and fix it.
Is the accepted edits page not updating for some reason? I received email about 2.5 hours ago and one about 1.5 hours ago saying edits were accepted, but my accepted edits page is not displaying either of them.
I have created several memorials over the last two days, with photo requests and they don’t show up.. no edits through either direction.. I have to believe that they will show tomorrow.. many websites update at midnight..
Something is wrong with the site. Edits approved overnight show in the individual memorials but. It in the list of names for the cemetery. Something is definitely screwed up again.
Thanks Reid, we noticed this too and fixed it right away over the weekend.
Memorial posts are not showing up in my “Added” list on my profile page. I have added numerous memorials before I realized they are not showing up in my “added” list and if the date “2023” –Date created option is selected, no memorials posted since May 29, 2023 4:02:35 AM are showing. Does anyone know why? Will the memorials eventually show up or will all the memorials I created be lost?
I added a few memorials today, too, and they go through as completed but then immediately disappear when you go to look for them as if they were never created!
We noticed this too and fixed it right away over the weekend.
Found and issue on mobile phones that the ‘sorting’ bar containing SELECT ALL gets removed. Appears fine on tablet and larger screens.
I do not like the “new and improved” edits section. The accept or decline is automatically checked on the next request after I process the request above it. Makes for mistakes.
We haven’t been able to duplicate other boxes being checked after processing a suggested edit. If you are still experiencing this please send an email to support@findagrave.com along with screenshots and details, such as device and browser/version. Thank you for your help.
Let me try to explain Jenny’s report of check boxes left after processing (which I reported days ago):
Select a subset of the suggested edits.
Check the first one in the list to approve.
Select the “Accept Selected” at the top of the page.
When the subset is redisplayed, the one approved is gone, of course, but now the new one at the top of the list will have an “accept” check mark.
In general, the error is, that after doing the top of page “Accept Selected”, the previous check marks are attached to the remaining edits in the same relative position.
May 29,2023
I like to have never got it to take my edits. Something is wrong.
Mary
We were able to test and send a suggested edit to a test memorial. You can see this in Suggestions I’ve Sent. Please provide more details of what you are experiencing and we’ll look into this further.
I have the same problem. It make approving edits very time consuming. When will it be fixed?
The page for searching for pending edits has multiple options for the range that needs to be searched. However, that is unnecessary because the range is from right now to 21 days. After 21 days edits should be auto accepted. We are all very used to edits not hanging around after 21 days, and the range for searching for pending edits contradicts that.
Ideally, yes. But as of now, for the third time since the updates, they have turned off the auto-approve.
Please tell me how I am to accept suggestions when there is no way to select it???
Hi Rebecca, you should see an Accept or Decline as well as checkboxes. On the website you can Select All. If you are not seeing this in your Suggested Edits queue what device and browser/version are you using?
What’s going on with the server that provides information on pending edits? I have submitted edits to about 23 memorials this afternoon and almost none of them appear as pending edits. I just received email that 2 had been approved, but they never showed up as pending.
Why I am unable to do a browser reload of the pending edits page to add to the list of pending edits?
Please remove the male/female selection
Now we have people who are taking it upon themselves to send m/f corrections
This field doesn’t need to be there.
I have 275 corrections in my edit box since Friday alone.
Veteran’s tag, can you also change that to have that selection to go right through instead of having it be a correction ??
Again we have members making it their life job to mark them all, a lot of people like to preview the edits sent to them.
275 corrections is a an awful lot for 3 days.
Veterans’ designations should not be automatic. I have seen lazy people not paying attention in the memorials that they manage and applying the tag to wives and children.
Just a quick reminder, please there are many of us veterans, that are also wives. Don’t decline an edit just because we are wives. Also, Fold 3 is missing a lot of information on us in part because of the 1976 fire at the Saint Louis Repository.
That certainly wasn’t the suggestion or implication.
But there are MANY wives buried in national cemeteries who weren’t the military. These “collectors” with tens of thousands of memorials are being lazy and just applying the tag to every memorial they have in the cemetery.
I saw two tags yesterday for infants who were less than a month old.
That’s what I’m talking about, I have a person that is taking it upon himself to do this, I’m quite sure there are many others but they can get rid of the male/female one for sure
I’m talking about people who have done this to the memorials they manage. Then they get upset when you send an edit and explain that there’s no way a 6-year-old child served in the military.
I do not think that updating male/female is the intention of all those people. I know that as I am going through checking the status of all of mine for errors, the only thing that sometimes ends up being missing, is the male/female edit and at that point if I’ve reviewed the memorial, I might as well send the edit.
I like it. I see a lot of thought went into this.
Since the new updates were added for edits I have received zero suggestions for edits. On average I work on 5 or more edits every week so this is very unusual. Are the edits not showing up? Will they automatically be accepted after 21 days even if I never received them. Have others experienced a similar problem
We haven’t had any other reports of this occurring. We also don’t see any edits sent to you that haven’t already been processed. You would receive the edit and it would show up in your Suggested Edits queue first. Then after 21 days it would be automatically accepted, unless the edit was declined.
Why do the age and place of birth and death not appear on the memorials anymore? I see the age listed on a few but most no longer have it.
We haven’t been able to replicate this issue. What device and browser/version are you using?
My laptop and I use Chrome
Ellen, will you please send a screenshot and details to support@findagrave.com? Then we can look into this further and see what might be occurring. Thanks for your help.
And what to do if said manager is no longer getting online and accepting edits for other reasons? If suggestions or edits are available but not accepted or declined for months or years. When your family members info is incorrect, with no way to change?
The suggested edits will be automatically accepted after 21 days, if the edit is not declined by the manager. You can learn more about requesting to manage family member memorials on our support site.
Didn’t feel there was anything wrong or “broken” with the previous way we handled edits so not happy it has been “fixed”. Will take time getting used to the new way. Do like the veterans button and icon, though.
The old way was a disaster when people had the wrong cemetery or had definite errors in biographies. There was no way to actually submit an edit, and they could just ignore the “Suggest other corrections” messages.
I was under the impression that “suggested edit” meant just that, I am notified of things that may need changing and I make them if they are warranted and not that anybody can change things in my memorial without my knowledge……. If that’s part of the updates, I am not a fan! If that is a mishap, who do I contact to let them know there’s a hitch in the process?
Just because the information is different from what somebody else has, doesn’t mean it’s wrong. If I have credible sources, and they do not, my information should stand as entered. I realize this is a shared information platform, but if anybody is able to change any info they deem incorrect, you will not be able to trust any of the input……….
We added the option for a member sending a suggested edit to add a note. If the information you have is different than what another member has sent you, you’d decline the edit and share your reasoning. Alternatively, you could add both sets of information and the sources to the biography. Then people would know there was a difference in the historical record.
The problem has been with people who have ignored legitimate changes and documented corrections. In the old way, there was no way to submit that other than a “Suggest other corrections” message, and those could be ignored.
Reid – This is off this topic but we “spoke” the day before yesterday about “inactive managers”. I sent an email to the Support Team and they replied in less than 24 hours and made that manager inactive and took over the memorials. I now can request to manage some of that person’s memorials who are family. Just thought you’s like to know how fast.
Glad to hear that. Unfortunately, many of the folks I’ve seen are “active” creating and adding to their tens of thousands of memorials. They simply ignore messages and, as a result, ignore legitimate edits.
So true.
AGREED! it’s a huge problem… I just sent this with an edit this am.. : I do expect you to accept the edits I send to you. It is part of being a contributor to this website. You have been in the habit of not adding the info I have sent for quite some time now. I have kept every email for every edit.
I you don’t have time or whatever your reason is, please consider transfers if you are not going to add the info.
Just because you might not think it is important info, doesn’t give you the right to refuse it; as the info is allowed per findagrave.
Agree! I get edits for place of birth all the time, and they more often than not are incorrect.., this has forced me to use d/c’s and Military Registrations more than needed, much more than I like.. but resolves any conflict with someone’s edit based on SS index, or obit.. in the end is ayves tons of time..
If I have conflicting info (place of birth, etc.) I always put a note in the bio of my memorials stating “Obit states place as XYZ, death certificate states ABC while marriage app states RST”. That way whoever can make up their own mind about which is correct. It all depends on who gave the info at the time. Obits and death certificates are notoriously incorrect since someone else gave the info. I “tend” to believe the marriage app since the person surely knows where they were born.
It is scary how many folks on Find A Grave consider an obituary as absolute factual information.
In genealogy, you have to have an open mind and think outside the box. It isn’t all or nothing. I have some memorials where the family changed the spelling of their surname from the parents, etc. I even have an aunt who has three different dates on much of her info. (She changed her birth year to suit the occasion!) Even her obit says she was 72 but the dates in the obit don’t calculate to 72! She was born in the middle of 12 siblings (which came pretty quickly every year) so she couldn’t possibly be born in 19XX when her siblings before and/or after her were born in the same year!
Thanks so much for the update on the edits section. Great improvement.
I don’t understand why people insist on “fixing” what isn’t broken. Please quit making things more complicated than they actually need to be. Some of us are elderly and just as we get used to a certain way of doing things, someone feels the need to change it.
Unfortunately Mary, the world keeps changing, and those of us who are older have to keep up or we are out. It’s a sad reality.
I understand the world changes and that’s okay. However I have spent many years researching etc and adding memorials of family but it gets frustrating to have unrelated folks adding obits, news articles, etc. because I may not have gotten to it yet. The process of keeping a memorial updated may be find but maybe I just haven’t done it yet or set an obit as more important than some other info. At least they could have the courtesy to email me and ask permission first??? And it is especially frustrating when I pay to “sponsor” a memorial and someone else adds photos, etc without asking.
replying to James Frary and those frustrated with strangers managing their families memorials. you have to 1st understand what this site is all about.. it’s not about YOUR family.. its about everyone’s families. and YOU are not the only relatives that your family has.. FINDAGRAVE is a COLLABORATIVE website; Collaboration is working with each other to do a task and to achieve shared goals. It is a recursive process where two or more people or organizations work together to realize shared goals. it’s not about you or I, .It’s about the “greater good” ..
I sent a request to manager of Memorial for Delazon Centennial Conley..I knew Del.. my Great Uncle.. never received a reply.
I had requested transfer of Memorial to me..
It looks like the transfer was made as the memorial is under your management.
In the comment within this forum that I posted of May 25 I asked that you
“Please inform us of the timeframe for making Gender a searchable field.”
So, what’s your plan?
To note, I want to search my own memorials for any that have a blank gender-field so I can then do my duty to record the proper information. Searching is called for not just for “M”, “F” or any other gender-identity you might add to your site in the future, but also for a blank field.
Please reply.
As a memorial manager, I am going through Suggestions Sent To Me. There is no longer a box at the top of the page for Select All. So with the 60 suggestions I have today, I have to Accept each one separately. I am using an iPad Air 2 Pro 9.7” 6th Gen.
Thanks for your help.
Jean Lewis
Hi Jean, thanks for writing in. We are working on adding the Select All button to mobile devices.
I have been updating all our information on the Newman Cemetery in Fisher County, Texas. Our Veteran Page and Interment Pages have been brought up to date.
NewmanCemetery-fisherco.com
How do you send a request to tie a father buried in one cemetery to a son buried in another cemetery. They are both on Find a Grave but not linked together.
Hi Peggy, here is an article from our support site that explains how to link family members.
I dislike the new format…listing all the edits to 1 memorial is now cumbersome and lengthy. Go back to the 1 line per memorial and if we need to see what is suggested, have a button to check. Seeing pages and pages and pages of edits for 10 or so changes is ridiculous. please streamline the process |
I really like that I can add family members without FG locking the whole thing, but unfortunately the app still works like that. When will that get updated?
While the new system generates a TON of separate edit requests, it’s something that I can get used to. I can clear a lot of them at the same time when I check them for accuracy. I appreciate that a lot of work has gone into this. Could Find a Grave PLEASE consider giving custodians the ability to delete unnecessary/redundant photographs that have been placed on memorials? At present, only the person who placed the photo can remove it, which is especially difficult if that person is inactive or has died! Thank you.
No way! It is not right that you get to delete someone else’s images and contribution to the site. I can never see FG doing this as there are people out there that would delete stuff maliciously.
There needs to be a way to remove multiple copies of the exact same photograph. Messaging the person who added the duplicate photo doesn’t get it done; they just ignore those.
I have come across two memorials in one cemetery I work on where the USER has posted pictures of themselves in the memorial, and there is no indication whatsoever that they’re related.
The memorial manager can reorder the photos, choosing which to have up front.
Upon request the FindaGrave staff can remove inappropriate photos.
This is all covered at
https://support.findagrave.com/s/article/Questions-about-Photos
No there doesn’t need to be be a way to remove someone else’s contribution just because you think you’ve taken a better one. A picture is a moment in time and older images show how headstones deteriorate and graves change. Each contributor can add images to a memorial – its in the guidelines.
I’m talking about two, three or more of the exact same copy of a headshot from the obituary. Don’t read more into it than what is there.
I delete my images all the time.. mostly because the spouse died and a nEw pic was added. or someone added a new one that is better than mine. sometimes I remove it in order to edit it.. because its too dark, and add it back..
Patricia – There is no time limit on how long you are managing the memorial to how much info there is on it. no on is required to add any info.. I have accepted management of thousands, some that are 15 years old and never had any info added..
No. I understand what you’re saysing, but no. There are too many who don’t understand it’s a virtual visit to the gravesite, complete with views of the headstone at different angles which show different details and perspective, where they rest among other markers on the lot, and views of the background in various directions. I’ve heard people say one photo that shows dates is enough (even if one can’t even see the whole marker). They would delete all those wonderful pictures that someone took a lot of time to download, crop, enhance, label and post.
I have no objection to other views of a stone or cemetery or updated ones when a new stone is placed or one has fallen, but I would like the ability to remove inappropriate documents added to my memorials (or report other memorials with inappropriate docs). I have had people add draft cards and obits (many of which include the names etc for living people and/or may be under copyright – I can redact or rephrase in a bio section, but I can’t do that with a pic!) and the worst one of all, death certificates/records (which quite often have gory details) as the profile pic on a memorial. You don’t find death certificates hanging on stones in real cemeteries so it doesn’t seem appropriate for the virtual one either. I should at least have control over my own memorials for family. These docs are fine on an ancestry tree but not on a grave!
You can report inappropriate additions as photos by sending the information to edit@findagrave.com.
Thanks for the link, Reid.
You could politely ask the person who posted it to remove it. If they don’t within a reasonable amount of time, then report it.
Do that every time.
Every time, the message was ignored.
I have noticed that if there is a merge (and both were in the same cemetery with photos) that F-a-G posts all the pictures to one and sometimes there are more than one of the same photo.
One did remove some pics I requested removed, but at the same time created a duplicate memorial with even more pics. When I merged the two she ended up with more pics contributed to my memorial than the max 5 that I contributed. I had to ask her to remove some a second time. All other requests have gone unanswered (not even with a “no”!).
If they have not responded after 30 days, you can forward your copy of the message to Find A Grave and ask them to remove it.
I “partly” agree. I suggest that Findagrave somehow put another “section” on the memorials for documents like draft cards, death certificates, etc. I like to see as much information as possible about the person but I don’t like a death certificate “out there”, especially if that’s all there is.
I think the docs shouldn’t be in the photo section, perhaps in the bio section where you can put a link to the doc on Ancestry or can paraphrase and tell where the info came from for those who want to read more. I have a great grandfather hit by a train and the goriest obit among several is the one someone added as profile pic! There are death records for twins who died playing with matches in gory detail. etc. A draft card for a catholic priest etc. It just isn’t the way I want to remember them on a memorial site. It seems like it should be more of a virtual cemetery – quiet, peaceful, respectful memories.
I’ve always rejected “gory” info because the world has enough of that already, and that was only a moment in that person’s life. Yet I find that obit and stories attached because I refuse. The dead can not speak for themselves, and families don’t want to live in that moment, It was also one of the reasons deaths from executions memorials were removed or locked in the past and contributors that specialized in these kinds of memorials were “talked” to (not sure about current practice).
It is a standard that not everyone selects.
So, you’re saying if I attach them first others won’t?! At least then I can put them in the bio section and paraphrase, but usually someone beats me to it as I’m a bit new at this and do dates and places etc first and then come back and add pics etc.
The main thing to realize is as the memorial manager you can define the order of the photos. Up to twenty photos can be added but only the three highest priority photos appear in the ‘Memorial” view. The others only appear in the “Photos” view. Look the the “Photos” view and you will see “Arrange Photos. Play with that; add several photos and learn how it works.
Place three acceptable photos as the highest priority.
Other users influence what happens when they place a new photo by designating it as Grave, Person, Family, Other but you can later go back and arrange as you desire.
Reference
https://support.findagrave.com/s/article/Sort-Photos
Perhaps they can add another section labeled “documents” like the flower section so the documents don’t show up in the photo section as “other” like they do now. That way others can see them if they want. Lots of us here don’t know how to make links and if the link gets moved or broken you lose the document. One contributor I’m “friends” with says he puts the death certs up for those who may want to know if there’s a family history of certain diseases or other genetic factors.
Cause of death and genetics seem more appropriate to your DNA sites or your ancestry tree than in a cemetery site, in my opinion.
100% agree. I recently encountered two memorials with detailed news articles as the o, describing to murders of the deceased individuals (one being a mother and her 8-year-old child).
While some here apparently enjoy that type on comments here, Find A Grave agreed it was inappropriate and removed it after 30 days of no action/response from the creator.
I like to know their cause of death but I don’t need the gory details posted here. I keep that info in my database for my own personal knowledge. The older death certificates sometimes describe things “too much” for here because that’s how they did it. And the media (news articles, etc.) hasn’t changed all that much. They like to sensationalize murders, suicides, car accidents, home fire, etc. I’m a “to each their own” person. It’s your memorial so you can have whatever you want on it (unless FG objects.)
You can add some pictures of your own so as to push the current photos off the main view. Even if your images are simply blank and provide some white area, it’ll be better than the advertising that will otherwise appear.
The next managers of the memorial might appreciate having the primary source information that disturbs you as they try to fend off incorrect suggestions in the future.
I Agree Pat..However, I use draft regs. and birth certs for memorials that have nothin more than a pic and dates, you have to be able to prove who it is; and how you got there, somehow.. I get edits for places of birth and death that are based on obits, or “family knowledge” or ss records..
Birth records are fine, draft cards not as much (I have many with the wrong year of birth – someone couldn’t do the math when given a person’s age). It’s really the obits and death records (which are not primary sources and are TMI) I object to.
You might want to read
https://support.findagrave.com/s/article/Questions-about-Photos
The different limits on size & number of photos is at the top.
If you have more than 5 pictures and you don’t want to sponsor the memorial try learning about simple photo apps for your phone, tablet or computer that let you combine pictures. Such apps quickly take 2 or more photos, arrange them per your instructions horizontally, vertically or in a grid and then generate a new image file that contains all the selected photos. Post this new image file and you’ll only take up one of your 5 slots. (Review the image file size mentioned in the above reference.)
Draft registration is normally off a year or two due to lying about their age in order to serve.. many of the musicians were even younger than 18
The main primary sources for genealogists are all the vital records: birth, marriage, and death records. Every single one of them can be erroneous for various reasons. For example, in some places there was a penalty for reporting a birth after a certain number of days, so the parents often lied about the date to keep from paying the penalty.
FindAGrave is not a Genealogy site. It is a site that documents final disposition. So essentially many things are just not appropriate to post. Especially when they can be obtained from other sources.
100% on this.
I honestly think there are folks using it for geneology purposes rather than paying for Ancestry, etc.
Since Ancestry now owns the site, my first thought on this issue was that they would not want vital records posted on it. And since they do own it, it would appear that they do know that it is a genealogical site.
What some people use it for and what it’s intended for aren’t automatically the same thing.
Certainly, Gail. I’m not debating that point. The remark I was responding to was that death records are not primary source records.
Findagrave has morphed into more than just a grave reg. site. Not everyone can afford ancestry. There are some who believe that cremations don’t belong on findagrave..so many opinions, so many barstools..so little time to get documented.. There are alot of burials that have no info. One has to be able to identify who is in that grave.and that requires using genealogy to figure that out. Getting these people out of the dusty file rooms and out on findagrave so their relatives can find them.. I strive to complete the memorials I manage so their families can find them. You don’t have to be family to research someone.
How a relatively few people choose to use Find A Grave doesn’t mean that its intended purpose changes.
It’s also amusing that everyone’s definition of “complete” is different. For some, it’s clearly far beyond the intended purpose of this site.
Well apparently, findagrave allows the documentation via birth certs, military regs.. etc. When you get admin to quit allowing documentation of the graves, let me know.. no one can find Joe.. who died in 1867 in Oregon. But he has a marker.. with his name on it.. wouldn’t it be great if his family was able to find him? due to someone finding a death cert, newspaper article, etc. otherwise he would sit on findagrave for decades, never being identified..
We’re not talking about “documentation” of graves.
Birth certificates, military service records and marriage certificates aren’t “documentation” of graves. Obituaries often aren’t either.
” … no one can find Joe.. who died in 1967 in Oregon., But he has a marker .. with his name on it.. wouldn’t it be great if his family was able to find him?”
It would absolutely be “great” for Joe’s family or anyone who knew him to be able to locate his grave. THAT IS the purpose of this website.
It doesn’t help anyone “be able to find him” by posting a photo of his newspaper obituary or posting his entire personal history in the bio section (such as every word from Joe’s birth certificate, draft card or marriage license). Can those things be helpful? Absolutely. You can confirm a date and location of birth. You can confirm name of spouse. You can confirm military service (if applicable). But those things don’t have to be posted to make the memorial “complete.” They’re just sources of information that can help the creator fill designated spaces on the memorial.
It doesn’t help anyone find Joe by listing every son-in-law, daughter-in-law; grandchild and great grandchild’s spouse in the bio section either (I won’t even get into the fact listing the names of living relatives is against the site’s guidelines, despite what some users here claim).
It doesn’t help anyone find Joe by posting the text of newspaper articles that go into explicit detail about how Joe died.
You have the correct name, correct date of birth and correct date of death on the memorial? You have the correct cemetery? You have any identifying information to help locate the grave? Bonus points for a photo of the marker and the inscription (if there is one).
There you go. The grave is locatable for the family and friends, and the purpose of the website is fulfilled.
Extras that can be helpful? Linking to the memorials (hopefully also with all of the correct information) for Joe’s parents and spouse (if applicable).
A memorial isn’t “incomplete” because the creator/manager doesn’t re-post the entire obituary from the funeral home or the newspaper that is typically available online somewhere if the creator/manager can find it in the first place. It isn’t “incomplete” if it doesn’t list every member of the extended family.
No one said it was. That is your opinion Reid. As long as admin allows them, you will see them throughout findagrave.
You totally ignore the point and clearly just want to argue.
It hasn’t been just a gravestone registration site for a long LONG time, which is what propelled Find a Grave to success. Change happens in all things. We flow with change, or get left behind and grumble about it.
LOL. OK.
No one is “grumbling” about anything except those who expect every memorial to have every single detail and a word-for-word copy of every piece of documentation as part of the memorial.
No one is “grumbling” except those who want to ignore the rules and guidelines of the website for their personal preferences.
“”No one is “grumbling” except those who want to ignore the rules and guidelines of the website for their personal preferences.””
Reid, you have been grumbling for a week so, about contributors who in YOUR opinion aren’t following the rules..You might not meant it to be grumbling, but it came across that way.
How about let’s all just agree to disagree, manage our memorials, and let findagrave admin. deal with those of us who aren’t following the rules to Admins expectancy. Which releases Reid from continued “grumbling.”
The site allows us to create memorials based on obituaries, when they it gives the final resting place and or memorials can be created for cremations and lost at sea and other scenarios. I don’t understand the first part where you describe birth records being used to create memorials?
Lastly, if Joe has a marker in Oregon, why wouldn’t you be allowed to create a memorial?
Find a Grave has gone to a lot of trouble to improve the ability to suggest edits as is evidenced by this page designed to promote the improvements. That’s great, but unless you’re the one suggesting edits or the one accepting those suggestions, how is anyone else going to be aware of these edits?
You’d have to have every aspect of a memorial pages details to notice anything’s that’s been edited. Find a Grave has provided a handy “Date Modified” filter to see how recently a change to a page has been made, and while that’s a potentially useful thing to know, it doesn’t spell out just what has been changed. This makes that filter pointless.
I have contacted Find a Grave numerous times over the last year to see what would need to be done to make changes to a page highlighted so that those of us not intimately familiar with a page can see what has been changed. I have been assured on each of those occasions that my suggestion would be taken into consideration, but so far, nothing’s been done about it.
IF Find a Grave has the ability to know when a page has been modified I would think they would be able make those modifications noticeable so that anyone viewing the page can appreciate what has been updated. Otherwise, the “Date Modified” filter serves no purpose. Why even have it? Make it worth being there or get rid of it.
Also, when Find a Grave invites people to comment on their improved editing capabilities, it would be helpful to be able to make those comments somewhere near to that invitation, instead of having to scroll down past all the previously made comments. What happens when there are 1000’s of comments to scroll past? Not a very good website design.
This is great! Thank you. True glitch:
When I go through my edit list to checkmark some and ‘Accept Selected’, it approves those, but automatically and randomly checkmarks other unviewed edits throughout the list (after which ‘Deselect All’ is not enabled, nor is ‘Accept Selected’). I have to scroll through the list and Uncheck unviewed edits on both pages before proceeding. Often it’s the following equal number of edits just approved, but not always, sometimes they’re scattered. It also automatically checkmarks some new edits added to the list when I refresh the Suggested-Edits page. Firefox on Windows 7.
We have been able to replicate this. Thank you for reporting it. We are working on a fix.
When I go to “Suggestions I’ve Sent” it doesn’t matter if I select accepted, declined, or pending the page doesn’t change. And when I try to look back at past edits I made everything between three days ago and June 2019 is gone. I wish you would go back to the how the “Suggestions” section looked before.
Hi Britni, this doesn’t sound right. We can look into this further. What device and browser/version are you using? What happens when you try a different browser?
I forgot to mention I was using my iphone and had the website open on Safari. It’s doing the same thing on Chrome. I also tried on my computer with Chrome with the same results.
Also the suggestions page used to let you know the amount of accepted, pending, or declined suggestions you have. Now all the suggestions are lumped into one amount. I like to know how many pending suggestions I have left without having to individually count them. I like being able to see that I had 50 suggestions total and the the break down. Example: 10 accepted, 39 pending, and 1 declined. Now it just shows the total amount of suggestions no matter which option you suggest.
We tried to replicate this issue and haven’t been able to. We proxy logged in to your account and the menus changed when we chose Pending, Accepted, Declined. Are you using the most recent version of Chrome and Safari? If this continues to happen, please send an email to mobilesupport@findagrave.com with details and screenshots of the mobile version. Thanks for your help.
You can see the total number of any edits at the top right. It shows pages and the total number.
What if the person who “maintains” the entry is dead?
If you know that, you should report to Support, with appropriate documentation. Their memorials will be transferred to the care of findagrave.com. Unless of course, they formally designated a steward. In that case, the memorials will be transferred to the steward. Findagrave will also note on their profile page that they are deceased.
If someone is inactive/dead, you can send an e-mail to Find a Grave. They will verify the account inactivity and then transfer that individual’s memorials to their account. You can then claim them to manage when you try to edit them.
The gender field is not very useful, because the are millions of memorials that don’t have the gender set. I suggest you create a script which will review the present memorials and set the gender based on the first name. It wouldn’t be that hard to use. Otherwise, the field just creates a lot of extra suggestions sent to memorial owners. I just had someone do that for 8 memorials I own, without anyother field suggestions. When I asked them if they are connected to the people in any way, they didn’t respond. I can’t imagine what it might be like for people who have way more memorials than I do. Memorials are for the benefit of people who might know the person. They already know the gender. What purpose does it serve? Thanks.
Why does it bother you that someone wants to update the gender. They are easy to bulk accept and if you don’t wish to look at the edits yourself just leave them to auto accept in 21 days. It only has to be done once!
Such a script would be inaccurate, to say the least. There are many (MANY) names that are used by both genders.
There’s also no rule at Find a Grave that requires users suggesting edits to be connected to the deceased in any way.
Any suggestions for how to deal with contributors who decline edits and then add them after they decline the information?
One today declined “Thanks. I wasn’t done with the memorial”. The person died the beginning of APRIL.
They then added all the information I’d sent in the edit to the memorial.
Seriously??
I’ve encountered this countless times.
They use, “This conflicts with my information” or some other nonsense.
Then you look at the memorial and, SURPRISE!, there is the information.
Far too many people on here let their egos get in the way.
Looks to me like there’s nothing to “deal” with. The information you suggested has been added to the memorial so there is no problem. Don’t waste FG’s time with immature squabbles. Yes its rather sad behaviour but the person obviously wants to be the one to edit their own memorials. Your edit request has still prompted the update.
This has happened to me also, but there was no excuse with not being done with the memorial because the manager had taken the memorial over from someone else. I sent the information to the support folks and each time they said they contacted the manager and told them how to play nice. There is another manager whose memorials I have submitted edits to that are always declined. I submitted an edit for the gender of an individual and it was declined by the manager with the reason “Suggestion does not match information I have for this person or memorial.”!! I resubmitted it with other information including birth and death locations, veteran status, etc. and plenty of documentation that support the gender.
Any time I get that, and I have the evidence to support the edit, I forward it to edit@findagrave.com. Previously, I would forward my copy of the e-mail from the “Suggest other corrections” submission.
Now, since that doesn’t exist anymore, they said to send a screenshot of the edit with the note. Basically, include the support information in the note when you submit the edit.
I had good luck with them making the correction with the previous process. Hopefully that continues now.
Wait a minute.
In one reply, you talk about how Find a Grave is a collaborative effort and not an individual project, and now you say that memorials should be able to be locked and not edited/corrected by anyone?
yes when they are complete. I have many that are.. why screw around for years with fending off edits. ?
Yeah it’s’ not possible for you to know when it”s truly “complete” without being an immediate family member. What you consider “complete” may not be so in someone else’s mind, especially family members or even close friends.
The updates are great, thank you! One issue: in the event an edit must be declined, there’s now not enough room in the ‘Reason’ area to give a brief but adequate explanation. Could that be expanded by a few lines please?
Hi Kathy, thanks for writing in. We added more room to the notes field and the decline reason field last week.
I don’t like the new way of accepting edits. It just takes too long and you don’t see what it use to say.
It shows you the original text AND the suggested edit … at least on a computer (desktop/laptop).
On page 1 the date suggested shows as 1 Jun 2023 but on page 2 and later it becomes 01 Jun 2023 . No reason for that inconsistency.
(And thanks for the selection by gender and veteran suggestions. I hope that reduces some of the complaints about the difficulty in updating them since you can select on gender, for instance, then “select all” and then “update selected”.)
I am passionate about my family ties and am not a professional. I want to verify all my information before I reply For the last two years I have been battling heart trouble and have not always replied in a timely manner. The auto add is a great feature, if the information is verified! I often share my family information to help relatives add to their information.Three sister in laws started researching in 1972. one took pictures, one did interviews and wrote letters, and I was the recorder with many notebooks before the computer and Family Tree Maker and earlier programs. I want to join all my families together on FG so others can trace their relatives ancestors and descendants.
If you check a few edits from them list for acceptance, and you click button to approve marked items, when you return to the list, other edits have been auto-marked for approval and have to be unchecked if you do not want to approve them.
We have been able to replicate this. Thank you for reporting it. We are working on a fix.
When viewing the “Suggestions I’ve Sent” tab (in “Suggested Edits”), there are two columns by which the list can be sorted: “Managed by” and “Date Suggested”. When sorting by “Date Suggested”, all the proposed changes for a given memorial are grouped under one entry for that memorial. However, when sorting by “Managed by”, each proposed change for each field is listed separately. So, for example, if a memorial has three suggestions (say, “First Name”, “Middle Name” and “Gender”, then there will be three separate lines for that memorial. This is inconsistent with how it displays for “Date Suggested” where all three suggestions are grouped together in one entry for that memorial. Not only is it inconsistent, but it’s also very space-inefficient and, therefore, takes longer to scroll through the list.
Thanks for writing in about this display. We are working on some updates to improve the display under Suggestions I’ve Sent.
Unless I am missing something, it appears that the feature to search a cemetery, county, state, country has been removed. Hoping this feature is included in time. It was very useful. Thanks
The cemetery search is on the site. Are you still experiencing this issue? If so, what device and browser are you using?
Dear FindAGrave,
I have had “veteran” suggestions declined with notes such as “Died during military service. Did not become a veteran “.
This harkens back to early comments on this thread about the common definition of “veteran” and its distinction from “military service”. Look back at the comments by “SteveN” and “K.Roberts” on May 21, among others. K.Roberts wrote, “The difference is an extremely emotionally charged impact. My Father survived, he is a Veteran, some of his friends did not, they are Soldiers, both provided “Military Service.”” In addition, British and Australian memorial owners have given me similar feedback when they rejected my suggestions. Remember, in the USA we have Memorial Day, Veterans Day and Armed Forces Day that distinguish between the differences in service.
At https://support.findagrave.com/s/article/Designate-this-person-as-a-veteran you say:
“What is a veteran? A person who has served in the armed forces”.
However, this is contrary to common usage.
Therefore, please clarify this upfront on the edit screen. Where it now states
“Designate this person as a veteran
A small icon V will be placed next to their name denoting their veteran status. Read more”
consider instead
“Designate this person as having served in the armed forces.
A small icon V will be placed next to their name denoting their military service. Read more”
Please acknowledge that you have read this.
A thoughtful and great idea Kevin
Designate this person as having served in the armed forces.
Add “Honorably served” in some form or those who have been dishonorably discharge maybe suggested