Virtual Cemeteries are a great way to organize and highlight memorials you are interested in. With a Virtual Cemetery you can bring together any memorials on the site that are connected for any reason. You could use them to create a group of memorials for family members or one for each branch of the family. You could create a Virtual Cemetery for high school classmates who have passed, cast members of a favorite TV show, interesting historical figures or members of the 1912 World Series winning Boston Red Sox. You could collect memorials with interesting inscriptions or similar symbols or designs. The possibilities are endless.
Virtual Cemeteries can also be a great way to organize work you are doing on Find a Grave. You could create one for memorials you are still researching, memorials from a local cemetery that need a photo or GPS coordinates, or memorials you are writing bios for.
You’ll need to be signed in to use Virtual Cemeteries, but once you are, there are a couple of ways to create a new Virtual Cemetery.
Option 1 – Click on your profile name in the upper right part of the site and choose “Virtual Cemeteries” from the menu and you’ll go to the Virtual Cemeteries list page. There you can see Virtual Cemeteries you’ve already created or create a new one by selecting “Add a Virtual Cemetery.” You’ll be able to give it a name and a description and choose whether you’d like it to be public (so that other people can see it) or private (so only you can see it). Once the Virtual Cemetery has been created, you can add a cover photo for it, edit it or, if it’s public, share it.
Option 2 – Go to a memorial you want to add to a Virtual Cemetery and select the “Save to” button and choose “Virtual Cemetery” from the options. If you already have to some Virtual Cemeteries, you’ll see them listed, or you can select “Create a Virtual Cemetery” to create a new one. When you create a Virtual Cemetery this way, you’ll just give it a name, but once it’s been created, you can select “Edit” to add a description, cover photo and set your privacy preference.
You can find links to your Virtual Cemeteries list page on your profile and on the lower right hand side of the Cemeteries page where you’ll find a link to the Virtual Cemeteries page and few of your Virtual Cemeteries listed.
You’ll find a link to the public Virtual Cemeteries of other Find a Grave members on their profiles.
Here are a few new features of Virtual Cemeteries pages that you may find helpful:
- Cover Photos: You can add a cover photo to your Virtual Cemeteries to spruce them up and make them easier to find in the list. To add a photo, open the Virtual Cemetery and select the “Change Cover Photo” button. Then choose a photo from your computer to add.
- Share: For public Virtual Cemeteries, click the “Share” button to send a link to your Virtual Cemetery by email or though some popular social media sites.
- Updated Sort Options: Sort the memorials in your virtual cemetery by name, birth or death date, cemetery name or date modified.
If you have quite a few Virtual Cemeteries, these new and updated tools may help you find what you are looking for on the list page:
- Settings: You can decide if you’d like to use infinite scroll or a more condensed view of the list.
- Sort: Sort the Virtual Cemeteries in your list by name, number of memorials or date created
- Filter: Choose to see All your Virtual Cemeteries of just the Public or just the Private ones
- Search: Search for a Virtual Cemetery by name using the search box.
Virtual Cemeteries are a great way to organize memorials on Find a Grave and share what you’ve found with others. We’re sure you’ll come up with lots of exciting ways to use them and if you already use them, we hope you’ll share some tips in the comments.