Find A Grave take control discussion [closed]

Question

Become a member of FInd A Grave. It is a vast army of volunteers who collect and manage information. You can get your family transferred to you. Below are the rules:

Second, Transfer requests will be for direct relatives within four generations. This would be your siblings, parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.

For other entries of interest you can use the edit tab to add or correct data. The manager will evaluate and possibly fix the data, especially if it was transcribed incorrectly. Check the photo.

There is also a way to post a message to the manager of the entry. Establish a dialogue. You might meet some cousins.

This may be the best way to correct the errors from Wikitree checking. Consider Find A Grave not as a source but as a parallel genealogical site. Even though the data may be inscribed in stone, comments can be made on the profile.

Comments

The exception to this is ones that are managed by Find A Grave itself. I have adopted about 10 from my area due to someone not using the account anymore and they never ask if you're related closely. There is still an option at the bottom of the profile to say how you are related not. Just select the bubble and it shows up behind your manager status on the profile.

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I agree, Kim. And even Find a Grave has asked that the abbreviation not be used and it has been discussed on WikiTree before and was decided also not to use abbreviation.  It doesn't take that much longer to type out Find a Grave.  Or if you actually feel the need to abbreviate something just do FG.

In the feed June 17, 2020-

Find a Grave Acronym is FG - Officially.

That is from Wiki tree.

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I've been a Find a Grave contributor since 2014 and I can attest to some of the errors, etc that have occurred.  I spend more time trying to make corrections (when I have documentation) when I come across them.  Duplicates are another issue, as well as incorrect links to family members.  I also try to link correct family members... especially if the subject has no family listed at all which makes me sad when it's a child.  The other issue is determining whether it's a memorial page or a cenotaph which confuses a few folks.  Through Find a Grave I was able to trace my paternal line all the way to before the American revolution!  I even discovered that the Allen brothers drafted papers in a pub owned by my Evarts ancestor during the Revolution.  Allen is my paternal grandmother's maiden name!

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Was another G2G thread ever started after this comment was closed as stated above? Just curious because I've been a member on Findagrave longer but I do much more work with WikiTree...that said, I have never heard about transfer rules except for when no one is managing a memorial. Also I am curious about the policies I can't get answers on like when members refuse to place accurate data or merge exact memorials. For example, if anyone has any input on how to handle this situation it'd be greatly appreciated: there is one area here in NC (Rowan / Cabarrus County depending on when you're researching) where three large, older cemeteries all border one another and have boundaries that are difficult to discern in places. Just within my managed profiles I have over a dozen ancestors buried in that area and my issue is there are multiple memorials with different profile managers who literally use some of the same photos of the grave as the other memorial page and have the same data except for cemetery name. I have had more refusals with no bother to comment back to my polite and well-sourced inquiries / requests thusly refusing to merge solely based on this criteria and there is no easy way to open a dialogue. I will leave it here in case this has moved so I can read any new rules after 2017 :)

  Thanks Everyone for the input above and to anyone who may have advice. Cheers! Becks

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@BeckySimmons, at the bottom of every FAG page, there's a link to their Help section. Most every question you could have is there.

There have been "transfer rules" since 2009.

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There have been many changes since the first FAG question. 

They now have a forum, where the community can answer questions  much like here and with a FAG support available if the community can't answer.  Separate registration required 

http://www.findagraveforums.com

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Actually, Michael, they've had their forum for at least 18 years.  However, it is primarily peer-to-peer. FAG administrators rarely comment.

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I would call the cemetery office and keep track of when and what time and who you speak to, ask them if the person is buried in their cemetery.  If they say no or yes then go from there.  Notify the mgr and let them know.  If they refuse to fix it contact FG and let them know the particulars with memorial ID's, etc.  

Transfer guidelines: (always tell your relationship) "Memorials are transferred for relatives with these close relationships: child, spouse/partner, sibling, parent, grandchild, great-grandchild, grandparent, great-grandparent, niece/nephew, great-niece/nephew, aunt/uncle, great-aunt/uncle, or first cousin. This would include adoptive, step and in-law versions of these." - copied from Find A Grave.

To contact FG:

https://www.findagrave.com/contact

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Very good advice and thanks for the update- so the transfer process would still apply for my grandfather with whom I was very close who, as far as I can tell, has a profile managed by someone he didn't know who doesn't like to communicate...

 Cheers!

    Becky Elizabeth

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Lori, congratulations on tracing your family tree so far back. It's exciting when we can do that isn't it?

I agree wholeheartedly on the things you mentioned for Find a Grave.  And sometimes we run into "stubborn" memorial managers who are under the impression that because they created the memorial they own it. I guess they don't realize that it's owned by Find a Grave.  Some people just don't like to play nice. Haha :)

Answer 1

I am one of these nerdy people, who goes around photographing cemetaries. I tend to find a small countryside church and then do a full photographic coverage of all the grave stones, often adding extra information, when I find a stone is particularly interesting. I  ALWAYS  put the full transcriptions of the stones on the profiles. There is nothing I loath more, than lazy contributors that just bomb the site with photos but can't be asked to do a transcription. It then becomes rediculous when the photos are too small or of such bad quality that reading the inscription isn't possible. Those lacking profiles should be freely available for anyone to take over, if someone wanted to do some work on them. However, as I put a lot of time and effort (and miles) into my profiles, I wouldn't be too happy if someone was taking over just because they happened to have that surname. I would always be happy to edit and add information and scources to my profiles, should anyone ever e-mail me. For me it is about getting all the information of the grave memorised for the future, the last way to honour the dead before everything disappear. If any relatives or others who might have an interest, find my work helpful, that would be a real pleasure, and I am always happy for people to copy and use my photographs. But as I said, I wouldn't be best pleased if someone were to take over the profiles I created. I do however agree, that if a profile is lacking in text or photo, it should be possible for anyone who feel they can contribute in a better way, to take over.

If anyone want to see one of my project cemetaries on FAG:https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/2669789/st.-peter-&-st-illtyd-churchyard,-llanhamlach

Comments

FWIW - if you could not find actual links to the sources on the memorial, I would use the information from FaG and note that it came from the Obit posted on the memorial.

I have found the FaG sometimes doesn't have the parents and children's links to their site, but when I suggest the parent or child, it is usually accepted.

Its a good parallel source, and sometimes gives you real Obits.

rsl

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I see they have changed the instructions on the Inscription field. It used to say that you could not add names and date but now appears to say you can add the full inscription.

In future I shall do that.

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I don't always add the inscription on the FAG entry if it's very clear in the photo, but when I do add it I always write it exactly as it is on the stone word for word, with dates and years and everything. No point otherwise if you ask me

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Joann, to an extent I agree but the rules of Find a Grave state that if a relative falls within the parameters of requirements you have to transfer the memorial to them. We don't own the memorials that we create.

Transfer guidelines: "Memorials are transferred for relatives with these close relationships: child, spouse/partner, sibling, parent, grandchild, great-grandchild, grandparent, great-grandparent, niece/nephew, great-niece/nephew, aunt/uncle, great-aunt/uncle, or first cousin. This would include adoptive, step and in-law versions of these." If you refuse to transfer a memorial that's within these parameters they can take it to Find a Grave and they will transfer it to them.  The same holds true with edits. If you submit an edit and they refuse the edit you can also take it to FG and they will look into the edit. It's always best to let them know how you know the information and if you have proof of the information. I've had to do it before when people refuse edits.

And I also don't like the lazy contributors who fail to put in the complete memorial when it's available to them... Inscriptions, etc.  Or they don't take a good enough photo and it's blurry (like you said).

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Carol, before you go to FAG regarding a declined edit, you have to contact the memorial manager with the source for the edit.

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That's what I said. If you submitted edit and they refuse to do it you can take it to FG.  PLEASE re-read what I wrote.  

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I couldn't agree more, even though I don't have the same story / background as you. I try to do the same with profiles on here even though people are free to edit them I find it slightly offensive when the occasion arises (albeit very rare) where someone comes along and completely deletes the biography, sources and / or connections to a profile I created or adopted; understood if ZI ignored an emails, message or accidentally missed contact etc but it has happened. I feel that is similar to what you're saying about transferring a profile- I could probably name a hundred that don't have biographies or perhaps have one sentence that may or may not be accurate and those are often the ones that deny merges or ignore requests to change/add data such as a birth location. I try to always give a source when asking (there are now extra notes and comment areas) but prior to there was a limited number of characters making it hard to link multiple sources so I'd refer the manager to the person's FS or WikiTree pages.

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Carol Murray, no, you're saying something different than what I am saying. You said "If you submitted edit and they refuse to do it you can take it to FG."
There is another step when an edit is declined BEFORE you take it to FAG:  contacting the memorial manager with your source.
They have 30 days to address it and only then can you take it to FAG.

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A. Wilson, I'm saying exactly the same. You ALWAYS submit and edit to the memorial manager. And I don't know about you or anyone else, but 99% of the time when I submit an edit I submit the proof for that edit.  It's common courtesy and I don't expect anyone to just "take my word" for something like that (unless it's an edit such as plot info or inscription plainly seen on headstone, etc)  IF they refuse the edit or don't respond within the time frame, THEN it can be submitted to FG.  SAME thing.  I just didn't see the need to mention the 30 days.

Over and out!

Answer 2

Agreed, Sue. I've found most memorial managers responsive if a source for different information is provided.

Thank goodness, because my poor grandfather's stone is all wrong. I sent the correct information with my sources and an explanation as to why the stone was created incorrectly. The memorial stayed the way it is (an exact transcription of the stone as it should be) but the manager added the correct info and sources to the notes section. Edward/Edgbert Swilley/Swillie McGee (8 Feb 1897/1899 - 26/27 May 1947/1948)

Comments

You can also submit an edit to add the places of birth and death.

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Why didn't you request transfer if it is your grandfather? (I know, I don't even manage one of my grandmothers because a 2nd cousin created it, and I don't feel like wrangling over it. She made every edit I requested.) If Susan is not related, you can ask for the transfer.

On a side note, I am someone who will transfer outside the official FAG guidelines, even though my profile states otherwise. I put that in after one person kept insisting that I transfer anyone with a certain surname to him. (There were over 50 from one cemetery.) He emailed me and told me that he was going to "report" me to FAG if I didn't comply. So, that is just there to keep the small number of jerks at bay.

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Natalie, I've not requested transfer because I don't manage any profiles at FindAGrave. Maybe after I finish the edit to all of my *sigh* overly large GEDCOM import ... someday. At this point, I only have a membership at FindAGrave to be able to request edits.

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Oh, ok!

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On Find A Grave (FaG) - I have had only 1 "suggestion" rejected over the last several years. Most of my offerings are date updates, and locations. I also try to add family links to fill out their trees, primarily because I have the FaG profile info to tag to the kids, or parents.

I don't try to get out in the weeks with the FaG PM because I don't have a lot of the detailed info that they would need to make a major change, but if I have a wife's maiden name and can add it, I do and reference where I got the info.

FaG is a neat additional source and I like to add it to profiles I manage because they sometimes fill out the story.

rsl

Answer 3

I've been a member for quite some time, something I didn't realize until I tried to contact a contributor about my family name. Definitely going to try to be more involved, now that we have a difference error for the DB. One FAG page I looked at has an image of a detailed obit for the person. Got dates and places for birth, marriage, and death, plus a list of living siblings and children. So much better than a lot of pages with no headstone photo or any other item to confirm people or events listed on the page.

Comments

I'm a member as well - did some photo documenting for a short time, still do when I think about it. It's nice when the weather's good and I just want to go cemetery visiting. But most of the cemeteries missing photos these days of older graves are for unmarked graves or tombstones that have sunk into the ground and may never be found again.

As far as the data goes, most of the profile managers who handle significant numbers of memorials post their rules on what they will and won't edit - and in most cases you can work with them. The one-off's who tried it out and never returned can be a problem, but I think they have a unresponsive process you can follow, even if it used to be a bit cumbersome.

Answer 4

I am working with a group in Central Wisconsin to digitize our cemetery records and place them on line. The Church cemetery has about 1300 souls. We have taken pictures of each grave, whether a marker is there or not. This is a conservative Lutheran Church so we want to make the information freely available online. Any suggestions? We're also looking at renovation and Wiki How To has some great suggestions.

Answer 5

I, too, have been a member of FAG for a while, but I only learned of some of the benefits of that membership from the answers above. It appears it's time to get more involved. I've almost always had a good response from the managers when I have suggested a change. But I do want to check into "transfer requests". Thanks for all the above input.

Answer 6

Wonderful information, as I am one of those individuals who spend their spare time walking in cemeteries and when asked what you do I explain, and they give me a weird look and quickly change the subject. Or just walk away, that happens all the time. I recently came across a relative that I have a copy of the death certificate attached to his profile and the headstone is not the same date. (only off by one day) so I know it was just a simple mistake, but I can't change the headstone to correspond to his death certificate.

Answer 7

I use my membership to fix errors, adding family members, etc. If I'm going to use it as a source, I want the information there. Sometimes the error is simply the date of birth or date of death. I will have a source, or the gravestone is correct but transcribed incorrectly, etc. The membership is handy. I just added the family members of my aunt to her site.