Find A Grave started out as a website to inform its visitors where famous people are buried. Since then, it has expanded to include non-famous people, for memorial and genealogy purposes. I started out in 2001 and currently have almost 500 records. Along the way, I have had experiences with the website, positive and negative. Be sure to read the website's FAQ first before reading on.
Tips on contributing to the site
Famous persons
Before you add anyone famous to the site for approval, check:
- If the person has had significant fame outside of his or her local area (e.g. mayor of a large city, business magnate, professional sports player, professional musician, etc.) When in doubt, make that person non-famous and set it to famous later when you have decided to make it as such.
- If the person already exists as either famous or non-famous on the site. If non-famous, either email or leave a message for the contributor and ask for a memorial transfer, asking that you have a biography for that person and would like to make him or her famous.
- If the said person has a gravesite or has a final disposition (e.g. cremated). I have had tried adding some famous persons without their gravesites, however, they were rejected for non-existence of the gravesite in the record. If in doubt, make a thread in the "Finding Famous Graves" section of the forums. However, for recent deaths, they might accept records without gravesites.
- There is already a set of guidelines for Famous Bios on the site. Check your proposed bio against these guidelines.
Non-famous persons
Before adding anyone deceased to the site, make sure that:
- You knew the person you are adding. Sometimes when adding random people, their family or relatives send you an email or a message requesting the removal of that person's record from the site.
- The person's record has a gravesite or a final disposition.
General advice
- Follow the policies of the site when adding photos. Observe the resolution and size limits for each photo. No copyrighted photos, no postmortem photos.
- It is encouraged to add only people you knew as non-famous.
- Submission of famous people's records (with gravesites, of course) is continually encouraged.
- One important rule (though I don't follow this because I'm always busy): Make sure to check your email often for any emails or corrections regarding your contributions to the site.