A: A Permanent Online Memorial is a continuously available web page or web pages that is/are dedicated to remembering and honoring the life of a deceased friend, loved one, family member, or much admired person. Permanent Online Memorials published on www.AmericasMemorials.com most often consist of the name of the person, his or her photograph, dates of birth and death, his or her life and family stories, photographic files arranged in photo albums, and approved tributes and/or condolences left by friends, family members, and/or admirers.
A: It is possible if a Permanent Online Memorial contains detailed personal information that such information could be misused. Unlike a death notice published in a newspaper which has a short publication life and local circulation, a Permanent Online Memorial exists online everywhere for a very long time. A person’s memorial can, of course, be very safe. A safe memorial might simply include the person’s name; dates of birth and death; photos without names, addresses, or locations; and a dedication or a poem that gives no specific details of the person’s life and family. That sort of memorial is like a grave marker and is extremely safe. Family members visiting the memorial will recognize those who are in the photos without naming them and can leave their tributes and condolences and light candles just as they would leave flowers at a graveside with little or no risk to their privacy as long as their last names and addresses are not given. If more details of a person’s life are to be included in the memorial, privacy risks can be greatly reduced by following these precautions: 1. Do not give the maiden name of a memorialized person. 2. Do not include the names or location of a person’s parents or names of already deceased relatives. A general statement like “He was preceded in death by his mother and father, one brother, two sisters, and a beloved daughter” is preferable. 3. Do not include the names and locations of surviving relatives. It is preferable to just make a general statement like, “He was survived by his father, one brother and his spouse, three sons and their wives, one daughter, five grandchildren, and many nieces and nephews”. 4. Consider not giving the specifics of a person’s employment. Instead of naming a place of employment simply state that “he worked as an accountant and then as a supervising accountant for over thirty years after graduating with a BA in accounting in 1960”. Always remember that a memorial can contain as much or as little information as you wish, the less personal information it contains the smaller the risk will be for invasion of privacy.
A: Memorials created for American heroes who are members of the U.S. Military and/or other uniformed public services including police officers and firefighters who have lost their lives in the line of duty while serving, protecting, and/or defending the American people are permanently free of charge. All other memorials are free for a 30-day trial period. Normally after the 30-day free trial period the cost to make a memorial permanent is only $39.95 which is charged to your Visa or Master card through Trust Commerce’s secured and encrypted credit card payment system. However during the economic crisis of 2008-2009 all temporary memorials will be made permanent at no charge. It is our philosophy that no person should be prevented from honoring a lost loved one due to difficult economic times or circumstances.
A: The major difference is that the Permanent Online Memorials published on AmericasMemorials.com are organized by and listed according to each person’s hometown or home community. This is done so that a person’s memorial can easily be searched for and found by members of his or her hometown or community and so that the person’s life and memorial will become a permanent part of the living history of that community.
A: When a memorial is created at AmericasMemorials.com if there is no page for that person’s hometown or community one is created and all future members of that same hometown or community who are memorialized at AmericasMemorials.com will also be listed on that hometown’s or community’s page or pages. This makes it easy for members of the community who lived with and knew the person being memorialized to find and honor his or her memorial and it creates a long-term historical asset and reference for the people of that community.
A: A memorial can be published on and listed in up to three separate community’s web pages at AmericasMemorials.com.
A: No. If you are not sure which community or communities the memorial is listed under just type the person’s name in the search window on the home page at AmericasMemorials.com and you will be taken directly to it.
A: It’s actually quite easy. First you must register as a website user by clicking on the “sign up” button beneath the roses at the top right hand side of the screen. Then simply click on the “Create a Memorial” button on the home page and follow the simple, easy steps to create your memorial. Your first memorial creation screen will be a form that will allow you to type in information about the person you are memorializing. At the bottom of that page is a box to enter in the names of the communities in which you wish the memorial to appear. Please click on the “add to this community” button to lock in the community name each time you enter then name of a new community. Once you have typed in all the person’s information and locked in the community’s names (up to 3) under which the memorial is to be listed just click on the “Create This Memorial” button at the bottom of the page and the memorial will be created and appear. You will then be able to add a main photo, picture albums, candles, tributes, and condolences. Don’t worry about making a mistake because as the creator and guardian of the memorial you will be able to change, correct, or edit any part of the memorial any time you wish.
A: To add photos to a memorial or create photo albums within your memorial: You must first sign in as a registered user at the top of the home page. Then click on the my memorials button to go to your memorials. Next click on the memorial you wish to add photos to. Now click on the Photo Albums tab at the top of your memorial. From here you can either create a new album (for instance one called travel for your Mom and Dad’s trips) or you can add to and/or rearrange the photos in an already created album.
To add more photos to any existing album: Click on the Photo Albums tab at the top of the memorial. The next screen will display all the photo albums that exist in the memorial. Next click on the album you want to add pictures to. The Individual album and all its pictures will appear on the next screen. Next click the edit button and the Edit Album screen will appear and you will see boxes in which you can edit the title of each photo and/or remove a photo. You will also see the Add New Picture box at the bottom of that page that will allow you to add new photos to that album. Then simply hit the browse button to search for photo files on your computer and locate the picture you want to add, double click it or hit the open button and the file name will appear in the upload slot, then just click the upload button and in a few seconds your new picture will become part of the album. Edit the title of the new photo to your satisfaction and then click the save changes button on the bottom of the Edit Album screen to save the new photo and title to the album.
To rearrange pictures in a given album or to reorder the albums themselves: Just click on the reorder buttons on either the Photo Albums screen or the Edit Albums screens and you will be able to click and drag the photo albums or the photos within the albums to the new position or order that you want. Hit the done reordering button to save the new order of your albums or photos.