"Mythology: Genealogy without documentation."

"Genealogy: Where you confuse the dead and irritate the living."

***
"What is a "V" Veteran?
Apparently many contributors have difficulty with what a veteran is, since Find a Grave added this option in 2023.

* The term "veteran" means a person who served in the active military, naval, or air service, and who was discharged or released therefrom under conditions other than dishonorable.

* To have veteran's status in the National Guard or Reserves, a person must be federally activated by the President of the United States and serve a minimum of a 180 days.

* To have veteran's status in the National Guard or Reserves who were never federally activated, must serve a minimum of 20 years.
Same rules of discharge apply as mentioned above.

A person who died during active military service, is not veteran, unless that person was previously discharged from military service, then later re-enlisted or was drafted.

* I prefer obituaries in the bio, rather than a newspaper clipping. People with poor visision as myself, can highlight the obituary in the bio for ease of viewing, where you can't with a newspaper clipping.

* I use Windows Snipping Tool (provvided with Windows) for clipping a newspaper article of an obituary and save as a jpg file.
I make all my image adjustments using Picassa 3. (Free)
I use this free wesite to convert image files to text:
https://www.onlineocr.net/

* The newspaper page number you see on newpaper.com, is the scanned page number, not the actual page number. You have to open up the page where the article is located, and scroll up to where the date and newspaper name are located. Here is where you'll find the actual page number.
For example, a scanned page number will look like (Page 14), whereas an actual page number will look like (5-B).

* Always open up the image file of the record you're researching on Ancestry, FamilySearch or some other genealogical website. Don't assume the information that appears beside the image is verbatim. These are scanned images and the software that's used to translate these files, can only do so much. As you're probably already aware, the handwriting on many of these records, can be quite challenging. Now think of what the software has to translate. The information that appears beside the image file, is what was translated. These images have to be manually opened, edited and updated. As this information is edited and approved, it will replace the information translated.
Some files have been edited, some haven't.

* I don't accept memorials designed, "Burial Details Unknown."
Less contributors forget, this is "Find a Grave."
In my opinion, non burial options shouldn't be an option. This type of information belongs only on a genealogical website such as Ancestry. Find a Grave is a supplement for Ancestry, to provide an "actual" burial location.

* Duplications eventually get merged.
Double-check.
Here's an example how a duplication may occur without the contributor being aware. Sometimes a woman may already have an assigned burial plot with a different surname from a previous marriage.

* Please don't attach death certificates, marriage or census records to the memorials I manage.
Anyone can download these documents from Ancestry.com or FamilySearch.org, for their own personal research.
Memorials look best when kept simple and uncluttered.

* Contributors need to pay attention when adding photos or documents to memorials.
All picture files automatically default to "Grave."
The contributor must choose the appropriate designation as indicated, "Person," "Family" or "Other."
Documents and newspaper clippings are designated as "Other."

"Mythology: Genealogy without documentation."

"Genealogy: Where you confuse the dead and irritate the living."

***
"What is a "V" Veteran?
Apparently many contributors have difficulty with what a veteran is, since Find a Grave added this option in 2023.

* The term "veteran" means a person who served in the active military, naval, or air service, and who was discharged or released therefrom under conditions other than dishonorable.

* To have veteran's status in the National Guard or Reserves, a person must be federally activated by the President of the United States and serve a minimum of a 180 days.

* To have veteran's status in the National Guard or Reserves who were never federally activated, must serve a minimum of 20 years.
Same rules of discharge apply as mentioned above.

A person who died during active military service, is not veteran, unless that person was previously discharged from military service, then later re-enlisted or was drafted.

* I prefer obituaries in the bio, rather than a newspaper clipping. People with poor visision as myself, can highlight the obituary in the bio for ease of viewing, where you can't with a newspaper clipping.

* I use Windows Snipping Tool (provvided with Windows) for clipping a newspaper article of an obituary and save as a jpg file.
I make all my image adjustments using Picassa 3. (Free)
I use this free wesite to convert image files to text:
https://www.onlineocr.net/

* The newspaper page number you see on newpaper.com, is the scanned page number, not the actual page number. You have to open up the page where the article is located, and scroll up to where the date and newspaper name are located. Here is where you'll find the actual page number.
For example, a scanned page number will look like (Page 14), whereas an actual page number will look like (5-B).

* Always open up the image file of the record you're researching on Ancestry, FamilySearch or some other genealogical website. Don't assume the information that appears beside the image is verbatim. These are scanned images and the software that's used to translate these files, can only do so much. As you're probably already aware, the handwriting on many of these records, can be quite challenging. Now think of what the software has to translate. The information that appears beside the image file, is what was translated. These images have to be manually opened, edited and updated. As this information is edited and approved, it will replace the information translated.
Some files have been edited, some haven't.

* I don't accept memorials designed, "Burial Details Unknown."
Less contributors forget, this is "Find a Grave."
In my opinion, non burial options shouldn't be an option. This type of information belongs only on a genealogical website such as Ancestry. Find a Grave is a supplement for Ancestry, to provide an "actual" burial location.

* Duplications eventually get merged.
Double-check.
Here's an example how a duplication may occur without the contributor being aware. Sometimes a woman may already have an assigned burial plot with a different surname from a previous marriage.

* Please don't attach death certificates, marriage or census records to the memorials I manage.
Anyone can download these documents from Ancestry.com or FamilySearch.org, for their own personal research.
Memorials look best when kept simple and uncluttered.

* Contributors need to pay attention when adding photos or documents to memorials.
All picture files automatically default to "Grave."
The contributor must choose the appropriate designation as indicated, "Person," "Family" or "Other."
Documents and newspaper clippings are designated as "Other."