Find-A-Grave

♦ 2023/09/04 ♦ Leave a comment

Recently in AncestralQuest@groups.io there was a question about automatically exrtracting the Find-A-Grave memorial number so that it could be added to an individual record in AQ. I’m guessing that would require a contractual arrangement between Incline Software and Find-A-Grave, and probably program changes for both programs, so I won’t comment on that here.

I too extract Find-A-Grave memorial numbers, and I do it manually. You may find it interesting to see one example of what can be done with that information.

This process requires some prepratory work. First, if you don’t already have FindAGrave.com in your list of sources, you will need to create it. It should look something like this:

Next, if you don’t already have one, you will need a FindAGrave.com event type. It could look like this:

Selecting a single Date and a single Description will allow you to use an easily constructed Event Sentence like the one above. The Date is used to push the event to the bottom of the event list. If you want to store more information in the Event, It will be more difficult to form the event sentence. For help with Custom Event Sentences click this link.

Next find the person you want in Find-A-Grave. The Find-A-Grave search form is quite different from what it was back when I posted Build an Internet Search, but it is still possible to search Find-A-Grave from within AQ, but that’s another story. If the person is not there, go ahead and add the person. You will want to copy down the memorial number, and the URL for that person’s Find-A-Grave page. You will also want the burial date or if that’s not known, you will want the death date.

Now we are ready to add the FindAGrave.com Event, so go ahead and edit the individual. At the bottom of the Edit Individual screen you will see the Other Events block:

Click on the Add… buton. This will bring up the Select Event for (individual) Screen:

Slide down to FindAGrave.com and click it once to highlight it, then click the Select button. This will bring up the FindAGrave.com event entry page:

Enter the Burial Date or the Death Date, then copy the memorial number to the Description. Now click on the Source… button. This will bring up the Select Source for FindAGrave.com screen:

In the Select Type box, slide down to Internet and click it. In the Listing Sources of Type: Internet box slide down to FindAGrave.com and click it. Now click the Select box. This will open the Source Citation screen:

Copy the memorial number to the Vol/Page/Film # box. Set the Quality to 2. Click the Event radio button, then click the Attach… button. This will bring up the Add Scrapbook Item screen:

Open the Item Type pull down window and select Other. Copy the URL of your individual’s Find-A-Grave page to the Filename or URL: box, and click on the OK button. This will return you to the Source Citation screen:

Here you will see the URL in the Attachment box. Click the OK button. This will return you to the FindAGrave.com event entry page:

There is now an asterisk on the Source button. Click the OK button to save all you have done. This returns you to the Edit Individual screen:

In the Other Events box there is now a FindAGrave.com event. The burial or death date you entered has pushed it to the bottom of the box. The description shows the memorial number, and the X at the end tells you that this event has a source. Now click the Edit… button. This returns you to the FindAGrave.com event entry page:

Click the Source button. This returns the Source Citation screen:

Here you can click the View button. AQ will pass the URL for your individual’s Find-A-Grave memorial page to your browser, and your browser will return the Find-A-Grave page.

I would like to hear from you!