Thursday, January 9, 2014

ADDING SIBLING LINKS TO FINDAGRAVE


 THE HTML CODE LISTED IN THIS POST WILL NOT WORK ON THE NEW FIND A GRAVE SITE.  HOWEVER, IF YOU ADD THE CODE TO THE OLD SITE (WHICH IS STILL IN USE AS of 3/12/2017), IT IS MY UNDERSTANDING IT WILL CARRY OVER

AS OF 21 MAR 2014 FIND A GRAVE IS AUTOMATICALLY LINKING SIBLINGS, AS LONG AS THERE ARE PARENTS LISTED.  IF NO PARENTS ARE LISTED YOU CAN STILL USE THE CODE.   


My grandmother - Marie Lindsay Gould
LOOK – There are sibling links on this memorial!

How did I do that?

We've always been able to create links to Parents & Spouses because the site has that ability built-in.

What is not built into the website is the ability link to other family members, like siblings.  Have you ever wanted to do this?  I know I have.

It involves a bit of computer coding (out of my realm of expertise). However, thanks to my cousin, Paula, and my brother, John, with their expertise, I am now able to add those links.

Here are the instructions for adding them to any memorial:

1.  Click on the “edit bio” area of the memorial
2.  Once the bio screen comes up you can now add the coding.  I add it just below whatever bio I have already written.  Of course, if there is no bio, then you simply add the coding to the blank bio.

FAG edit bio screen
Here is Marie Gould's bio screen - you can see the sibling links below her bio.

3.  Copy & save the code below, located between the two lines.

Please note that you will need to insert the information from your own memorial, where I have indicated in red 
DO NOT add any spaces or other characters, if there are none in the code.  

IT IS CRITICAL TO COPY THE CODE JUST AS IT IS.
If you leave out or add any spaces the posting will not be correct.
__________________________________________________________
Siblings:
&nbsp <a class="NoUnderline12point" href="fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=INSERT the memorial number here">INSERT first name here<i> INSERT Maiden name here </i> INSERT married name here (INSERT year of birth & death here, with a space before & after the dash) </a>
 
&nbsp <a class="NoUnderline12point" href="fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid= INSERT the memorial number here ">INSERT first & last name here, no space in between(INSERT year of birth & death here, with a space before & after the dash)</a>
__________________________________________________________
Use the first code for married females. Use the second for males.
 
NOTE:  If you want the siblings to show up as in the picture of Marie Gould's memorial (with no spaces between the names), then you can delete the space between the individual codes.  This is the ONLY space that can be eliminated without affecting the code itself, because it is not a part of the code. 
 
This may seem complicated at first, but it really isn’t.  It’s copy, paste, insert and save. 
 
The worst that can happen is you have to go back and change it.  Or you have to  delete it from the bio because it came out wrong.  No harm has been done, either way.
 
BUT, it is really nice to have those links to siblings.  WHY?
  • Because a cousin or other relative may come across your posting and not know how they might be related until they see that sibling listed.
  • It makes it easy for you to go to other family members by just clicking on the sibling links.
  • Because I think it completes a person’s memorial to have their siblings linked to them.
ADDITIONAL NOTE - I have had a few comments from readers, so please remember, as with any changes of this kind on findagrave.com, they can ONLY be made to the memorials you personally manage.

I’ve been a FindAGrave.com member now for nearly 8 years.  I have located many family members resting places, found cousins, had cousins find me, learned where someone died and just generally enjoyed the site.  

Here is a link to my profile page http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=mr&MRid=46844686

IMG_3462
That's me at Willow Grove Cemetery in Armada, Michigan, during a 2010 visit.


I hope this has been helpful to you.  I always welcome your comments. Oh, and I still need to add this code to many of my own memorials.

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl


Copyright © 2014 Diane Gould Hall











35 comments:

  1. You don't need all that code. Find A Grave already gives you the code for linking one memorial to another. It is in the FAQ or Help with Find A Grave section. I have copied it here so you don't have to go look it up. [I've been using it for years. Particularly, to link children when other memorial owners will not link the parents.]
    How do I add a link from one memorial to another?
    In order to create a link in the biography of one memorial to someone else's memorial (such as the person's spouse or parent), you will need to use a bit of HTML code. It's hard to put into words, so here is an example (from Johnny Carson's biography which has a link to Red Skelton's memorial page): Pioneering Television Legend, Comic, Host. Carson began his entertainment career in radio but quickly moved to television. He moved to Hollywood to become a writer for "The Red Skelton Show."

    In the biography, you would need to type
    < a href="http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=XXXXXXX">Name< /a>

    where XXXXXXX is the GRid number of the memorial you want to link. The GRid is a unique id for each memorial and as such is the only thing within the entire URL that must be included. The "Name" is what will show up on the screen as a link.

    You will need to remove the space between < and a at the beginning as well as the space between the < and / at the end. The spaces were added here to actually show you the code.

    You can also use "Add relationship links" on the memorial page. You can add the links to father, mother, and multiple spouses. Adding this information will automatically post the reverse information to the linked memorial as well.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, I appreciate your comment. The reason I wrote this post is because I've had many people comment that they had a difficult time figuring out the code in the FAQ's or they couldn't find it. And, to my knowledge, the Add Relationships Link does not allow for siblings, just father, mother and spouses.
      I'm hoping that by creating a step by step process this will assist those who want to add the siblings link. It is always my goal to be helpful.
      Thank you for visiting,
      Diane

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  2. Hey, Michigan Girl! I'm another Michigan Girl doing genealogy on my Michigan families. It gave me goosebumps to see you in the Willow Grove Cemetery where so many of my family are buried. SUPER trick about adding siblings! I've always wanted to do that, too. But it looks like you can only use this on memorials you yourself create, correct? I made my Dad's memorial so I was able to add his twin brother, but I can't add my Dad to his twin brother's memorial because I didn't create my Uncle Dick's memorial, so I don't have access to his bio. It's too bad the connection doesn't go both ways the way it does when you add a parent or a spouse. Love your blog!

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    Replies
    1. Thanks! So what are some of your surnames? You can check the tab "my genealogy" and see family group sheets. But, some of mine in that area are Gould, Hart, Pratt, Tibbitts, Head and Ingraham. Wonder if we are connected? Wouldn't that be fun.
      Thanks for visiting,
      Diane

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    2. Carolyn,
      Thank you for your comment. My post is not about adding parents or spouses, but about adding siblings to FAG. Adding the parents and spouses is easy, as you said. I hope that one day they will also allow us to add siblings as easily. In the meantime we will have to rely on the coding to do that.
      Thanks for stopping by,
      Diane

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    3. I want to find a lost sibling . He died several hours after birth. I know the parents but not exact birth date. Can you suggest a search method.

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    4. I would try to find the set of birth records that are associated with the place of birth. Sometimes it requires scrolling through records. Try Family Search and see what they have on their site.
      Best of luck.

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  3. Thank you very much. I appreciate that you are sharing this. I have wondered how to link siblings for years but hadn't figured out how to do it.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Good news, Find-A-Grave now allows sibling links. However, it is done through the parent link and not a separate sibling link.

    http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?searchArg=sibling&page=listFaqs#185

    How do a person's siblings show up on their memorial page?
    When an individual's memorial page is linked to one or more parent memorial pages, that individual's memorial will show up as a sibling on any other memorial pages that have been linked to one of the parents. The individual's name will show up on the sibling list of their own memorial to help show where the individual was in the birth order of the siblings. Memorials may only be linked to parents and spouses, and sibling links are automatically generated; there is no ability to add sibling links directly to a memorial page.

    You can see an example here; half-siblings are marked **

    http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=31939014

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Paul - that's good news. I will go take a look at that today. I am woefully behind in adding the sibling links to all of my memorials. Thanks for sharing the information with me. And many thanks to visiting my blog.

      Sincerely,
      Diane

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  5. Thought I hit preview and not publish. I did add a link to this article on my blog as part of my discussion of the new change. I think your solution is a great workaround for siblings when the parents aren't known and the siblings are on Find-A-Grave.

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  6. Can you tell me whether sibling displays that were made by memorial managers using the HTML coding ended up have duplication of sibling display when the new feature was implemented on Find A Grave the other day? I just started watching this issue yesterday on forums when I found your very interesting blog.

    Many thanks, Terry Ellen Ferl (Find A Grave contributor)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Can you tell me whether sibling displays that were made by memorial managers using the HTML coding ended up having duplication of sibling display when the new feature was implemented on Find A Grave the other day? I just started watching this issue yesterday on forums when I found your very interesting blog.

    Many thanks, Terry Ellen Ferl (Find A Grave contributor)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Terry,
      Good question. I am just now learning about the new feature on FindaGrave and need to go and take a look. I've had two people comment this morning. Thank you for your kind comment about my blog. I hope you'll visit often.

      Diane

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    2. Terry,
      I just got the answer to your question. Yes, there is a duplication of the siblings now. If someone has already added the siblings using the code, FindAGrave also adds them by the parent link and there are now two entries. I guess we will all have to go in and remove the code now to eliminate the duplication. The only time we will need the code is if the parents aren't known. I will update my blog post. Thank you for your question.
      Diane

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  8. Jenny,
    I'm so glad the post was helpful to you. I really like having the family memorials linked.
    Thanks for stopping by,
    Diane

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hi Michigan Girl. My grandfather's memorial shows all of his siblings except one. The one missing is a memorial that I don't maintain and the person who maintains it does not have links to the parents. If I use the code you suggest to just add one sibling, will it show up under the other siblings, or will it be added as a second group of siblings? Many thanks for your time and tips.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Lori. I'm not sure where the new link will show up. However, if you don't like how it turns out, you can always delete it. The other option is to contact the memorial manager and ask them to add the links for the parents. If they do, then problem solved. If they don't or won't for some reason then try the code and see how it turns out. Thanks for the question and much thanks for stopping by.

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  10. Thank You Diane, your information was great. I needed to link a person with the woman that raised him after his mom died when he was 2 weeks old. Worked perfect first try! Thank you Thank you, Debbie

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    Replies
    1. Debbie,
      You're very welcome. I'm so glad it worked for you.

      Delete
  11. Find a Grave is a wonderful site for anyone searching for graves. I have added memorials for some of my family (let's call them Smith) and asked for transfers to manage some other Smith family members. Recently, a non-family member has begun to add family links within my Smith family and requested I accept their requests to add spouse and parent links within the Smith family. My personal preference is not to publicize my family tree on the Internet. I would rather post each individual on Find a Grave and their vitals with the hope that others who are searching for the family will contact me. In this way, a opportunity is created to meet new cousins and discuss family connections through private emails. Does anyone have any suggestions whereby I can prevent these links in order to preserve some family privacy (similar to how Ancestry.com allows contributors to mark their family trees as private)?

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    Replies
    1. Thank you for your comment. I would direct your question to the FindAGrave administrators. I personally want links on ALL of my memorials. It seems sad to me when a husband or wife or children are listed in a memorial and their family is not linked to them. No one can add links to memorials that you manage. However, if someone does send you a request and you deny it, the request will then go to FAG admin. At least that's how I understand it. Good luck with your research and thank you for stopping by.

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  12. I don't know if you realize it or not, but this process you have instructed readers on does not carry over to the new site. You might consider making a note about it at the top of your blog so any future readers, and any previous readers who return, won't waste their time and clutter up their memorials with non-functional links. Those links created through the process recommended in the site's FAQs continue to work in the new coding.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jen - Thank you very much for the heads up. I have been checking out the beta site now and then and leaving comments. I don't like what they are doing with our beloved website, but at least we can give feedback.
      I will let my readers know.

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  13. Diane,
    Do you know if this still works after their latest update? They broke a few things in the update or at least hid them too well for me to find them. Your method is still a great way to connect siblings where the parents aren't on the site. I'm slowly going through and trying to fix any broken things. Your method is also great for connecting grandparents/children and other non-parent/child relationships.

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  14. I have also used this for step-mothers and a step-grandmother. The mother's mother had died when the mother was very young and her father remarried. The grand-daughter did not realize until her step-grandmother's funeral that she was not her mother's birth mother. This was the grandmother she knew and loved.

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    Replies
    1. Glad you were able to use this to connect your family.
      Thank you for letting me know.

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  15. Paul - That is an excellent question. I'll have to test it on the new site, although I admittedly stay on the old site, which I much prefer. Eventually, it will be gone, so I better figure it out. I'll add an update on my post when I figure it out.
    Thanks for stopping by.

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  16. Thank you so much for posting this! I know you posted the update over a year ago, but wanted to let you know as of today the hyperlinks are showing up rather nicely on the new Find A Grave site :)

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  17. Hold the ketchup....I'm afraid I spoke too soon. The hyperlinks do show up on the new site, but unfortunately they don't link to anything. Sorry about that!

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  18. Is there a way to add it with the code that makes it fall under the other family members and with the headstones as well?

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    Replies
    1. Not that I'm aware of James, but that may be a bit out of my wheelhouse. Sorry.
      Thanks for stopping by though.

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  19. Wondering what I am doing wrong 208037481 has the links but the links are dead

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    Replies
    1. Add parents memorial numbers to each of the children. Then they will all show up.

      Delete

I look forward to reading your comments. If you have any connection to the people mentioned in this blog, please let me know. I write about mine and my husband's ancestors and would welcome new information or meeting a new cousin or two. Thanks for visiting and come back soon.