Find A Grave Reviews

(based on 60 reviews)

1061 of 1425 people found this review helpful

I have enjoyed being a Find A Grave contributor for over a year - because I don't take the site too seriously or allow myself to become overly involved in it. When I find myself reacting emotionally to anything/anyone there, I back off for awhile. (So far the only members who have really upset me are people who should have been the most supportive, cooperative, & helpful - some genuinely mean-spirited relatives on my father's side of the family.) I cannot see Find A Grave as a true genealogy site because it contains a great deal of erroneous information, much of which is never corrected by obstinate, self-centered, or absent managers of memorials. Many contributors seem to be wonderful people, but too many others want Find A Grave to be nothing more than a place to register grave sites, or they are just too busy or lazy to edit memorials, refusing or neglecting to add more info or to correct their errors.

In summary, I would recommend Find A Grave to a friend.

401 of 806 people found this review helpful

1. Findagrave is an company that makes millions of dollars from death memorials created by volunteers and from individuals that are grief stricken or researching family ancestry. They sell adds for each grave submission or sponsor memorials to earn money.

2. Anyone that is registered with the site can create a memorial and add it to the site. Once someone creates the memorial they "own" it. The family members have no way to remove the memorial if it is against their wishes.

3. The creator of a memorial can write a bio for someone who they do not even know. You cannot rely on accuracy. Often the information is gathered from obits in newspapers or from search engines on ancestry sites. A family member has nothing to say about the bio even if it is unflattering or incorrect. Often living family members are listed due to the information supplied from the obit.

4. Findagrave administration uses fake "member names" They use these names to keep track of individuals who create lots of memorials. They can track a members activity on the findagrave site using the members computer's IP address that was available to them when the person registered to use... (Read the full review)

In summary, I would not recommend Find A Grave to a friend.

428 of 822 people found this review helpful

Overall my experience with Findagrave has been positive as far as the other contributors go. Most are great people, willing to help, share, or receive information cheerfully. But my experience with the administration has been zero even though I've requested information/clarification about the validity of some memorials and the dubious existence of a whole cemetery. I've just been ignored and gotten no response at all. This takes away from the credibility of the whole site because I count on the information there being as accurate as possible and if it's not, we're all wasting our time.

I've had a couple of contributors refuse to transfer memorials, (aunts), because in their opinion, I wasn't immedicate family. I've read bios where people have stated they will only transfer memorials to immediate family, even though they, themselves are not related at all and it shouldn't matter to them. What gives them the right to make that call? There also seems to be a lot of favoritism toward certain contributors, (such as those with ultra high count). You can complain all you want and it's not going to do you any good. The opposite is true as... (Read the full review)

In summary, I would not recommend Find A Grave to a friend.

378 of 773 people found this review helpful

I have always loved Findagrave. One of my main goals when researching friends and family is to know where one is buried. I found a lost Aunt this way because some kind soul on Findagrave, for free, had posted her memorial in a cemetery in Florida.

I can't afford Ancestry.com very often, which is sadly became quite a monopoly. Over and over again, any free sites I use to frequent are ate up by Ancestry.

In fact, I've noted all my work and photos that I have placed on my memorials on Free findagrave are being taken by Ancestry members and placed on their trees there.
What ever.

In summary, I would recommend Find A Grave to a friend.

429 of 846 people found this review helpful

Came on this site from another one of those 'best 10 ancestry sites' and it said it was free - it is to join then it costs. OK I did'nt expect much but when the so called reviewing experts claim free then free it should be. I'm off back to my other site where I can get the information I need. Oh yes, it reverts back to US settings every search. Great if you live in the USA. Sorry not good as far as I'm concerned.

In summary, I would not recommend Find A Grave to a friend.

439 of 837 people found this review helpful

I love contributing to Find A Grave. I have found that hanging out in cemeteries and taking pictures of graves is very peaceful and relaxing, and posting them for a relative out there somewhere who might stumble across it is very rewarding. I have gotten so many nice responses from people who have found their close relatives and more distant ancesters alike.

As for the help and informtion that I have gained as far as my own research...I have been equally satisfied. I have gotten some big, unexpected surprises and emails from distant relatives who have been able to share stories and even pictures.

There are alot of seemingly "control freaks" on findagraves, usually contributors who have been doing it for several years and have added thousands of memorials. Mostly it comes from their insistance that "duplicate memorials' be removed. I have seen alot of fights over this-a contributor already had a memorial with a photo posted, and a relative who refuses to take their newer memorial down. Well, READ THE RULES! Duplicate memorials can throw things off and cause alot of problems for others trying to research. Not to mention...against the rules.
This really is... (Read the full review)

In summary, I would recommend Find A Grave to a friend.

431 of 828 people found this review helpful

I've done extensive genealogy research and like this very user friendly site a lot. After Family Tree/Ancestry this is the site I refer to next. I especially appreciate the family links and posted obituaries to find names of children and their spouses, I also appreciate all personal pictures. There are a few instances where I have found incorrect dates, but I just go with my own research. USGENWEB is one alternate site but is very user unfriendly in my opinion - every state designs its own search menu and requires more info that you may have to begin a search. Personally, I give kudos to the person who designed the site and even more to all the volunteers who put in their time and effort to record cemeteries. I've "done" one small cemetery and it was a chore! Thank you

In summary, I would recommend Find A Grave to a friend.

442 of 873 people found this review helpful

I've been contributing to Find A Grave for several years, beginning by adding some of my ancestors and loved ones and then branching out into fulfilling photo requests in my area and helping to document local cemeteries. I want to be sure that deceased people are not forgotten and that anyone who comes looking for them years down the road will be excited to find my work, so I don't find it weird to add the graves of strangers. I send some well wishes into the universe for each one of them when I stop by to photograph graves. I consider Find A Grave to be collaborative, so I'm happy to add new information and to transfer memorials to people who feel a connection to the deceased.

Really, the only negative is that there are some long-time contributors who frequent the forums, especially the help forum (ironically) and are truly rude and petty dictators, yet the administrators do NOT step in. These are the same people who dislike being asked to add things to memorials and definitely will not transfer memorials to non-immediate family members. It really ruins the forums and drives away the nice people.

I think Find A Grave... (Read the full review)

In summary, I would recommend Find A Grave to a friend.

436 of 855 people found this review helpful

I am a member, have posted some memorials.

Members who behave like pseudo-administrators and demand you change the data on graves you submitted--if if they are your direct ancestors. Members who want things their way or the highway. Members who take bits from the internet and create "memorials" for people they do not know -- you may find your dead grandmother was posted there by someone who has done just that. Row mowers who post photos there without research or understanding of the person whose only motivation is the kudos they get for uploading mass quantities of photos. I have been personally nagged by one poster in particular.

Sorry, I am not impressed. Technical support there is poor and lacking. The quality of data is not there. In fighting and backbiting. Completely unfriendly environment and "community." These people are so obsessive they will check on you time and time again to make sure your submissions meet their criteria. Nuts. I cannot find much, if anything, positive to say about the site. There were categories I wanted to give zero stars, but that's not allowed here.

Buyer beware. You get what you pay for and it's free. Some posters I've encountered are not... (Read the full review)

In summary, I would not recommend Find A Grave to a friend.

440 of 839 people found this review helpful

Clearly, this is not a genealogical website that I would recommend to anyone. Initially, it seemed to be very useful for those who wished to share their genealogical research. However, I discovered that the site is insecure and that your entries can be altered without your knowledge or permission. This was extensively done in my case. The security damage included the altering and removing of biographical data that I had entered, the removal and relocation of my entry photographs, the changing of my own and other contributors' names, and the incorrect switching around of cross reference numbers to my different family memorials. Importantly, this experience demonstrated that the information available on this website could be extremely unreliable to any viewers. My efforts to delete my entries, a stated option, proved very difficult since they were put back on the site afterwards with my name changed to "anonymous." When I objectively complained of this, I was never given any explanation. Rather, I was blocked from being able to access my account and my own extensive family virtual memorial collection with the word "unauthorized!" showing up on my account. Later, this hostile response also... (Read the full review)

In summary, I would not recommend Find A Grave to a friend.