The Create New Obituary tab will take you to the obituary creation page. This is a page where you can add all the necessary information about the decedent, upload photos or memorial videos, add events, add charity donation information and many other items related to the Tribute Page of the decedent.
The same page can be navigated to as well by clicking the Add New Obituary button on the left side of the website from any page.
When you click an obituary name from the obituary list, you will also be taken to this same page to edit the existing obituary information.
Basic Information
The Basic Information section is where you can enter or edit information about the decedent. First Name, Last Name, Birth Date, Death Date and Serving Location are required information for the obit to be saved.
Upload Photo is where the main obituary photo is added. You will have the option to add a custom photo via the photo upload option, or select a stock photo from our library.
The Known As option allows you to enter a nickname or a preferred name. This name will display on the tribute page in place of the first name.
The Serving Location dropdown is where you can select which location this obituary is being served from. If there are multiple locations in the system, they will all be listed in this dropdown.
There are a few settings available below the basic information:
Private Guestbook
- This feature enables Tribute Wall posts to be sent to the guestbook email instead of being posted on the public tribute wall on the website. This is a great solution if the family does not wish to have messages be visible on the tribute page. To use Private Guestbook, you will need to check the Private Guestbook checkbox and then enter the email into the Private Guestbook Email spot so that the system knows what email address to send the condolence posts to.
Hide Birthdate
- This setting will hide the birth date from showing on the Tribute Page.
Hide Deathdate
- This setting will hide the death date from showing on the Tribute Page.
Refresh og:image
- This setting will trigger a refresh of the obituary image on posts where the Tribute Page link has been shared. Ex. Social Media posts.
Header Theme
The Header Theme is the banner image that shows at the top of the obituary page.
There are two places you can access this from to make changes. The blue Header Theme button at the top of the Basic Information section and the Theme setting below the other checkbox settings.
Once on the Header Theme selection window, a theme can be picked from our existing library or you can upload a custom theme.
The first drop down will be for the theme category. Here you can browse the various categories we have included.
The next drop down is the image selection. This will show all the theme images available within the category you selected.
Once you click on a theme image it will select that image and show a preview in the preview window.
If you want to upload a custom theme, you can click the upload button to add an image from your device. Enter a name for your image and if you want to save it to the library for future use, check the “Save as theme in library“ checkbox. Then click Save.
Custom theme images are saved to the library under the customer category.
If you want a particular theme image to be your default image for all newly created obits. you can click the Assign Default option below the image preview. Reset will unassign that image from being the default image.
Legacy Touch
If Legacy Touch is enabled on the website, you will see a Legacy Touch section where you can connect the Legacy Touch pin number for the corresponding obituary to the obituary page.
Visit the website for more information on Legacy Touch: https://legacytouch.com/
Social Sharing
The Social Sharing section is where you will have the ability to share the obituary to Facebook or Twitter. If no Facebook or Twitter accounts are connected you will see a Connect to Facebook or Connect to Twitter button.
Clicking Connect to Facebook will walk you through the connection process which will require you to login to your Facebook account and select your business page.
Once connected, the connected Facebook account will show and there will be an option to Share or Re-Share to Facebook. If you check this box and re-save the obituary it will trigger a post to the connected Facebook page.
Obituary
The obituary section is where you can enter the obituary write up text that will be shown on the Tribute Page.
There are various text editing options available to Bold, Italicize and align text, as well as add a hyperlink to text. To add a hyperlink, select the text you want to link and then click the paper clip icon in the editing bar. The link window will open where you can add the website URL that you want to link in the URL field. Once saved, you will see the link appears underlined and in a different color to show it is a hyperlink.
If the AI Obituary Writer is enabled, you will see a button for the Obituary Writer tool. Clicking this tool will take you off site to the Obituary Writer tool page.
Obituary and Event Information
This section is where you will add any event information for services, visitations or other events. If there are no events for this obituary, you can click the “No Events“ checkbox under Status.
Adding an Event
To add an event, First select the type of event under Service Info.
Select the location of the event from the service location search bar.
If the location is not showing in the search bar, click the Add Location button at the top of the section to add a new location.
If an event is private, mark the Private Event checkbox below the event type drop down. This will keep the event hidden from the public page.
Enter the Date, Start Time and End Time for the event along with any additional event information if needed.
If the event is being live streamed, enter the URL for the webcast under the Webcast URL section along with the PIN to access the webcast if there is one.
Once all the information is entered, click the Add Event button to add the event to the page.
Once you have added the event, you will be able to see the event along with any other events under the Scheduled Events area.
The Type of Disposition area gives 3 options for marking the disposition type. Select one if applicable. This does not display anywhere but is just for internal tracking.
The Cemetery section is where the Final Resting Place can be set. Select the Cemetery from the drop down and it will display in a similar format as an event on the Tribute Page, showing as Final Resting Place. If Private Cemetery is marked, it will hide the Finale Resting Place from showing on the page.
RSVP
The RSVP section will show if RSVP is enabled on any of the posted events. If RSVP is enabled, it allows users to add their name to the attendee list and select time slots if applicable.
Clicking Edit in the actions column will open the RSVP Event window which lets you configure the RSVP options for the event. You can make the attendee list public or private, set the max number of attendees, add a message to display when the maximum attendees is reached and set time slots.
Once attendees have signed up, you will see responses and attending numbers.
If you click View Details you will be able to see more details from the attendees.
Crowdfund Donations
The Crowdfunding section is where you can activate or track an active crowdfunding campaign. We have a couple different crowdfunding options available on our platform and more information on this can be found on our crowdfunding help page.
Charity Donations
The Charity Donations section is where you can set up charity donation links to show on the Tribute Page. We have two options for charity donations, Direct to Charity or My Tribute Gift.
When Direct to Charity is selected, a drop down will appear below the section where you can select a charity from your system or add a charity if it is not already there.
**A maximum of 4 charities can be added for the Direct to Charity feature.
Once you select a charity and click “Add Contribution“ the charity will show below with an edit and remove button available.
Clicking the remove button will remove the charity from being added, and clicking the edit button will open a window where you can change the the charity.
When My Tribute Gift is selected, charity donations will go through the My Tribute Gift platform instead of linking directly to the charity website. You will see a Browse Available Charities button that lets you select a charity from the My Tribute Gift charity database.
When in the charity browser, fill out any relevant search information for the charity you are looking for and click search. Results will come up with the various charities in the database that match your search. Select the charity you want to use by clicking the Select button.
Once a charity has been selected, you will see it showing in the charity list.
**A maximum of 2 charities can be added for My Tribute Gift donations.
A list of donations via My Tribute Gift is also available for download under the “Download Donations“ link. It will download the list in CSV file format.
Once the obituary is saved with the charities added, you will see a Donations section on the Tribute Page with the selected charities showing.
**Both Direct to Charity and My Tribute Gift options can be added to a page at the same time.
If you need assistance with donations that have been placed through the My Tribute Gift integration. My Tribute Gift support can be reached at 1-855-355-8141 or info@mytributegift.org
Photos
The Photos section is where you can upload photos and albums to the Tribute Page. Photos uploaded in this section will post on the Tribute Wall with all the album photos.
New albums can be added by clicking the “Add New Album“ button. To enter an album to view the photos, simply click on the desired album. It will open a “Files“ section below the album that shows all the photos.
Photos can be added to the album by clicking the Add New Photo button at the top and uploading the photo you wish to add. Albums and photos can be renamed by clicking on the name box and typing a new name.
The Download Album button allows for you to download a folder containing all the album photos.
If the Slider check box is checked below the photo, this adds the photo to the photo rotation on the main photo. When photo rotation is added to the main obit photo via these slider checkboxes, multiple photos will rotate to show as the main obituary photo.
Tribute Video
If Tribute Video is enabled on the website, the Tribute Video section will show below the Photos section. Clicking “Create Video“ will take you to the Tribute Video dashboard where you can create your Tribute Video. Once the video is completed and rendered, it will automatically add the link to the associated files section. More information on Tribute Video can be found in our Tribute Video help page.
Associated Files
The Associated Files section is where memorial videos, livestreams and PDF files can be added to the Tribute Page.
The Video Tribute section is where a link to a memorial video can be added. The video will be embedded on the page based on the checkboxes below it. If “Show on Tribute Wall“ is checked, a Tribute Wall post will be made with the video link. If “Show on Obituary & Events Page“ is checked, the video will be embedded on the main obituary page right below the obituary write up.
The Webcast section is where you can add a link to a live stream. If there is a pin to access the live stream, the pin can be added in the PIN box. If “Show on Tribute Wall“ is checked, a Tribute Wall post will be made with the video link. If “Show on Obituary & Events Page“ is checked, the video will be embedded on the main obituary page right below the obituary write up.
To upload a PDF file, click the Upload PDF button and select the file you want to upload. The PDF file will be posted in the Tribute Wall section.
Family Contact Information
The Family Contact Information section provides family contact information to our Tribute Store. This information is used in the following ways:
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Mailing Address: To deliver arrangements after the service
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Phone Number: Florist may call to confirm delivery timing to ensure it works for the family
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Email Address: To automatically share tree planting certificates
The Family Login Email area will allow the family to login to the Tribute Page with the password they receive in their email. This gives them some basic controls on the Tribute Page to change the header theme and view Tribute Wall posts. Once the email is added, click the mouse pointer icon to save the email.
Save and Publish
After making any changes to the obituary page, make sure to click the Save & Publish button at the bottom of the page so that the changes go live.
If the page is not published yet, you can click the “Save“ button to save the obituary to draft.
