What to write on a memorial page: a structure, opening examples and photo ideas

Why it helps to start small

A page opened during the shiva week does not have to be complete. Families who try to write “the perfect text” get stuck. Families who write one sentence, upload three photos and share the link usually receive memories from visitors that fill the page by themselves. Writing is a process, and the page stays online and can be edited at any time.

Part 1 – a one-sentence opening

The first sentence is what a visitor sees first, and what appears in the preview when the link is shared. It should include a name, the years of life and one identifying detail. Three templates to adapt:

• “[Name], [birth year]–[year of death]. Father of [names], grandfather of [names], and the first person to show up whenever help was needed.”
• “[Name], teacher of [subject] for thirty years, who made a point of remembering every student’s name.”
• “[Name], a beloved friend. The one who made coffee for everyone, sang off-key with enthusiasm, and knew how to listen.”

Templates are a starting point. One personal sentence is better than a respectful, generic one.

Part 2 – who they were

Two or three sentences: where they came from, what they did, what they loved, and what people around them knew best. Write in plain language, as you would tell a relative who never met them. A short timeline can help: birth, a move, work, family, a hobby.

Part 3 – two short stories

A story works better than a description. A simple formula: place + what happened + a sentence they said. “Every holiday she stood in the kitchen from the morning, and when I offered to help she said: ‘Sit down, you are a guest’” says more than “a generous woman”. Two stories are enough. If there is no time to write, ask visitors to add a memory through the memory collection and bring the best ones to the page.

Part 4 – photos

• Eight to twelve photos from different periods, rather than dozens from one event.
• A short caption with a year and a place: “Haifa, 1978”.
• One main photo in which the face is clearly visible.
• Avoid photos in which other people appear without their consent, and photos of young children unless the family agreed.

Photos uploaded to our page are reduced in size and stored without location and device data.

Part 5 – memorial dates, candles and memories

Add the memorial date to the page so visitors know when to come. You can calculate the Hebrew date and the yahrzeit with the yahrzeit calculator. Visitors can leave a candle and a memory, published only with the family’s approval. To light a candle without a page, use the candle wall.

Privacy: decide before you publish

A page has three modes: link only (the default, not shown in search engines), public and password protected. A few questions to go over at home before changing the default:

• Do all close relatives agree that the page will be open to everyone?
• Does the page contain a home address, a phone number or the names of young children? If so, remove them.
• Are the photos and stories suitable for a reader who does not know the family?

You can start with “link only” and move to “public” later, but not the other way around: what has already appeared in search results is hard to take back.

What not to write

• Details of an illness or the circumstances of death, unless the family decided to share them.
• Family disputes, inheritance or conflicts.
• Address, phone and identifying details of living relatives.

What to check in any online memorial service

If you are comparing services, these are the questions to ask each of them:

1. What does it cost, and for how long? Is there an annual renewal fee?
2. What happens to the page if payments stop?
3. Can you export all the content?
4. Are there ads, and what happens to the data?
5. Who sees the page by default, and does it appear in search engines?
6. How do you ask for removal, and how fast is it done?

Our answers are on the memorial page: free, no time limit, no ads, private by default, with export and removal on request.