Make a memorial website: service details, a life story and shared memories

What a memorial page is asked to do

In the first days after a death, the same questions arrive from dozens of people: when is the funeral, where, can I come, is there a collection, what should I wear, can I send flowers. A single page answers them once and can be shared in a message, read out over the phone or printed. Later the page changes role. The practical details matter less and the story, the photographs and what people remember matter more.

Plan for both stages from the start. Put the service information at the top while it's needed, and move it down (or into its own section) once the funeral has passed.

Service information people will look for

• Date, time and the full address of the service, with a note on parking or public transport.
• Whether the service is open to everyone or for family and close friends.
• Any gathering afterwards, and whether people should let you know they're coming.
• Dress guidance, if there is any ("bright colours welcome" is worth saying).
• Flowers or donations: whether the family would rather people gave to a named charity, with a link to that charity's own donation page.
• A link to a livestream or recording, if one is being arranged, for people who can't travel.

Writing the life story

The story doesn't need to be a formal obituary. A few paragraphs in the family's own voice usually read better: where they grew up, the work they did, the people and places they loved, a habit everyone will recognise. Specific details carry more feeling than general praise. "She kept a jar of barley sugars in every coat pocket" says more than "she was generous".

Anticode's Architect drafts from what you tell it, so give it the facts and a sense of the person, then rewrite the draft yourself. The model hasn't met them and shouldn't be the one choosing what's remembered. The visual editor lets you edit the words directly on the page.

Photographs

Upload photographs from across a life, not only recent ones: childhood, work, holidays, family occasions. Scanned prints work well. Anticode checks each file and stores it under your account, and the model looks at the photographs when it places them on the page. Add a short caption or alt text with names, place and year where you know them; relatives will value that later, and it makes the page usable for anyone with a screen reader.

Shared memories, read by the family first

Many people want to write something. A public guestbook where anything appears instantly is a risk on a page like this: spam, a careless remark, or details the family would rather keep private. On Anticode, visitors can't post to the page directly. Instead the page carries a simple form: the contact form asks for a name, email and message, so ask people to say how they knew the person in their message, or use a custom form tied to a site function for separate fields. Each message is saved to your project and can be emailed to whoever is looking after the site.

1. Someone sends a memory through the form.
2. It arrives in the dashboard, sealed at rest, and in the inbox of the person you choose.
3. The family reads it. Nothing is shown publicly at this point.
4. If they'd like it on the page, they add it to a Memories collection in the CMS, editing out anything that shouldn't be public.
5. The collection appears on the site, one entry per memory.

This is slower than a live guestbook, and that's the point. It also means a family member can share the job: forward the form submissions to a shared spreadsheet with the Google Sheets connector, and whoever has time can choose which ones to add.

Choosing a design

Of Anticode's seven design systems, Editorial and Organic tend to suit a memorial: generous spacing, readable type, nothing that moves. Luxury can work for a more formal tone. Choose a quiet action colour such as black, teal or green rather than red or pink, and the Light theme if the page will be printed. Avoid the Playful and Brutalist systems unless they genuinely fit the person; for some people they do.

Privacy and limits

Published Anticode pages are public. There's no password or private family area, so anyone with the link can read the page and search engines may find it. Keep home addresses, the date the house will be empty, and anything about money or the estate off the page.

• No direct posting by visitors. Memories always go through the family first.
• No donations collected on the site. Link to the charity's own page instead.
• No video hosting for the service. Link to wherever the livestream or recording is held.
• English pages. The page is generated in English; you can write some text in another language by hand, but the builder won't translate it.

Questions people ask

Can I make the memorial page private?

Not on Anticode. Pages are public to anyone with the address. If privacy matters, share details through a family group chat or email and keep the page to what you're happy for anyone to read.

How long does a memorial website stay online?

As long as the site stays published. Recent saves are kept in version history, and the last ten published versions are backed up.

Can several family members look after it?

Memory submissions can go to a shared spreadsheet or channel through a connector. Editing the site itself needs access to the account, or a Team workspace with several members.