NEW FEATURES: A SIGN OF SPRING!
The BillionGraves team has been hard at work over the winter months to bring you some very special additions to the website! As many of you already know, we have made some of these updates already available on the website! Better yet, there are even more coming soon! It’s like Christmas almost every day at BillionGraves!
To showcase some of the changes that we have made we thought we would put together a little tutorial of the new/updated functions.
Release Notes:
– LOTS of bug fixes
– Better handling of international languages on the transcription page
– Ability to transcribe and display Hebrew dates
– Transcription enhancements
– Localization into other languages has been completed for the following pages:
> Registration / Login
> Home page
> Dashboard
> Search page
> Record page
> Cemetery page
> Transcription page [divider_top]
For those of you that really want to dig into the details, here is a diagram of where some the new changes appear.
Key:
1 – 4 (Transcription Filtering): To accommodate the increase in international records that have been flooding in, we have added increased functionality for filtering records by Country of origin, Cemetery, and Language. Now you can select the exact type of headstones that you are interested in. No more guessing or incorrect transcriptions are needed! We have thousands of native users in every language who are anxious to correctly transcribe these records! If you are unsure, please skip the record and leave it to another user to correctly transcribe.
1 (Transcription by Country): Choose what Country to Transcribe from. This was created to allow you flexibility in what country you want to transcribe records.
2 (Transcription by Cemetery): Transcribing by specific cemetery was created to allow those who are doing service projects to have multiple people transcribing for that cemetery.
3 (Declare Headstone Language): We have added this special feature to help identify the language that is present on the headstone. This will allow us to then show this headstone to users who can accurately transcribe the headstone. To use this function, simply select the language of the headstone you see. If you know the language, continue with your transcription. If you do not know the language, click next after selecting the language you believe it is in. (Note if you are not sure of the language, click next and let another user determine the language)
4 (Transcription by Headstone Language Proficient in other languages? You can now select which Language you want to transcribe from. Simply choose the language you want and start transcribing.[divider_top]
5-6 (Hebrew Dates and Hebrew Transcriptions): We have added several new functions to handle Hebrew dates and Transcriptions. These functions are specifically designed to accommodate the incredible historical information that is contained on Jewish headstones all over the world.
5A (Show/Hide Hebrew Dates): The Hebrew dates are closed by default unless the headstone language is set to Hebrew. To open the Hebrew dates functions simply click on “Show/Hide Hebrew Dates” as depicted in 5A below. Once the options are open, you can enter in the applicable dates on the headstones. Hebrew dates support both Alpha and Numeric entries depending on the content of the headstone.
For example: Tue, 29 April 2014 = 29th of Nisan, 5774 = כ״ט בְּנִיסָן תשע״ד. All Entries are accepted by the new systems.
Note: On many Jewish headstones, a Gregorian and Hebrew date are listed. It is VERY IMPORTANT to enter ALL information contained on the headstone. We are able to capture both Gregorian AND Hebrew dates on the same headstone.[divider_top]
6A-6D: Basic/Advanced Options: To help simplify options that are not regularly used, we have created a Basic and Advanced mode. To expand these additional options, simply click on 6A: “+ Basic Options”.
5D (Hebrew Marriage Dates): Hebrew Marriage dates are included IF the Advanced Options AND Hebrew Dates have been expanded. Enter Hebrew marriage information the same way as other Hebrew Dates.
6B (Maiden Name): Enter in Maiden Name of the individual on the headstone.
6C (Marriage Dates): Enter in Marriage Dates of individuals on the headstone. Note: The date structure for all dates will change from DD/MM/YYYY to MM/DD/YYYY depending on the language and location of the headstone. Please be aware of this when transcribing headstones in other languages and countries.
6D (Age at Death): We have added the ability to add the age at death. Some headstones only contain the number of years a person lived instead of giving the birth or death date. Others are more specific with the number of years, months, and days. We are now equipped to handle this information and process it to give suggested birth/death dates. Note: Suggestions for birth/death dates will be added to this and search functions shortly.
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7 (Others NOT Buried Here): This section is specifically designed to record individuals that are inscribed on the headstone and are NOT buried at that location. In many cultures it is common to designate relationships on headstones. This feature is ONLY for identifying individuals that are inscribed on the headstone and not for identifying relationships to other individuals.
7B (Show/Hide Others NOT Buried Here): The Others NOT buried here section is closed by default. To add an individual that is NOT buried, but listed on the headstone, simply click on the “Others NOT buried here” button as depecited in 7B.
7A (Adding an Individual NOT Buried Here): To add an individual not buried here, simply type in their Given and Family names. After doing this, it is REQUIRED to state the relationship of the individual you are adding. Relationships are very important and is how we are able to tie multiple headstones in different locations together. If the relationship is truly unknown, please select “unknown” at the bottom of the Relationship drop-down menu. After selecting a relationship, click “+ Add” and you and then enter in another individual.
To view and example of the difference between adding another individual and adding a person NOT buried there click HERE.
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CHANGES TO THE WEBSITE:
We have added numerous updates to the website as a whole. Some are enhancements to current features that aren’t visible and others are features that you will interact with. The biggest enhancement is the
BillionGraves Website Language Selector:
Billion Grave users rejoice! You can now select what language you want to view the site in. By selecting the drop down box you can
choose from a number of different languages. This language selector will default to the language your computer and location is set to.
To manually change what language you are viewing, simply click the drop-down menu, and select the new language of your choice.
NOTE: Not every page is currently translated. The main pages are in beta, however updates to the languages are happening on a daily basis. If you notice any errors in our translations, please email support@billiongraves.com with the old and new translation.
MANY MORE FEATURES TO COME!
We have countless updates and new features that we will continue to add to the BillionGraves website as well as mobile applications. These updates will increase in frequency, so check back often for the latest and greatest! If you aren’t already a friend on facebook, like us now to stay up to date with all the new changes, prizes, and progress!
Like us on Facebook now! -> HERE
GET ENGAGED!!
May is our annual Million More in May challenge and this year we are going to achieve our goal!! The warm weather is here! It’s time to dust off those shoes, charge up your phones, and get out to the local cemetery! It’s a great way to get out of the house, get your whole family involved, and know that you are helping millions of people around the world connect with their families!
A BIG THANK YOU!
Of course we would be nowhere without the help and feedback from each of you! We thank you for your continued efforts as we reach our goal of documenting and preserving the world’s cemeteries!
-The BillionGraves Team
