Obituaries
Writing, publishing, and sharing a meaningful obituary
What is the obituary feature?
The obituary feature gives you a dedicated, beautifully designed writing space to compose a formal tribute to your loved one. Once published, the obituary appears on their memorial page and generates a rich social media share card — a typeset image including their name, years, and obituary text — that can be shared to Facebook, X (Twitter), LinkedIn, or sent as a direct link.
How to write and publish an obituary
Open the obituary editor
From the sidebar, click the obituary reminder if one is showing, or go to Memorials → open the memorial → click "Write Obituary". You can also navigate directly to /memorials/[id]/obituary.
Check your countdown
The countdown banner at the top of the page shows how many days you have remaining. Red means fewer than 3 days — act now.
Auto-generate a starter draft
Click "Re-generate from memorial data" to create an instant first draft. Forever in Heart pulls in the biography, military service details, burial site, religion, occupation, and dates to build a structured obituary automatically. You can edit it freely afterward.
Write or edit the obituary
The text editor supports up to 5,000 characters. Write in a natural, personal voice. Include memories, character, relationships, and legacy. Your draft auto-saves every 2 seconds — look for the "Saved" indicator.
Preview before publishing
Click the "Preview" tab to see exactly how the obituary will look on the memorial page, including the portrait photo, dates, and veteran badge if applicable.
Publish
When you are satisfied, click "Publish Obituary". The obituary is immediately live on the memorial page and the social media share image is generated.
Share
Use the Facebook, X, or LinkedIn share buttons to post with a rich preview card. Or copy the link to share directly. The share count is recorded on the obituary page.
Writing a meaningful obituary
An obituary is more than an announcement — it is the first chapter of a legacy. Here are some things to include:
- Full name and key dates — these are added automatically from the memorial.
- A brief life story — where they were born, where they grew up, their education and career.
- Family — spouse, children, grandchildren, siblings. Who survives them. Who preceded them.
- Character and personality — what made them unique. Their humour, passions, values.
- Achievements and contributions — professional milestones, community involvement, service.
- Military service — if applicable, this is auto-included when you use the generate feature.
- Memorial service details — date, time, and location if arranged.
- A closing thought — a favourite quote, a line of poetry, or a simple expression of love.
Updating a published obituary
You can update and republish an obituary as many times as you wish — as long as you are still within the 21-day window. Simply return to the obituary editor, make your changes, and click "Update & share".
After the 21-day window closes, the published obituary remains permanently visible on the memorial page and continues to be shareable via its direct link. It can no longer be edited, but it will never be removed.
How social media sharing works
When you share an obituary link on Facebook, X, or LinkedIn, those platforms automatically display a preview card. Forever in Heart generates a custom typeset image for each memorial — featuring the person's name, birth and death years, and obituary text on an elegant parchment-toned background.
- The share image is generated automatically when you publish the obituary.
- If the preview card does not appear immediately on Facebook, use the Facebook Sharing Debugger to refresh the cache.
- Military veterans receive a branch and rank badge in the share image.
- Burial site and memorial service details are included if added to the memorial.
- The share count on the obituary page records each time the share buttons are used.