Practical answers for families and professionals.

Most families publish a thoughtful first version in well under half an hour: name and dates, a short life story, a handful of photographs, and a guestbook you can open when you feel ready. Nothing has to be perfect on day one—you can return anytime to add chapters, quotes, audio, or new images as memories surface.

StoneMemoir is a calm, single-page digital memorial—a permanent place for one person's story, photographs, and messages from people who loved them. We designed it as an alternative to scattered social posts or noisy tribute sites: one respectful web address you can print in an order of service, share in a family chat, or keep private until the time is right.

Yes. You can build and refine your memorial in your own account and only share the public link when you are ready. Many families start with a simple version for a funeral or celebration of life, then deepen the story in the weeks and months that follow.

Usually a close family member or friend who knew the person well and can speak to their wishes. If several people want to help manage the page, one person can own the account and invite others by email under Access & notifications—they sign in and see the memorial in their own dashboard. Everyone else can still send stories and photos for you to add at your own pace.

If a partner created the page for you, they will share a six-character handover code. Open Claim your memorial on our website (or go to /handover), enter the code, and sign in securely. The memorial then moves into your StoneMemoir account so you control privacy, moderation, and edits. If the code fails, ask your partner to confirm it or contact us.

A StoneMemoir memorial is a single one-time payment of £89.99 (including VAT) for lifetime access. There are no subscriptions, renewals, or feature tiers—what you see in our sample memorial is the kind of experience every family receives.

Lifetime hosting of your memorial page, our guided layout and typography, guestbook with moderation tools, privacy controls, and ongoing access for you to edit and add content. You can invite a legacy contact or other editors by email, choose optional daily or anniversary email reminders, pick calm colour palettes, add a headline portrait alongside the wide cover image, include a digital memorial candle, link related memorials for visitors, generate QR codes (including print-ready PNG and PDF posters) from the Sharing tools, and download an archive of every guest message and photo from your editor. We built StoneMemoir so families are not asked to pay again each year to keep someone's story online.

Yes. UK VAT is included in the £89.99 price shown at checkout. You will receive confirmation by email that you can retain for your records. If you need a specific detail on an invoice, contact us and we will help.

Email us from the contact page with the email address you used and roughly when you paid—we will trace the transaction and put it right. We are a small team, but we take billing issues seriously and respond as quickly as we can during UK business hours.

Yes. In memorial settings you can choose visibility that suits your family—such as fully public, private to people you invite, or protected with a password you share selectively. You can adjust these choices as circumstances change; many families start more privately and open the page wider over time.

Public memorials can be discovered in the same way as other websites you link to; private or password-protected memorials are not meant for open discovery. We do not run advertising against your story or promote memorials algorithmically—your page is yours to share deliberately, not ours to surface.

You and your family retain moral ownership of what you write and upload. StoneMemoir hosts the memorial so it stays fast, secure, and readable for years to come. We do not sell personal data or train generative models on your tribute content; the purpose of the product is remembrance, not resale of memories.

New guestbook messages and visitor photos are held for your review by default. In the memorial editor, open the Guest stories tab to read each note, approve what feels right for the public page, and leave anything aside that does not fit the tone your family wants. Guest memorial candles are different—they appear as soon as someone lights one, and you can remove any from the same tab if needed. You can also download every message and submitted photo as a keepsake archive (PDF, CSV, or ZIP). That small bit of friction protects the memorial on difficult days.

Absolutely. Birth and death dates, photographs, story sections, quotes, and layout blocks can all be updated whenever you like. Many memorials grow for years—anniversaries, new photographs from relatives, or a belated favourite poem are all welcome.

Each memorial has its own stable web address (URL) on stonememoir.co.uk. You can share that link in a programme, obituary, text message, or email—and from the Sharing tab when you edit a memorial you can open a QR code that sends phone cameras straight to the same page, plus optional PNG or A4 PDF downloads if you want something to print. Because that web address does not change when you edit the page, people can bookmark it and return for anniversaries and family gatherings without hunting for a new link.

The cover is the wide photograph behind the opening tribute. The headline portrait is an optional second image—often a face or formal photo—that appears with their name and dates. You can use one, both, or change your mind later; everything is edited in the memorial builder like any other photo.

Yes. When you are signed in, open the memorial editor and go to the Sharing tab (or use the share panel from your dashboard). Tap QR code to show a code that opens your public link when scanned. If you need something for paper, download the code as a PNG or as a ready-made A4 PDF poster with the memorial name—ideal for an order of service or notice board. If the memorial is password-protected, scanning still takes people to that page and they will be asked for the password.

Yes. In the memorial editor, open Guest stories and scroll to Download archive. You can save all guest messages as a PDF or a CSV spreadsheet, and all visitor-submitted photos in a single ZIP file (with a text list of captions). Exports reflect the full history on our side, including items still awaiting your review, so you always have a private backup.

Yes. In the memorial editor, add a Digital memorial candle section from Content. You choose how long your candle stays lit—from a day or week through to forever—and can ask for it to light again each year on the anniversary of passing. You may also allow visitors to light a named candle from the public page; those appear straight away, and you can remove any from the Guest stories tab.

Yes. On the Sharing tab you can create a group and connect memorials you look after. Visitors then see a Connected memorials section on each page so they can move between related stories. To link a memorial in another account, create an eight-character connection code (you can email it) and ask the other organiser to redeem it on their Sharing tab. Codes are usually for one use and expire after about two weeks.

No. If you allow guest candles, they appear on the page as soon as someone lights one. You can turn guest candles off in Memorial details, or remove individual candles from the Guest stories tab. Written messages and photos still wait for your approval as usual.

Yes. In Memorial details, choose a calm preset palette or fine-tune your own accent colours. Use Preview to see how the page reads on a phone before you share the link more widely.

Yes. In the editor, open Access & notifications. You can name a legacy contact and add other family members or friends by email. Each person you invite can sign in, see the memorial in their account, and edit or update it with the same access as you. Remove an email address anytime if you need to.

Yes, if you choose to. Under Access & notifications you can turn on a daily summary (sent only when there has been new guest messages, photos, or candles), an annual reminder on the date of passing, and—for Jewish memorials—a Hebrew calendar anniversary reminder. These settings apply to your account only; other editors set their own if they wish.

For Jewish memorials, you can show Mourner's Kaddish in Hebrew and transliteration within the Faith and remembrance section. Turn it on or off in Memorial details alongside other faith settings such as remembrance dates on the page.

Each memorial has a generous overall allowance across your gallery, keepsakes, and guest photos. Memorial details shows how many you have used. If you need more room, remove images you no longer need or contact us—we can often help without fuss.

Use the in-app help centre when you are signed in, or the contact form on this site. Describe what you were trying to do and, if you can, include a screenshot—we will either talk you through the steps or investigate on our side. We know bereavement is not a normal “support ticket” moment, so we aim to be patient and clear.