I received a message that gives me info on a deceased class mate. This is a hoax. Why a person would do this is a mystery but obviously hoping I would fall for it and post. Somehow someone went to our website and there is a place where apparently anyone can fill out the form. My question is can this be restricted so that only a logged in classmate can access this or even the in memory page itself. I can’t see how to do this. It appears to have come from a legit email address of a classmate.

Thanks
Janie

More details, please. To what are you referring when you say "there is a place where apparently anyone can fill out the form?" Is the "form" the In Memory entry? If so, only an administrator/assistant administrator can create an In Memory entry. Does anyone else have administrative privileges other than yourself?

Your In Memory page is open to the public. Change that setting by going to Edit Site Pages, Edit Link, Restrict to Classmates only. Then only your members will be able to see that link at the bottom of the page to "Let Us Know" about someone who needs to be added to the page.

None of your deceased classmate's profiles/entries are restricted to Members only either. No locks after their names on the Classmates Profiles page. You can change that by going to their profiles in Manage Classmates and changing the Profile Visibility option.

Just curious, have you tried contacting the classmate who sent this information to you?

Hi - there is an advantage to allowing non-classmates to send in deceased notices. This way you can receive them from children or spouses. But the notices go to the webmaster or admins, so no one else can see them until you create the in-memory notice.

Whenever I receive a notice, I thoroughly check it. I look for obits and do people searches using the same search engines we use when we are looking for missing classmates. Once I confirm the death, then I add to our site.

Occasionally I get a notice from someone not on my class list. I send it out to the committee to see if anyone knows that person. Sometimes it is someone who attended our school but may not have graduated with us. Again, I go through a thorough verification process.

Hope this helps - Patte

Scott, In reply to your question, go to your In Memory page and scroll down to the bottom of the page. You will find "If you are aware of a Classmate who should be added to this page please let us know." "let us know" is a link to the form Janie received.

Scott Moore wrote:

Janie,

Debbie Schroeder's reply is spot on. The only way ANYONE can send you that information via the form is if your In Memory page is open to everyone. I choose to have that page locked down but as Patte mentioned, when it is open to everyone, family and friends may have helpful information.

I hope your question has been answered.

Gwen,

Thanks for pointing out that form at the bottom of the In Memory page. All these years as an admin and I never clicked on it! I agree that keeping the In Memory page open is helpful, especially when nothing on the form is added to the site without the admin's approval. An unfortunate situation happened in Janie's case, but hopefully, that's the last time it will occur.

On our site, we not only have the In Memory page open, we have all our In Memory entries open. The tributes all appeared in the newspaper, so there wasn't anything secret about them. Why not let relatives, friends, and classmates from other years see the tributes without joining the site? In eight years (knocking on wood), we've had no difficulties with this arrangement.

Scott Moore wrote:

I do the same as Scott for all CC sites I administer. Also without difficulty for over nine years.