Thank you for your interest in Virtual War Memorial Australia.
This Help Page is designed to guide you through the process of collating and submitting new content to the personal tribute profiles of veterans who have served Australia in times of armed conflict.
The steps below are designed to guide you through the process and if you require more detail, click on the coloured links in each section to open up more comprehensive visual guides.
See HERE for an outline of an example of a well constructed profile.
Registration
You will firstly need to register an account for our website.
1. To begin contributing to the Virtual War Memorial, you must first register an account. Do this by clicking ‘Register’ in the top right-hand corner of the webpage.
2. Fill out the required information using the text boxes and drop boxes. Passwords must be at least 6 characters long. Click the ‘Terms and Conditions’ link to be directed to the Terms and Conditions page.
3. Read the Terms and Conditions throughly. Once complete, navigate back to the previous page and tick the box to confirm you have read and understand the Terms and Conditions.
4. You will now need to navigate to the email address you provided, where you will find an automated email from the Virtual War Memorial. Click the link embedded in the email to activate your account. Please note: sometimes the confirmation email may be directed to your Spam or Junk Mail folder. If you have not received this email within a few minute please check those email folders. If they do not contain the email please send an email to the to VWMA Admin Team for assistance
Sign In
In order to contribute to the website, you will need to sign in to your account.
1. To sign in to your Virtual War Memorial account, click ‘Sign In’ located in the top right-hand corner of the homepage.
2. Enter your e-mail address and password in the boxes provided and click the red box labelled ‘Sign In’.
Adding Information to a Profile
One you have signed in, you will be able to add any information you possess to our existing profiles.
1. Once logged in, you will be directed to the homepage. To find the profile you wish to edit, use the ‘Find a person’ feature.
2. When you have located the person you wish to edit (remembering there may be multiple profiles with the same name; service number is a good differentiator), click on the name to load the profile.
3. If you cannot find who you are looking for, we may be able to help you. Send us an email at [email protected].
4. To begin updating a profile, click the red button labelled ‘Update Details’.
5. To confirm, simply press the red button labelled ‘OK’.
6. Once inside a profile, you can now begin the editing process. On the left is the ‘Progress’ menu with links to the different parts of a profile that you can edit. Clicking on any of those links will transport you to that editorial section. In the middle of the screen is the section you are currently editing. On the right-hand side of the screen is the ‘Help’ section, which can be referred to if further help is needed when editing. If at any point you wish to abandon the edit, click the red button labelled ‘Abort’. This WILL NOT save your progress. If at any point you navigate away from the profile you are editing, return by clicking ‘Your Update (s)’ in the top right-hand corner of the homepage. It may be a good idea to save your progress as you go.
Adding a Profile
If our database does not have a serviceperson's profile, you will be able to create it from scratch. Our team of moderators will review any new submission to make sure that they fit the qualifications for our memorial. You will also need to provide us with 'Reason & Evidence' that your submission is genuine.
1. In order to add a new profile, click ‘Adding a Person’. Make sure to search for your person using the ‘Find a Person’ feature before adding a new profile.
2. You will be directed to this page, where you will first be asked to check for duplicate profiles. As is the case when editing existing profiles, the steps are outlined on the left of the screen, the current step in the middle and the ‘Help’ section on the right. Using the text boxes provided, fill in the basic details of the person you wish to create a profile for. When you have completed your work, click the red button labelled ‘Check Name’. If an existing profile is found, you will have the option to edit that profile.
3. If no existing profile can be located, you will be directed to ‘Step 2: Reason & Evidence’, where you will need to firstly enter in the text box provided the reason you wish to create a new profile. Once this is complete, you will need to either link a supporting document in the URL text box provided, or upload a supporting document by clicking the red button labelled ‘Upload a Document’. Once either/both of these steps are complete, click the red button labelled ‘Next’ to continue. To complete the following five steps, refer to ‘Begin Editing a Profile’ above.
Details
The Details page is where you can add basic information about a serviceperson's biography. Make sure that all addditions are accurate and verifiable. Please provide us with references for where you got the information.
1. The first stage of editing is the ‘Details’ page. Using the text boxes, a person’s name, nickname, date of birth, school etc. can be edited.
2. When editing a person’s Hometown and Cemetery, there is an option to add either if they are not already listed in the Virtual War Memorial system. To do this, click the red button labelled ‘Add Town’ and/or the red button labelled ‘Add Cemetery’. The submission will be reviewed by a moderator and added to the profile where appropriate.
3. When editing a person's service outcome using the drop down box, multiple options will appear. The following definitions may assist in determining which is appropriate for your person:
• Died Of Illness: The individual died as a result of an illness contracted while serving.
• Died Of Wounds: The individual died as a result of wounds sustained while serving.
• Discharged From Service: The individual was discharged during service.
• Killed In Action: The individual was killed in the course of military action.
• Medically Discharged From Service: The individual was discharged during service as a result of medical issues.
• Missing In Action: The body or whereabouts of the individual is yet to be identified.
• Non Battle Casualty: Killed while enlisted but not on active service at the time.
• Resigned From Service: Usually related to peacetime service. A professional soldier may resign from service rather than be discharged.
• Returned: The individual completed their service and returned home.
• Suicide: The individual took his/her own life during or after service.
• To Be Identified: The outcome is yet to be determined.
4. In order to save your submission, click the red button labelled ‘Save’.
History
The 'History' page is used to add in particular history events from the serviceperson's time in service. These will appear under the 'Service History' tab on a profile. The best source for this information is usually in their official service record.
1. When editing the ‘History’ page, click the red button labelled ‘Add a History Event’.
2. This will direct you to another page where the type of history event must first be selected from the dropdown box. The following definitions may assist in determining the most appropriate event for your person (remembering a person can be involved in more than 1 history event):
• Discharge: The details of the individual's discharge from service.
• Embarkation: When and where the individual was loaded on transport to be sent overseas.
• Enlistment: The details of the individual's enlistment for service.
• Honours and Awards: The details of an individuals’ award. Honours and Awards include things like Mentions in Dispatches, which can be added in the ‘Medals’ text box.
• Involvement: The details of the conflicts and campaigns that the individual served in.
• POW: The dates and place where the individual was interned as a Prisoner of War.
• Promotion: The date on which the individual was promoted.
• Transfer: The date on which the individual was transferred to a new unit.
• Wounded: The details of the individuals’ wounds.
3. Once a history event has been selected from the dropdown box, the accompanying details can then be edited using the text boxes.
4. When you have finished working, click the red button labelled ‘Save’ to complete your work.
Biography
The biography feature is used as a tool to summarise a person's life story. A good biography will focus on a person's military history while also including details of their early life, and if they returned home, highlights of their life after service. Again, a biography should be a summary, so if there is extensive research on a person to be uploaded, it may be more practical to present it in a different format (collating the research on a PDF document and uploading it as a 'Document' for example).
1. When editing the ‘Biography’ page, click the red button labelled ‘Add a Biography’.
2. You will then be presented with a text box where you can enter a biography. Please note, if you copy and paste text from a Word document, the formatting may not carry across into the text box. Text may need to be re-formatted by using the tools above the text box. Where possible, avoid dot-points and the retelling of information already displayed in an individual’s profile. Aim to tell a story by including information besides basic details.
3. When you have finished working, click the red button labelled ‘Save’ to complete your work.
Photos
- Please note all photos must be in .jpg or .jpeg format.
Photos are an important addition to a profile, and are always encouraged to be uploaded. It is important however, to make sure each photo is relevant to the person's profile to which it will be uploaded. If the photo does not pertain specifically to the person of interest, or could be better uploaded elsewhere (such as under 'Documents' or 'Links'), then it most likely will not be uploaded.
1. Click the red button labelled ‘Add a Picture’ to begin editing in the ‘Photos’ page. This will then bring up a menu allowing you to locate the image you wish to upload from your computer. Please note all photos must be in .jpg or .jpeg format. For photos that need to be scanned before being uploaded, 600dpi is preferable.
2. Once you have selected the photo you wish to upload from your computer, it will appear on the webpage. You will then need to select the date the picture was taken (or part of) if known, as well as a caption. Use your best guess if you don't know. Attribution for the photo is also required; that is, information about who owns the photo or where was the photo sourced. Provide a link if you can. Some images may have copyright restrictions and can therefore not be uploaded. You may also wish to set the image as the person’s profile photo by clicking the box (this means it will appear first and alongside the person’s name on the Virtual War Memorial when a profile has more than 1 image).
3. If you are uploading an image that has been uploaded under a "Creative Commons" license, you need to provide an attribution for both the link (URL) of where you found the image and the name of the creator of the image.
4. Click the red button labelled ‘Save’ to complete your work.
Links
The inclusion of links are important, as they direct other users to additional information about a person. It is important that links specifically pertain to the person who's profile they are on. Well constructed profiles often include a link to a Service Record, a link to the Nominal Roll and a link to the Roll of Honour.
1. Click the red button ‘Add a Link’ to begin editing on the ‘Links’ page.
2. In the ‘Link Text’ text box, enter the name you want the link to appear as (e.g ‘Nominal Roll’, ‘1945 Newspaper Article’). Then, copy the URL of the web page you want to link to, and paste it into the URL text box. A websites’ URL is located a the top of your webpage and generally begins with ‘https://’ or ‘http://’.
3. Please check that the URL goes directly to the relevent information. A good way to test is by pasting the link into a new browser tab: if it goes directly to the information you want, it is correct.
4. Click the red button labelled ‘Save’ to complete your work.
Documents
- Please note that all documents must be in .pdf format.
The document feature allows for the inclusion of additional documents to be linked in a person's profile. These may include scanned diary entries or other scanned versions of physical memorabilia, as well as PDF documents with additional information.
1. The ‘Documents’ page can be edited by clicking the red button labelled ‘Add a Document’. Much like the ‘Photos’ page, this will bring up a menu allowing you to choose the document you wish to add from your computer. Please note that all documents must be in .pdf format. For documents that need to be scanned before being uploaded, 400dpi is preferable.
2. The document you have uploaded will appear on screen. You will then need to give your document an appropriate name. This is the name that will appear on the profile and not the name of the document you have uploaded (e.g. the document may be called ‘diary.pdf’ but an appropriate name may be ‘Ronald George Williams Diary Entries’).
3. Click the red button labelled ‘Save’ to complete your work.
Submit
1. Finally, when you are happy with the uploads and edits you have made on the previous pages, use the ‘Submit’ page to finalise your work. Simply click the red button labelled ‘Submit’.
2. You will be directed to a page thanking you for your submission. You have the option of either clicking the red button labelled ‘OK’, which will end your session, or the blue button labelled ‘Make a Dedication’, which will allow you to honour the profile you have been working on with a dedication.
Making a Dedication
A dedication is an opportunity to honour an individual through a donation. They are displayed forever on a person's profile. All proceeds from the dedications go to supporting Virtual War Memorial Australia.
1. When you submit an update to a profile, you will be presented with the option to make a dedication. You can also make a dedication without editing a profile by clicking the blue ‘Make a Dedication’ button on any soldiers’ profile.
2. There a two types of dedications available, the ‘Wattle’ and the ‘Violet’. When selecting wattle, you will need to select a message from the dropbox labelled ‘Select a message from list’. The preview below will change depending on the message you choose. When selecting violet, you may enter a dedication of up to 300 characters in the text box provided. Again, the preview below will change depending on what is typed in the text box. Once you are satisfied with your choice of message, fill out your credit card details in the ‘Payment’ section located on the bottom third of the dedication pop-up.
3. Once this is complete, click the red button labelled ‘Submit’.