Choosing a memorial

To allow pupils to start creating biographies, you first have to choose a memorial (or memorials) to work from. This could be the memorial closest to your school or any other memorial of interest to you.

Select the relevant county and memorial from the dropdown lists, or choose the memorial directly from the map at the bottom of the page. Data relating to a number of Welsh memorials and cemeteries has already been included in the database. This data has been provided by the project partners, The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales and the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. It is not, however, a complete set and there are many more memorials across Wales that need to be identified and included.

Note: It is possible that not all memorials have been pinned on the map so remember to check the dropdown before creating a new memorial record.

Creating a new memorial

If the memorial you would like to research and add biographies to is not listed, you are able to create a new memorial entry by selecting ‘Add new memorial’. This function is only available to teachers. Pupils are not able to create new memorial entries from their accounts.

The ‘Add new memorial’ page allows users to input basic information about the memorial’s history, location and architectural features. The only required fields are:

• Name

• County

• Address – This field can also be geo-located or pinned onto the map by clicking the icon next to the field. You are able to accurately position the pin by using the address lookup in the pop-up window and by dragging the pin to its correct location on the map.

All of the other fields are optional.

Upon submitting the memorial record, it will immediately become visible to other Wales at War users and will be available for pupils to start adding their biographies of the men and women commemorated on the memorial.

Creating biographies

Only pupils are able to submit biographies for publication. Pupils do not have to create biographies on their own. They can work in groups or you can work on a biography as a class.

As a teacher, you can assign specific biographies to specific pupils or groups through the admin dashboard. To do this, click on ‘Add individual’. Input the individual’s first name and surname and save the draft. This draft will then appear in your admin dashboard where you will have the option to assign the biography.

How to approve biographies

Once the pupil has completed their research and submitted the biography for approval, a notification will be sent to you so that you can review and approve the content prior to its publication. Biographies awaiting approval can be found in the admin dashboard under the ‘Biography entries’ tab, along with those biographies that have already been approved.

Biographies can either be approved or returned to the pupil for further changes. Comments can be added to the biographies before they returned outlining any amendments that are required.

Biographies will become publicly available to all Wales at War users once they are approved.

We understand that you may not be able to check every detail in the biographies, but we would ask that, at a minimum, you ensure that there are no blatant errors or evidence of misuse.