Introducing Keepsakes: Where Your Memories Live

Introducing Keepsakes: Where Your Memories Live

Keepsakes are a major feature of Heirloom, where you can organize multi-media memories and stories about your life.

Whether you’re starting your first Keepsake or navigating your collection of Keepsakes, you will find the primary points of access in your “Home” Dashboard. 

Locate Your Starting Point

There are several places that you can start your first Keepsake: 
  1. Through your Home Dashboard titled, “Start creating your Legacy Room”.



  1. Through the “Add Keepsake” button on the left navigation panel.



  1. Through your “Keepsakes” area on the left navigation panel, both in the “All” and “Timeline” views.


      'All' view of the Keepsake area showing where to add a Keepsake.


      'Timeline' view of the Keepsake area showing where to add a Keepsake.

Step 1: Choose Your Topic

After clicking on your starting point, you’ll be prompted to select one of the following topics to help categorize and organize your Keepsakes in your Legacy Room.
  • Life Stories
  • My Roots
  • My Places
  • My Achievements
  • Pastimes and Passions
  • Treats and Treasures




If you are unsure of which topic is most fitting for your memory or you’re not sure which memory you want to start with, don’t worry! We have some tips to help you select one that feels good now, and you can change it later too. 




After selecting a topic, Weaver (your AI assistant) will offer areas of inspiration to help recall details of the memory for creating your Keepsake. Additionally, you can jump straight in and click "Create Keepsake" once you’ve got your idea, or you can click "Start Over" to refresh Weaver's offers.




Step 2: Start creating your Keepsake

We understand that writing about a memory after time has passed can be difficult, so we recommend drafting any Keepsake entry--especially text--in a separate place on your device to save it from potential loss due to connectivity or browser issues. 

You’ll then be prompted to select the format of the Keepsake you’d like to create (ie. Photo, Video, Audio, or Text). 



Photo:
For a photo-based Keepsake, you begin with a single image (you’ll be able to upload more images in the next step), followed by a relevant title for your Keepsake and then a story about your image. This can be a description of what is portrayed, context of the moment, or a feeling that is invoked by this picture--let your creativity flow down memory lane. 



Audio:
To create an audio Keepsake, you can either record the audio or upload the audio file from your device. To record an audio, select "Record Audio," and follow the instructions given in the pop up window to create and save the recording. 

After giving the audio Keepsake a title, and a relevant description of its context and significance, you can adjust the topic for organization, add the date, and even tag a location. Finish the core details of your Keepsake with a cover photo uploaded as the Thumbnail.

For example, you may record the story of a camping adventure with friends in college - you can add the date of departure and tag the location of the campsite too. 



Video: 
Record a video on the webpage or upload a video file to your Keepsake and give it a brief title to describe the content of the video or the related story (you’ll be able to add more information later too).

Next, you’ll have the option to change the topic assigned to it, add the date and tag a location. 



The last part of your Video Keepsake is a cover picture (titled "Thumbnail"), which you can either upload as an image, or you can take a picture of a single frame from the video as your Thumbnail. 



Text:
When starting your text Keepsake, you can write about your memory from the inspiration given by Weaver or you can copy and paste text from another application.

If your copied text is already formatted (such as bold or italics), these formats will carry across to your Keepsake. If you’re having trouble, you can format it in your Keepsake form as your creativity desires.

Like the other Keepsake formats, you can change the categorizing topic if you wish, and you’ll need to give it a title. Additionally, you can choose to add a date and location if applicable. 



Step 3: Enrich your Keepsake

Once you have added the basics to the Keepsake, you will be given the option to finalize the following: 
  1. Privacy settings (ie. select "Private" to protect the Keepsake for your eyes only, or select "Public" to share it with loved ones). 


Please note that if you select a Keepsake to be "Public", then your profile will become public too. You can control the visibility of your profile in your "Privacy Settings".



  1. Tag profiles of important people in your life, be they family or friends. You can learn how to create a new profile in the next support page which is linked at the bottom of this page. Please note: profiles you tag to content (such as Keepsakes) will only be viewed as 'tagged' if you make that content public. To share any content with a loved one directly, you will need to share the URL independently from Heirloom's platform. Your Tribe Members will not be notified of anything you do with their profiles within your private Heirloom account. Your privacy remains our priority. 
  2. Add a gallery of photos to expand the ambience of the memory
  3. Include interesting links for additional media, such as songs, videos or articles. Please note that when you are adding the link, there is an "Add" and a "Save" button - be sure to click both.



  1. Attach relevant documents like PDFs or spreadsheets. 



You can now save your Keepsake, congratulations!

But wait! There's more!

Here are some alternative ways to start your Keepsake

If you wish to add a Keepsake related to a specific member's profile, you also have the option to click the "Add Keepsake" button on their profile directly. You can view the profiles of your community of loved ones in your “My Tribe” area.

Add a Keepsake via a profile in "My Tribe".



If you are in the "Family Tree Builder", you will also find an "Add Keepsake" button there for your convenience. If you are unfamiliar with these features, no problem! We'll walk you through them in the next few support pages! 



Well done! By following these steps, you’ve made a Keepsake for your Legacy Room. 

NEXT, learn how to view and organize your Keepsake on your Life Timeline.