Stay up to date with the latest improvements to OpenHeritage.
Version 2.11.2 - September 2026
Read documents where the text appears
The document viewer can now show Page XML text regions directly over a scanned page. Select a passage to focus the matching part of the image and read the transcription alongside it, making dense archival pages easier to navigate and verify.
Clearer guidance for burial information
Ukrainian memorial pages now link to clear guidance on why burial information may be public and how to request a correction, restriction, or removal when appropriate.
Version 2.11.1 - September 2026
Faster Marketplace listing preparation
When preparing a Marketplace listing, you can now copy an existing item as a starting point, change a draft's item type, and manage its translated content with clearer language tabs. This makes it easier to create a well-presented offer without repeating routine work.
Clearer availability at a glance
Marketplace listings now show the available quantity and the number already sold where applicable. Catalogue cards also adapt more smoothly to different screen sizes, making offers easier to compare on any device.
Guided search for better discoveries
The refreshed global search makes it simpler to focus results by record type, broaden a search when needed, and explore related records when available. Clearer results and helpful next steps make research easier when a query has no exact match.
Version 2.11.0 - August 2026
The OpenHeritage Marketplace is here
Discover heritage-related digital resources, services, and selected physical items in one public catalogue. Every listing has its own shareable page with images, details, a clear OpenHeritage Points price, and a localized experience for researchers everywhere.
A clearer journey from discovery to delivery
Availability is shown before you place an order, including stock and any per-person limit. Afterward, a focused order timeline keeps fulfilment updates, delivery details, and next steps together. Approved contributors also have dedicated spaces to manage their listings and work.
More precise search
Search now respects intentional spacing in a query, more accurately reflecting what you are looking for.
Clearer not-found pages
Friendlier not-found pages help visitors return to useful research paths.
Choose your OpenHeritage look
Choose between the Classic and Modern Civic visual themes for the OpenHeritage experience that suits you.
Version 2.10.7 — August 2026
Personal API tokens for your integrations
Signed-in users can now create, review, and revoke personal API tokens from their profile. Choose the access needed for an integration and use the linked API documentation to get started.
Read source content in your preferred language
Source descriptions now prioritise your site and browser language preferences. When translations are available, switch between them with language tabs or a compact selector on smaller screens.
New DNA research option
The Ukrainian DNA guide now includes a MyHeritage link for people who want to explore DNA research options.
Version 2.10.6 — August 2026
Continue Karma linking after sign-up
If Karma linking brings you to sign in or register, OpenHeritage now returns you to the Karma page and preserves your one-time link code. You can continue linking your accounts without starting again.
Version 2.10.5 — August 2026
Transparent Karma impact rules
The Karma page now shows the active OpenHeritage impact policy, including the contribution types and impact units currently recognised. This makes it clearer how different accepted contributions are evaluated before their cumulative impact is shared with Karma.
Better discovery of public heritage records
Public memorials, collections, and contributor profiles now receive broader localized sitemap coverage, helping people discover published heritage records through search engines.
Clearer password sign-in feedback
Password sign-in now provides more helpful, localized feedback for common credential problems, making it easier to understand what to do next.
Version 2.10.4 — August 2026
Karma recognition for accepted contributions
Link your OpenHeritage account to Karma to receive cumulative recognition for eligible, verified contributions. The new Karma page lets you link accounts, follow synchronisation, and review recognised work, including accepted historical contributions after linking.
More contribution credits
OpenHeritage Points now also recognise approved sources, source documents, and historical photos. Available reward rules and your history remain visible on the Points page.
More reliable document ordering
Documents now sort consistently by their creation date, including older records, so date-ordered views are more dependable.
Better language detection and selection
When no preference has been saved, OpenHeritage now better follows supported browser language preferences. The language picker is also clearer and more reliable as the page becomes interactive.
More accessible sign-in and contribution forms
Login and registration alerts, agreement controls, cemetery selection, and upload status now have clearer labels and announcements for keyboard and assistive-technology users.
Version 2.10.3 — August 2026
Open archive references in Duck Archive Inspector
Compatible archive references in source and document-record views now provide a direct link to Duck Archive Inspector, making it quicker to continue research in the archive's external search.
Easier language selection
The language menu now uses consistent country flags for every supported locale, making the current language and available choices easier to scan.
Version 2.10.2 — August 2026
Contributor points and rewards
The new Points page helps signed-in contributors follow their balance and reward history. Points recognise eligible contributions, including new memorials, research, transcription, and review work; the available rules are shown clearly on the page.
Explore historical places on the map
A new historical places map lets researchers browse catalog places through the available years, select a place directly from the map, and open its details for further research.
Clearer historical map context
Maps now select the geometry that best fits the chosen period, distinguishing a place's location from its historical boundary where that information is available.
More precise place matching
Place searches now prioritize exact matches to known authority identifiers and handle large result sets more reliably, making it easier to find the intended catalog place.
Interactive memorial location previews
Memorial information panels now show an interactive map preview when coordinates are available, providing geographic context before opening the full map.
Clearer social account creation
When signing in through Google or Telegram requires a new account, a dedicated dialog now clearly explains the next step instead of showing a generic error.
Version 2.10.1 — August 2026
Source change history and restoration
Signed-in contributors can now open a source's revision history, compare a selected revision with its previous or current version, and, where their role allows, restore a confirmed earlier version.
Find sources by location readiness
The Sources page can filter records by location name, coordinates, linked catalog place, or no location. Simple status icons give a quick indication of the strongest location information on each source.
Richer source language and origin details
Source editing and import now capture the languages represented in materials and additional origin details, including the original date and source metadata. This makes descriptions clearer when sources are multilingual or require historical context.
Consolidate duplicate places with review
Place editors can merge two matching catalog places through a review dialog, choose surviving facts, and resolve conflicts before confirming. Connected source references are preserved as the catalog is consolidated.
Version 2.10.0 — August 2026
Download the places catalog
The Places page can now export the public catalog as CSV, making it easier to reuse place names, types, coordinates, and external references in research or local analysis.
More precise place browsing
Browse places with a structured, localized type catalog and filter for places without coordinates, root places, or isolated places. Active filters remain reflected in the page link, so a focused view is easier to revisit or share.
Richer historical place context
Place pages now present direct related places in a clearer table with their relationship and time period. Where several geometries are available, choose the relevant historical period on the map to compare how a place was represented over time.
Better public place discovery
Public place pages now receive dedicated search metadata and are added to the site map as the catalog grows, helping researchers find individual locations through web search.
Ten more interface languages
OpenHeritage is now available in French, Romanian, Italian, Spanish, Czech, Kazakh, Turkish, Hungarian, Slovak, and Georgian. The language picker, localized routes, and search metadata recognize these languages throughout the platform.
Localized terms of service
The terms of service are now presented directly in the selected interface language, including during registration, for a clearer and more consistent account setup experience.
Clearer source context for place contributions
When creating or editing a place, contributors can record its source context in one dedicated section: dataset and record identifiers, citation and link, confidence level, statement reference, and temporal basis. This makes later review of place information easier.
Version 2.9.14 — August 2026
Source coverage calendar (Early access)
The early-access source coverage calendar can now export the current view as CSV. Download records for selected years, every matching dated year, or an open-ended or undated group while retaining the selected places, locations, and research filters.
More focused availability filters
Classification filters now show only terms represented by matching sources, including relevant unclassified records. Result cards display their classifications, and yearly totals more reliably reflect sources that are available to open.
Faster place discovery
Finding a catalog place now supports partial-name search, making it easier to select a place before reviewing its sources across dates.
Improved map source details
When several sources share a map location, their grouped details now include available coverage years, making comparisons from the map more useful.
Version 2.9.13 — August 2026
Source coverage calendar (Early access)
The new early-access source coverage calendar helps researchers see which archival and genealogy materials exist for each place and year. Select multiple catalog or OpenStreetMap places, scan yearly source counts, choose one or several years, and inspect records with finite, open-ended, or unknown dates.
Research-focused filters and match review
Coverage can be filtered by record kind and life event, with date certainty shown alongside yearly results. Sources explicitly linked to a catalog place are separated from possible matches based on unlinked names or coordinates, making uncertain results easier to review without hiding potentially useful material.
Historical maps alongside source availability
Selected places remain visible on a modern map while a chosen year can add a matching georeferenced historical map. When no sheet exists for the exact year, the closest available map can be shown, with controls for sheet selection, opacity, fitting, and opening the full comparison view.
Better source classification and place linking
Source editing and import now support structured record-kind and life-event classifications. Coverage locations can be linked to catalog places, selected from nearby suggestions after choosing a point on the map, or retained with a name and coordinates for later review; source and place pages link directly into the coverage calendar.
More reliable source and map browsing
Source summaries with linked documents now load more efficiently and consistently show the newest visible documents for each source. Research markers open the correct place details, while cemetery and related map updates are reflected more reliably.
Smoother signed-in page startup
Signed-in pages now recognize the current account earlier during the first render and preserve that state as the interactive page starts, reducing temporary anonymous controls and avoidable interface refreshes.
Version 2.9.12 — August 2026
Faster unified heritage map
The main map has been rebuilt to explore sources, research places, cemeteries, and repositories as selectable layers. It loads records for the visible area, groups dense results into clusters, and reveals more detail as you zoom, keeping large collections responsive across modern, satellite, and historical basemaps.
Source filters and richer marker details
Mapped sources can now be filtered by material type, one or more authors, and year range. Marker panels provide clearer localized details and links to the full record, while author profiles can open their related sources directly on the map.
More dependable shared map views
Links to the main map, cemetery map, photo map, and historical-map comparison now preserve their intended position, zoom, basemap, layers, and supported filters more reliably. Opening or moving a map no longer causes its initial URL state to be unnecessarily replaced or repeatedly refreshed.
Smoother author browsing
The author directory now normalizes invalid or outdated paging values and keeps the visible page synchronized with its URL. Shared and edited author-list links therefore recover predictably instead of opening an empty or invalid page.
More current map results
Map layers now stay more consistent when related sources, researches, repositories, or cemeteries are updated or removed, reducing stale markers and missing changes.
Version 2.9.11 — August 2026
Authors and creator profiles
A new Authors area brings together the people and organizations responsible for historical materials. Search names and aliases, and explore profiles with multilingual names, biographies, life or activity dates, external links, and related public sources, maps, and photos.
Structured credits across materials
Sources, historical maps, and photo assets can now credit reusable author records with specific roles such as author, editor, translator, cartographer, or photographer. Ordered credits remain connected to their profiles and can be consolidated without losing links to the credited materials.
Easier discovery and contribution
Global search now includes authors, while source, map, and photo listings can be filtered by one or more creators. Signed-in contributors can create and edit author profiles, assign credits during editing or upload, and review imported names against existing profiles before matching or creating records.
Clearer source document viewer
Source documents now use a cleaner responsive layout that keeps useful metadata and the parent source visible while avoiding empty sections. Source-level credits are no longer presented as if they were authors of an individual document.
Version 2.9.10 — August 2026
Duplicate map warnings
Map uploads now detect exact copies and visually very similar images before a duplicate record is created. Contributors can inspect the existing map and continue only when adding another copy is intentional.
Stronger georeferencing quality checks
Reference-point quality is now evaluated consistently during editing and processing. A conflicting point is clearly highlighted and can be opened directly for correction or removal, invalid coordinates are rejected, and processing errors lead contributors back to the editor with a useful next step.
More reliable document images
Document images with more complex JPEG or HEIF encodings now produce previews more reliably. Large page-image uploads also provide clearer feedback when a file is damaged or cannot be displayed.
Richer public access for compatible AI clients
Compatible AI clients can now open public memorials, cemeteries, sources, collections, documents, pages, and available public images directly after discovery. This provides more complete read-only context than search results alone.
Fresher map files
Public map images and exports now refresh more reliably after an update while retaining the performance benefits of caching, reducing the chance of an older file being shown or downloaded.
Version 2.9.9 — August 2026
Interactive map georeferencing
Map owners can now create or improve geographic alignment directly in the browser. Match locations on a scanned map to a modern, satellite, or historical reference map, preview the overlay live, adjust transparency, and save the result.
Quality guidance for reference points
The workspace shows coverage, point distribution, errors, and possible outliers. It helps contributors spread points more effectively and shows when georeferencing is ready to save.
Faster high-detail overlay previews
The scanned map now starts preparing as soon as the workspace opens, so the overlay is usually ready before it is needed. A clear loading indicator remains visible when preparation takes longer, while map-specific processing preserves fine labels, symbols, and linework at the highest practical detail without unnecessary data transfer.
More precise map editing
Contributors can define the useful printed map area and let the workspace recommend the most suitable transformation for the available reference points. Keyboard controls make it quicker to undo, remove a selected point, cancel the current action, or temporarily hide the scan while checking the reference map.
Download historical maps as GeoTIFF
Ready georeferenced maps can now be downloaded from their detail page as a Cloud Optimized GeoTIFF in EPSG:3857. The export opens directly in GIS software and reuses the processed overlay, so no additional conversion job is needed.
More reliable scans and memorial links
Preview generation now handles a wider range of complex image encodings more reliably. Links from cemetery surname statistics also ignore empty or accidental surrounding spaces, preventing broken or misleading memorial searches.
Version 2.9.8 — July 2026
More flexible historical map comparison
Historical map comparison now offers a side-by-side view alongside blend and swipe modes. An optional center aim keeps both maps aligned while you explore changes in detail.
More reliable large map uploads
Large map images and coordinate-mapping files are now uploaded in smaller parts with progress feedback and automatic retries. This makes map contributions more dependable on slow or unstable connections, with clearer localized messages if a problem needs attention.
Smoother repeat visits and sharing
Map comparison tiles are retained more effectively for faster repeat visits. Shared links also remove temporary navigation state, so the links you send are cleaner and open directly to the intended view.
Version 2.9.7 — July 2026
Historical maps
OpenHeritage now has a dedicated historical maps area where you can search map sheets by text, date, visibility, or owner, browse catalog details, and share public map records with their source links and attribution.
Compare past and present
Georeferenced maps can be compared with modern or historical basemaps in either blend or swipe mode. Adjust the overlay opacity or drag the divider to explore how places and landscapes have changed.
Contribute and manage maps
Signed-in contributors can add and edit map records with multilingual titles and descriptions, dates, source links, visibility, an image, and coordinate mapping. Processing status is shown so contributors know when comparison is ready.
Version 2.9.6 — July 2026
Smarter birth and death place suggestions
Birthplace and death-place fields in the memorial person editor now use autocomplete. Suggestions combine frequently used places from existing memorial data with localized OpenStreetMap results, remove duplicates, and still allow a custom value to be entered.
Editable document page metadata
Document owners and authorized editors can now add or edit multilingual titles, plain-text or Markdown descriptions, and reference links for individual document pages. The localized editor provides clearer feedback while preserving structured connections to related records.
RAR archive support in Telegram
The Telegram import workflow now accepts supported RAR archives alongside ZIP files. Large imports are handled more reliably, with localized summaries and clearer feedback when content cannot be processed.
More resilient large uploads
Large source-document uploads now recover more reliably from interruptions during completion, reducing the need to upload the same file again.
Direct links in MCP search results
Public MCP search results now include canonical OpenHeritage links for supported records. Compatible agents can open the relevant public page directly from a search result.
More consistent access and error handling
Access handling and API error responses are now more consistent across the platform. Users receive clearer messages when a request cannot be completed, while support diagnostics have also been improved.
Platform-wide upload availability control
Platform operators can now pause file uploads independently of full read-only mode. Users receive a clear localized message whenever uploads are temporarily unavailable.
More stable image and file viewing
Image and file viewing now handles rapid navigation and early closing more reliably, reducing viewer errors during page transitions.
Faster page startup and smoother navigation
The frontend now delivers smaller, optimized downloads, reuses data loaded during initial page rendering, and loads map and rich-text resources only when needed. This reduces startup work, duplicate requests, and waiting when moving between supported public pages.
Faster memorial and article browsing
Memorial lists now request compact paginated results instead of full records, reducing data transfer and rendering work while preserving search, filtering, and sorting. The article catalog is cached and reused, making article navigation faster and more consistent.
Better toolbars on every screen
Search, filter, column, and action controls now wrap and regroup more clearly across collections, places, sources, source documents, source management, and cemetery surname statistics. Wide-screen workflows stay compact while controls remain accessible on phones and tablets.
JPEG XL image support
JPEG XL (.jxl) images can now be uploaded for memorial photos, photo assets, source-document pages, and Telegram imports. OpenHeritage identifies the format correctly and creates the variants needed for viewing and editing.
More reliable Telegram imports
Telegram imports now automatically retry temporary file-retrieval failures. This helps large or intermittent transfers complete more reliably, while clear feedback remains available if the file cannot be prepared.
More reliable automated collections
Automated collections now handle concurrent updates more reliably, preventing duplicate generated collections and keeping imported material organized consistently.
Operational reliability improvements
Backup handling and database monitoring guidance have been improved to support long-running operations and clearer platform health diagnostics.
Version 2.9.5 — July 2026
Privacy regions for memorial photos
Memorial owners and authorized editors can now protect people shown in memorial photos by drawing privacy regions or detecting faces automatically. Regions can be moved, resized, or removed with mouse, touch, and keyboard controls, then rendered with an opaque mask or heavy blur. The editor, protected-image status, and review flow are localized in every supported language.
More reliable protected image variants
Image processing now keeps stable, persistent original and thumbnail variants with render metadata that reflects privacy redactions. Stale derivatives are detected and regenerated when protection settings change, while custom-size images remain transient and obsolete variants are cleaned up, reducing storage growth and preventing outdated images from being served.
Stricter memorial import validation
Memorial imports now validate person names, notes, references, date enum values, partial dates, and date-range endpoints more thoroughly. Invalid records are rejected earlier, matched memorial totals are reported more accurately, and user-filter parsing and import error handling are clearer.
Correct Markdown in collection descriptions
Linked collection descriptions on source details pages now preserve their content format. Markdown descriptions render with their intended formatting, while plain-text descriptions retain line breaks instead of appearing as unformatted Markdown source.
Safer handling of flagged memorials
The memorial-flag event handler is now registered correctly. When a memorial is flagged, pending transcription and review tasks for it are canceled so volunteers are not directed to content awaiting moderation.
More reliable sitemap publication and cleanup
Sitemap publishing now supports safer incremental refreshes, retained publication history, and guarded cleanup of obsolete sitemap files in object storage. New catalog indexes and consistency checks help keep active sitemap data available while stale publications and orphaned artifacts are removed.
Database and dependency maintenance
MongoDB index creation has been consolidated to avoid redundant work and add the indexes needed by the updated sitemap catalog. Core API, image-processing, machine-learning, and application dependencies have also been refreshed.
Version 2.9.4 — July 2026
Inline source document reading
Source pages can now show document files and pages directly in an inline reader. The new experience includes a page grid, keyboard navigation, progressive page loading, zoom and reset controls, full-screen viewing, and a confirmation step before loading large assets.
More reliable memorial CSV imports
Memorial CSV imports now handle quoted and multiline fields more reliably, report precise row and column errors, and provide clearer feedback from lookup and import operations. The import flow also improves automatic and editable column mapping, partial genealogy date validation, review of ambiguous memorial matches, cancellation handling, and operation state management.
Dedicated localized Contacts page
A new Contacts page presents configured public contact methods and the feedback form in every supported language, with localized navigation and SEO metadata. The old “How It Works” page has been retired in favor of more focused help and contact routes.
Contextual video guides
Relevant Ukrainian-language video guides are now linked directly from the Home, Gramps Web, and Researches pages, making practical guidance easier to find where it is needed.
Multilingual access for AI agents
A new localized AI-agent access page explains OpenHeritage's public MCP server, available search tools, portable Agent Skills, machine-readable discovery documents, example requests, and responsible-use guidance. Agent and Contacts routes have also been added to the sitemap, while public MCP transport is now stateless for more reliable independent search requests.
Markdown responses for compatible clients
Compatible clients can request public pages as text/markdown. OpenHeritage now converts HTML responses into cleaner Markdown, supplies original and converted token counts, and publishes content-use signals that make pages easier for AI agents and other automated clients to process responsibly.
Easier sharing across key pages
Compact copy-link, native-share, and QR-code controls are now available on cemetery, collection, source, and document pages. Their responsive layout has also been improved for narrow screens.
Safer multilingual source descriptions
Source creation and update workflows now reject duplicate description-language entries, preventing ambiguous localized metadata from being saved.
Localization, routing, and dependency maintenance
Outdated “How It Works” localization and sitemap entries have been removed, supported locale routing has been aligned with the current pages, and application package references have been refreshed across the platform.
Version 2.9.3 — July 2026
Public MCP search and server card
OpenHeritage now exposes public MCP search tools together with a server card, making it easier for compatible clients and agents to discover and query public platform data.
Faster cemetery surname statistics
Cemetery surname statistics now use caching and smarter invalidation, helping surname views load faster while staying more up to date after memorial changes.
Better localized collection content
Collection lists and detail views now do a better job choosing preferred localized titles and descriptions, so collection content is presented more naturally across languages.
Safer PDF upload validation
PDF upload validation has been strengthened to detect unsafe document behavior more reliably.
More consistent localized navigation
Navigation has been refactored further around locale-aware routing, helping localized URLs behave more consistently across the platform.
Secured bulk page deletion route
The bulk document-page deletion route now has an explicit authentication requirement, making page cleanup workflows safer.
Version 2.9.2 — July 2026
Better public-profile SEO
Public user profile pages now include dedicated SEO meta tags, helping profile content be presented more clearly in search and link previews.
Locale-aware navigation and routing
Platform navigation now handles locale-aware routes more consistently, improving cross-language navigation and route resolution across key pages.
Clearer task-reservation feedback
Community task workflows now handle stale task reservations more gracefully and show clearer feedback when a task is no longer available.
Background provisioning for Gramps Web trees
Gramps Web tree creation now supports background provisioning, making long-running setup flows smoother and giving better status handling during tree preparation.
Expanded agent discovery and skills
OpenHeritage now exposes richer agent-skills discovery with specialized skills for archives, memorials, photos, and researches, making automated clients easier to connect and guide.
Updated crawler and AI access directives
robots.txt has been refined to restrict AI input access while still allowing search and training-related discovery signals, and sitemap request limits were increased for smoother crawler access.
Version 2.9.1 — July 2026
Fixes
This release focused on fixes and operational refinements, including safer source-document event handling, improved source-collection mutation protection, clearer sitemap access behavior, and more graceful shutdown handling in background services.
Version 2.9.0 — July 2026
Better robots.txt and sitemap handling
OpenHeritage now serves a more capable robots.txt and improved sitemap publication flow, helping public content be discovered and indexed more reliably.
Cleaner Assistant links
Assistant responses now normalize platform URLs more consistently, so shared links are cleaner and easier to follow.
Bulk document page deletion
Source document workflows now support bulk deletion of document pages, making large page cleanups faster.
API catalog for agent discovery
The platform now exposes an API catalog endpoint for agent and integration discovery, making automated clients easier to connect.
Better document uploads and validation
Document uploads now handle DjVu files more cleanly and apply stronger upload validation, including improved checksum handling for stored content.
More natural document ordering and indexing
Imported files now preserve a more natural filename order, and source document indexing has been streamlined so document changes surface more reliably across the platform.
Polished navigation and description handling
Feedback navigation in the main menu is smoother, and document pages do a better job detecting visible description content.
Stronger collection automation reconciliation
Collection automation now includes improved reconciliation logic and caching, helping automated collection hierarchies stay more consistent while processing updates more efficiently.
Richer collection details pages
Collection pages now include dedicated panels for child collections and linked sources, making it easier to explore collection structure and related records from one place.
Version 2.8.9 — July 2026
More reliable request protection
The platform now uses a more robust fixed-window rate-limiting flow with Redis support and an in-memory fallback, helping request protection stay stable even when infrastructure conditions vary.
Smoother document viewer lifecycle
Document Viewer now initializes and cleans up browser interop more safely, reducing the chance of viewer issues during navigation and repeated opening or closing of documents.
Better handling of canceled requests
Several services and repositories now handle canceled operations more cleanly, improving stability when requests are interrupted or users navigate away mid-load.
Version 2.8.8 — July 2026
Assistant feedback
You can now rate Assistant replies and full conversations, making it easier to share what was helpful and improve future Assistant responses.
Collections in search
Platform search now includes Collections, so you can discover collection pages directly alongside other OpenHeritage search results.
Better source document filtering
Source document browsing now includes improved filtering options, helping you narrow document lists more quickly.
Preserved reading position in documents
Document navigation now does a better job preserving your viewport position, making long reading sessions smoother when moving between document pages.
Version 2.8.7 — July 2026
Platform read-only mode
OpenHeritage can now switch into a read-only mode across key pages and components. This helps keep public browsing available while temporarily limiting editing, submissions, and other write actions when needed.
Better banner structure for search visibility
The platform banner component has been reworked with a cleaner structure that is easier for search engines to read, helping important page content be understood more clearly.
Version 2.8.6 — July 2026
Smarter Assistant citations and links
The OpenHeritage Assistant now does a better job extracting grounded citations from search results and returning cleaner direct links to relevant platform pages.
Saved column preferences for Collections
The Collections page now lets you keep your preferred column layout, making it easier to browse collection data the way you want.
Storage usage in Document Viewer
Document Viewer now shows storage usage details, giving you clearer visibility into document size and file storage footprint.
DjVu support for source documents
Source documents now support DjVu uploads and processing, expanding the range of archival formats you can work with in OpenHeritage.
Version 2.8.5 — July 2026
Automated collections for moderators
Moderators can now configure automated source collections from repository reference codes, including rules for fund, inventory, and case hierarchies.
Better collection management workflows
Collection management now includes clearer automation controls and more structured automation metadata for generated child collections.
More reliable search index maintenance
Background maintenance now keeps search and repository indexing more stable and compact.
Version 2.8.4 — July 2026
More reliable external synchronization
External archive sync and import flows are more reliable, helping connected content stay up to date.
More stable routing
Platform navigation and routes now behave more consistently after recent fixes.
Version 2.8.3 — July 2026
Faster source lists
Source lists now load faster and respond more smoothly when browsing repositories and referenced sources.
Version 2.8.2 — July 2026
Collections for organizing sources
OpenHeritage now includes Collections for grouping and organizing source entities. You can browse collections, open collection details, edit them, and see linked collection context directly from source pages.
Reordering document pages
Source documents now support reordering pages through the platform API, making it easier to correct page sequence when imported or uploaded pages arrive in the wrong order.
More reliable sitemap generation
Sitemap generation has been fixed again for source documents so public content is indexed more reliably.
Version 2.8.1 — June 2026
Shorter document links and better document visibility
Source documents now use shorter, more SEO-friendly public routes. Documents can also manage their own visibility more explicitly, making public and restricted document access clearer.
Smarter uploads and file-size handling
Upload limits are now driven by configuration and aligned more closely with the actual supported file sizes. The upload flow also does a better job of skipping incorrect files and preserving the right upload order.
Better maps and directions
Several map surfaces now use MapLibre-based components, and memorial and cemetery pages can offer direct directions through popular navigation apps.
Stronger Telegram bot workflows
The Telegram bot now supports platform-wide search, smoother onboarding, better handling for larger files, and more reliable source-import behavior.
Version 2.8.0 — June 2026
Google sign-in and registration
OpenHeritage now supports Google login and registration, making it easier to create an account or sign in without a password-only flow.
Source import from Telegram
The Telegram bot can now help import sources from Telegram, extending the bot workflow from notifications and account tools into source-ingest tasks.
Better Telegram bot connectivity
The platform now supports a custom Telegram Bot API setup and includes a dedicated Telegram Bot API proxy service. The bot integration has also been refined to work more reliably across those paths.
File upload fixes
Document and file upload handling has been tightened up with better MIME-type normalization, safer upload-session completion, and stronger validation around accepted files.
Version 2.7.5 — June 2026
Broader Telegram bot language support
The Telegram bot now supports more interface languages, including the newer platform locales, so bot interactions stay localized more consistently.
Richer Telegram bot account features
The Telegram bot now shows richer statistics and uses a cleaner backend authentication flow, while older legacy bot logic has been removed to simplify the overall experience.
Version 2.7.4 — June 2026
German language support
OpenHeritage now adds German interface support across a large part of the platform, including localized pages, navigation, and SEO metadata.
Faster memorial browsing
The memorial list and memorial details pages now load more smoothly, helping pages feel quicker when opening records and moving between results.
The new cemetery map is now the default
The improved cemetery map experience has become the main cemetery map. It also includes continued updates on the new map flow together with the latest MapLibre upgrade.
Better transcription and document SEO
The transcription flow now offers name suggestions while entering people, and the document viewer has received additional SEO fixes for public pages.
Version 2.7.3 — June 2026
Better search indexing for sources and new languages
Source sitemap generation has been improved, and IndexNow updates now include the newer language versions. This helps source pages and localized content stay easier for search engines to discover and refresh.
Version 2.7.2 — June 2026
Hebrew and Portuguese language support
OpenHeritage now adds Hebrew and Portuguese interface support across a large part of the platform, including localized pages, navigation, and SEO metadata.
Memorial split tool
Memorial managers and moderators can now split a memorial into separate records when people or images were grouped together incorrectly. The split workflow has also been refined to make review and reassignment clearer.
Gramps Web is easier to access
The Gramps Web section is now opened up more broadly, with a smoother entry path from the main navigation and better handling for tree creation details such as usernames and passwords.
Better document and image delivery
The document viewer now has improved SEO behavior, and memorial image delivery has been refined for a more reliable media-loading flow.
Version 2.7.1 — June 2026
More reliable Gramps Web tree creation (early access)
Gramps Web tree creation now handles username collisions more gracefully. If the suggested owner username is already taken, you can choose a different Gramps Web username instead of getting stuck on the default one.
Clearer password handling for Gramps Web (early access)
When you choose your own Gramps Web password, OpenHeritage no longer stores it. The Gramps page now explains that manual passwords cannot be revealed later and must be recovered through Gramps Web if lost.
More stable configuration and sitemap generation
Frontend configuration loading is now safer during server-side rendering, and large sitemap generation has been fixed to behave more reliably.
Completed public profile role translations
Public profile pages now include the missing translation for the cemetery moderator role.
Version 2.7.0 — June 2026
Gramps Web integration (early access)
OpenHeritage now includes Gramps Web integration. Signed-in users can create and open a hosted Gramps Web family tree from their OpenHeritage account.
More SEO-friendly source documents
Source document pages now use cleaner direct URLs for document pages, entries, entry pages, and files. Search metadata and sitemap data for source documents have also been improved so public documents are easier to discover and share.
Easier navigation from sources to documents
The sources list now gives clearer access to related documents, making it faster to jump from a source overview into the document records connected to it.
Linked photo contributors
Contributor names on photo pages can now link to the contributor's public profile, making it easier to explore related uploads and attribution.
Version 2.6.8 — June 2026
Fixed memorial edit request routing
Memorial edit saves now route correctly through the BFF for individual memorial records, and the memorial edit rate limit applies to the updated route as expected.
Improved sitemap and SEO maintenance
Static sitemap metadata has been refreshed for key localized pages, and the SEO checking script has been expanded to make future search-preview checks easier to run and review.
Version 2.6.7 — June 2026
Memorial creators can now delete their own memorials
Users who created a memorial can now remove it directly from the memorial editing flow when deletion is allowed, without needing a separate moderator action.
Better document viewer editing and navigation
The document viewer now handles tab and deep-link navigation more reliably, and inserting page references into advanced descriptions works more smoothly while editing.
Improved memorial moderation and browsing
The memorial moderation queue now offers better filtering and faster navigation to related content, while memorial list and detail views have been refined for a smoother browsing experience.
Better search-engine previews across more pages
SEO metadata and structured data have been improved across memorial, source, repository, photo, person-on-photo, and map pages, and source pages now refresh more reliably during in-app navigation.
Version 2.6.6 — June 2026
Restored memorial and cemetery moderator access
Moderator access for memorial and cemetery management has been restored across the relevant editing, image, and moderation flows, so elevated managers can reach the tools they need more reliably again.
Better Archium page ordering during archive import
Archive imports from Archium now preserve page order more accurately by using file timestamps for scanned page uploads, helping imported document pages stay in the expected sequence.
Version 2.6.5 — June 2026
Fixed memorial plot information editing
Editing memorial plot information is now more reliable. Changes to section, subsection, row, and place fields are tracked correctly, and clearing plot location data now saves as expected.
Improved AI agent model support
The platform's AI agent now supports newer Gemma4 model, and applies cleaner post-processing to memorial transcription results.
Restored source moderator access
Source moderators can once again access photo moderation tools more reliably, with navigation and permission checks aligned correctly.
Version 2.6.4 — June 2026
Smoother referenced photo browsing
Referenced photos on source pages now load progressively as you scroll, with a clearer loading state for larger sets.
Better PDF upload compatibility
PDF uploads now accept some valid but non-standard files that do not include an EOF marker, while the existing safety checks for suspicious content still stay in place.
Version 2.6.3 — May 2026
Safer PDF uploads
PDF uploads now use stricter safety checks for embedded files, remote links, scripts, and other suspicious patterns before accepting a file.
Cemetery merges keep photos
When cemeteries are merged, attached cemetery photos are now carried over to the merged result, helping preserve media during cleanup and consolidation.
Version 2.6.2 — May 2026
Broader archive statistics
The statistics page now includes archive-wide summary cards and dedicated sections for photo archive items, sources, source documents, repositories, and research pages.
Coverage dates in the sources list
The sources list can now show coverage dates directly in the table, making it easier to see which periods a source covers before opening it.
Better repository browsing and export
Repository pages now support pagination plus filters by type, visibility, and country, and linked sources can be exported as CSV or JSONL.
Better place details (early access)
Place detail and edit pages now preserve a back link to the places list, and the map on a place page can switch between available geometries by time period.
Version 2.6.1 — May 2026
Better cemetery boundaries
The cemetery detail pages display the calculated area when boundary geometry is available.
Easier geometry updates in Places (early access)
When editing a place, you can now load boundary geometry directly from a GeoJSON or JSON file instead of pasting it manually.
Coordinate recovery for some memorials
In some cases, memorials missing coordinates can now get estimated coordinates automatically from nearby GPS-tagged user-uploaded photos taken in the same cemetery around the same time.
Automatic redirects after merges
Old cemetery and memorial links now forward automatically to the current canonical record after merges, so saved links keep working.
Version 2.6.0 — May 2026
Places (early access)
A new Places section is now available in early access. You can browse canonical places, search and filter them by type, open place detail pages, and, if you are signed in, add or edit place records.
More predictable memorial text search
Memorial text search now uses literal substring matching, making everyday searches by names, places, and inscription fragments behave more predictably.
Better page descriptions
Articles, sources, research pages, photo pages, and people-on-photo pages now generate clearer descriptions for search engines and link previews, improving how these pages appear when shared or indexed.
Version 2.5.2 — May 2026
AI Assistant resilience (early access)
The early-access AI Assistant now shows clearer, localised messages when the selected AI provider is temporarily unavailable or has hit a rate limit. This makes it easier to understand what happened and when to retry.
Version 2.5.1 — May 2026
AI Assistant improvements (early access)
The early-access AI Assistant now works better on mobile screens, with a dedicated conversations drawer and a clearer conversation list layout.
Safer person linking in photo annotation
When linking a face on a photo to an existing person, you now need to explicitly choose that person from the dropdown. Typing free text no longer auto-links to a possibly wrong existing record.
Faster document entry loading
Document entry data now loads faster thanks to improved fetching and caching behind the scenes.
Version 2.5.0 — May 2026
AI Assistant (early access)
A new AI Assistant is now available in early access, with a chat interface, saved conversations, suggested prompts, citations, and a localised interface in English, Ukrainian, and Polish.
Library support in sources
Libraries can now be recorded as a source or repository type in source-management forms, making it easier to model published and library-held materials alongside archives and museums.
Larger direct uploads
The direct upload limit for source-document files has been increased to 130 MB, allowing more files to be uploaded without switching to the chunked-upload path.
Faster person suggestions in photo annotation
The person picker in photo face annotation now caches loaded people and handles suggestions more smoothly, making repeated tagging work faster and less jumpy.
Version 2.4.8 — May 2026
Search available for everyone
Platform-wide Search is now available to everyone. The Search link is always visible in the main navigation, and the home page now includes a dedicated search box. Entry results also show the source and document titles, giving more context before you open a result.
Version 2.4.7 — May 2026
Media preview compatibility
Original source-document files now expose metadata more consistently to browsers before download or playback begins. This improves inline opening and media seeking, especially for video files.
Video preview refresh fix
When switching between videos in the document viewer, the preview now refreshes correctly instead of occasionally keeping stale player state from the previously selected file.
Version 2.4.6 — May 2026
Upload time estimates
Document uploads now show an estimated time remaining, giving clearer feedback during large and chunked transfers.
Smoother document and media loading
Partial file loading has been improved for source documents, making video seeking and other range-based downloads more reliable. Cross-source document search also handles cancelled requests more cleanly, reducing spurious unexpected-error states during rapid filtering or navigation.
Version 2.4.5 — May 2026
Video previews in document viewer
Video files attached to source documents can now be previewed directly in the document viewer. Videos no longer trigger the large-file warning used for other formats, and playback is smoother thanks to support for partial downloads.
More resilient uploads
File uploads now retry automatically when a transient connection or stream error occurs, reducing failed uploads on unstable networks.
Memorial editor improvements
Birth and death years are now validated across memorial editing, import, and transcription workflows. When you add a new person to a memorial, the editor also keeps the new entry in view instead of leaving it below the fold.
New help articles
A new How to use the platform article section brings step-by-step guides for search, maps, the photo archive, source documents, and volunteer workflows.
Version 2.4.4 — May 2026
KML and KMZ map previews
KML and KMZ files attached to source documents can now be previewed directly on a map inside the document viewer. Placemark points, lines, and areas are rendered in place, so geographic content can be inspected without downloading the file first.
Version 2.4.3 — May 2026
Search quality improvements (early access)
The early-access Search page now does a better job of surfacing relevant cemetery and research records by prioritising the most important names, places, and summary text when building meaning-based matches.
OCR quality filtering
Automatic transcription processing now more reliably detects noisy OCR output, reducing false high-quality scores for fragments such as mixed-script text, domain-like strings, and stray number-heavy lines.
Version 2.4.2 — May 2026
Search improvements (early access)
The early-access Search page now finds better meaning-based matches in addition to exact keyword matches, helping surface relevant records even when the wording differs. Photos can now appear directly in search results as well, expanding what can be discovered from a single search page.
Memorial list improvements
The memorials page now supports coordinate-based filtering, making it easier to narrow results to a specific area. Memorial cards and loading placeholders have also been refined for a cleaner browsing experience.
Coordinate picker basemaps
When choosing coordinates for a memorial, you can now switch between map base layers to get the view that works best for the location.
Version 2.4.1 — May 2026
Search improvements
Search results pages now include dynamic meta tags and structured data, making individual search result pages indexable by search engines and shareable with proper previews. Search index quality has also been improved: persons linked to memorial photos are now included in search results.
Memorial search results now display a photo preview thumbnail. Research record hits now show associated surnames and places directly in the result card.
Version 2.4.0 — May 2026
Search (early access)
A new platform-wide Search page lets you find memorials, cemeteries, research records, persons, and source entries all in one place. Results are highlighted and ranked by relevance, with filters and pagination for every result type. Enable the AI semantic search toggle to find records by meaning rather than exact keywords.
Document viewer improvements
The document viewer and source entry tables now support direct navigation to individual entry pages. Tab selections are also reflected in the page URL, making it easy to share a direct link to a specific view and improving search-engine indexing.
Document upload enhancements
The document upload panel now offers an option to create a separate document record directly from an uploaded file. File upload security checks have also been strengthened.
Version 2.3.11 — April 2026
Memorials upload improvements
The memorials batch upload page now shows a clear call-to-action for users who are not signed in, with direct links to register or log in. The page is also now included in the sitemap for better discoverability.
Statistics charts
The statistics page charts (date patterns, demographics, languages, photography) have been rebuilt with ApexCharts, bringing interactive tooltips, zoom, and improved rendering across all screen sizes.
API rate limiting
Rate limits have been added to several public API endpoints (name lookup, sitemaps, source documents, reverse geocoding) to improve platform stability under load.
Version 2.3.10 — April 2026
Cross-source document search
A new Documents page is now available in the navigation menu. It lets you search and filter uploaded source documents across all sources in one place, without having to navigate into each source individually.
Document viewer improvements
The document viewer now shows uploader information and upload timestamps in the document details panel. The sidebar and preview panel also adapt better to different screen sizes.
PDF upload security
Uploaded PDF files are now validated for structural integrity and known malicious payload patterns before being accepted. Oversized PDFs and files that fail security checks are rejected with a clear error message.
Version 2.3.9 — April 2026
External archive links in document viewer
Columns in the tabular document viewer can now be tagged with the Archive Short Name semantic type. When archive metadata columns (archive, fund, inventory, case) are all tagged, each row gains a direct link to search that case in an external archive tool — opening the relevant record in Duck Archive Inspector without leaving the page.
Increased upload limit
The maximum file size for direct uploads has been raised to 300 MB, accommodating larger scanned documents and multi-page PDFs.
Photo wall stability
The photo wall grid now correctly cancels in-flight requests and releases resources when navigating away, preventing stale loading states.
Upload form locking
All form fields in the document upload panel are now disabled while an upload is in progress, preventing accidental changes to file metadata mid-upload.
Version 2.3.8 — April 2026
Document upload
Large files are now uploaded in chunks, making uploads more reliable on slow connections and removing the previous oversized-file warning.
Tabular document viewer
Text search in tabular (spreadsheet-style) documents now highlights matching cells in real time. Regex patterns are supported in column filters.
Version 2.3.7 — April 2026
Document Upload
Attaching documents to a source is now available directly from the source page and the document viewer.
A new upload dialog lets you select files, set a title, choose a visibility mode, and accept a rights declaration before submitting.
Drag-and-drop is supported alongside the standard file picker.
Upload progress is shown inline, with clear feedback at each stage.
PDF files are previewed inline in the document viewer; other formats fall back to a standard file display.
Cemetery Map — Beta Banner
The cemetery map page now shows a beta notice informing visitors that the map feature is still in active development.
Source Photo Wall
Photos linked to a source are now displayed conditionally, avoiding empty sections when no photo assets are available.
Version 2.3.5 — April 2026
Bug Fixes
Document image viewer — further hardened the image viewer against crashes caused by prototype-polluting libraries. Internal iteration loops now explicitly skip inherited properties, preserving correct prototype-chain semantics without side-effects on other components.
Version 2.3.4 — April 2026
Bug Fixes
Document image viewer — fixed crashes caused by third-party libraries adding extra properties to built-in JavaScript prototypes. The viewer's OpenSeadragon instance is now fully isolated in its own module scope, preventing any interaction with other copies of the library loaded on the same page.
Version 2.3.3 — April 2026
Bug Fixes
Document image viewer — the viewer now loads and manages its own dedicated OpenSeadragon instance instead of sharing the one bundled by other UI components. This eliminates a class of crashes caused by version mismatches between different OpenSeadragon builds loaded on the same page.
Photo view recording — photo view counts are now only incremented for authenticated users, preventing anonymous traffic from inflating view statistics.
Document page images — the page viewer now prefetches display-optimised image variants when available, reducing load times for high-resolution scans.
Upload confirmation wording — the upload responsibility confirmation now explicitly mentions publication responsibility alongside content responsibility.
Version 2.3.2 — April 2026
Bug Fixes
Document image viewer — further hardened the fix for viewer crashes introduced in 2.3.1. The patch is now applied proactively at viewer construction time, covering additional edge cases where stale async tile callbacks could arrive after a viewer was destroyed.
Version 2.3.1 — April 2026
Bug Fixes
Home page locale detection — the home page now correctly reads the visitor's saved or browser-preferred language when redirecting to a locale, instead of always falling back to English after server-side rendering.
Document image viewer stability — fixed a crash in the image viewer that could occur when reopening a document or navigating between pages in certain browsers.
Expanded Useful Research Links
The genealogical research links article has been significantly extended with additional regional archives, specialised historical databases, and diaspora record collections.
Version 2.3.0 — April 2026
Source Documents
Sources can now have archival documents attached directly to them — linking original scanned or born-digital materials to the bibliographic record.
Single-file upload — attach any file type (PDF, DOCX, TIFF, ZIP, etc.) to a Source.
Page-based documents — upload a sequence of individual page scans; each page receives a stable identity for independent viewing and future citation.
Tabular records — CSV, XLS, and XLSX files are imported as structured records with a column schema editor that lets you label and type each column.
Large-file support — files of any size are accepted through chunked upload; the source record stays lightweight while the binary is stored in object storage.
Advanced description — each document can carry a Markdown-formatted description, editable directly from the document viewer and rendered with full formatting.
Document Viewer
A new document viewer lets you browse multi-page archival documents page by page, read transcriptions, and navigate between pages without leaving the source context. The layout adapts to the available screen width.
OpenHeritage Mobile App (closed beta)
A new Android app is in closed beta for field contributors who photograph grave markers on-site.
Take photos directly with the device camera and have them tagged with GPS coordinates.
GPS quality indicator shows accuracy in real time before the shot is taken.
The app detects nearby cemeteries automatically based on your current location.
An offline upload queue handles unreliable connectivity — photos are uploaded in the background with automatic retries until they succeed.
GPS Coordinate Validation
GPS coordinates are now validated before being stored. Invalid or out-of-range values are rejected at the point of ingestion, keeping location data consistent across memorials, cemeteries, and photo assets.
Version 2.2.9 — April 2026
Move to Cemetery — Background Processing
Moving a memorial's photos to a cemetery folder now runs as a background operation. Previously, memorials with a large number of photos could cause the request to time out before all images were transferred. The operation now completes reliably regardless of how many photos are attached, and the page responds immediately while the transfer continues in the background.
Version 2.2.8 — April 2026
AI-Powered Grave Photo Detection
Uploaded memorial photos are now automatically analysed by an on-device AI model to detect whether the image actually shows a grave stone. Photos that do not match are flagged for review, helping to keep the archive accurate and consistent.
Photo scoring runs at upload time with no manual intervention needed.
Confidence threshold tuned to reduce false positives.
Detection metadata is stored alongside each memorial image.
Articles System Improvements
The articles section received several quality-of-life upgrades:
Language mismatch alert — when you open an article whose language differs from your current UI language, a banner appears with a direct link to the correct version.
Viewport-aware table of contents — on wide screens the table of contents floats alongside the article text; on mobile it appears inline above the content.
Performance — the content manifest is now built once at startup and served from memory, eliminating redundant file reads on every page visit.
Useful Genealogical Research Links
A new article listing curated resources for genealogical research in Ukraine has been added, including state archives, online databases, and diaspora record collections.
Transcription Review Navigation
The memorial transcription review workflow now shows the cemetery name and provides direct navigation buttons to both the memorial and its cemetery — reducing the number of clicks needed to verify context.
Version 2.2.7 — March 2026
Cemetery Context in Transcription Review
Transcription review assignments now carry the associated cemetery ID. This unlocks:
A "Go to Cemetery" navigation button directly from the review page.
A "Go to Memorial" button to jump to the full memorial record.
Faster resolution of edge cases where knowing the cemetery location disambiguates names.
Version 2.2.6 — March 2026
Home Page & SEO Improvements
The home page now automatically detects the visitor's preferred language and redirects to the appropriate locale version (
/en/,/uk/, or/pl/).Open Graph and canonical meta tags are generated correctly for every locale, improving appearance in search results and social sharing.
The build pipeline was updated to detect which services have changed and rebuild only those containers, cutting deployment times significantly.