This group is kinda mostly abandoned, but it's still around and doesn't have an overstuffed submission folder like a lot of the abandoned library groups. And I do have admin rights here.

So, I'm curious. What changes would everypony be interested in seeing, (new categories and category changes, for example) and is there still interest in this group? I'm not saying I've got that much extra time, but I'm sure I could shuffle things around a bit and such...

--Sweetie Belle

5271419 well, for starters, the group needs is own 'tilt' on the reading experience.
groups tend to get overridden by the literal hundreds of similar groups, and I think this one suffers from it, soo..
do with that what you will

5271419
I hopped my way into this group just a little while ago, so I don't have much in the way of input yet. Here's what I do have:
I agree with Crimson in that having some kind of unique system in place could be a good thing... Perhaps something like 'Cadence's Fic of the Day' or something... That would take more work, but it could be interesting... Having never been any kind of moderator for any groups, I don't really know how that would work, so...

If possible, maybe we could find someone to do dramatic readings of selected stories? I think that would be a step in a unique direction, and would do well to improve the readership and members within the group. However, it's likely easier said than done, in the end... Really, I'm just brainstorming here...

-Inkheart

5271427
I do kinda agree with you on that. The fact that it started out as one of half a dozen similar groups all pumped out at the same time doesn't help.

5271443
Part of the trouble is gonna be that how much can be done here depends on who's around and interested. That's part of why I posted this was 'case if there really aren't many interested members around, then I'll still spruce things up, but it'll probably settle back down to mostly dead.

Fic of the Day really takes somepony that's reading a lot of fanfiction to manage. "Of the week", or every two weeks is a little more manageable, but we'd still need somepony interested in writing little reviews of stories every so often. Ironically, Mayhem Darkshadow used to do that sort of thing elsewhere! My trouble is I haven't really been reading that much fanfiction for a while, though I still read things occasionally...

Dramatic readings would be neat, too! Kinda the same issue, though.

More practically, I think we need the folders to be adjusted, 'cause tags like "Drama" weren't around when this group was made. I can probably come up with names, but suggestions that are similar to the existing ones would be good...

--Sweetie Belle

5271459
Agreed about the need for a folder swap-up.
I understand what you mean. However, a new system could breathe life into the group again, while keeping the 'Library' style of story collection. I want to see at least one group like this flourish and, given how many have lost their Mods, I think this one wins the prize.

-Inkheart

5271461

I'm an admin in a number of dead groups, too, to be honest. Anything with a submission folder is really hard to breathe life into. I tend to focus on the really big, active groups, but I do like renovating things when I see a group that needs it. The trouble is usually keeping it going after that.

Dropped in a new banner, though I'm still playing with it a little.

--Sweetie Belle

5271463
It's a shame to see something like this flop, given how many members and stories it has.

-Inkheart

5271465
That's one reason I'm working on cleaning up things here. I'm hoping with 952 members that there is some interest.

I do know what you mean. I'm still technically an admin of this group, though there's no way I'm rebooting that one...

--Sweetie Belle

5271471
Ah, I was considering joining that one, but I settled here instead.
Well, I don't know if you've got the power to promote people, but I'm not an admin in anything and, aside from my writing, babbling on forums and the occasional review, I'm not doing too much. If you find that people do have an interest, and you need an extra pair of hands/hooves/horn, with the permission of any other active Mods, I could lend some assistance. I don't know if I'd be very useful, given my overall lack of knowledge on the topic of moderation, but I wouldn't mind.

-Inkheart

5271474
It was a pretty good group back in its time. Trouble is that it was a little too ambitious and really relied on a couple admins doing a really silly amount of work, and tended to burn you out. These days, the Goodfic Bin is reasonably close and still running.

I do have the ability to promote, in fact, all admins do, and you seem reasonable, interested, and not somepony that's likely to ban everypony or delete all the stories[1], so I went ahead and made you an admin. If things take off, great! If not, it gives you a chance to see what being an admin's like.

Try not to ban anypony unless you really don't wan't 'em back, though, 'cause unbanning in groups is kinda broken. We're still waiting for knighty to fix that.

[1] Believe it or not, this happened on a large group once. Fortunately, the site staff fixed it, but I'm not sure it would have gotten fixed if knighty didn't really like Fluttershy.

--Sweetie Belle

5271480
Well, that was an unexpected twist. No, go home Twist, you're drunk!

I'll give it my best shot. I likely wouldn't ban anyone without either a very pressing reason, or after consulting with at least one other admin, two if possible. It just seems like the logical thing to do, really...

An admin, huh...?

*Ahem* Lost my collected calm for a minute there...

-Inkheart.

5271484
You would think it's the logical thing to do, but you might be surprised. It can actually be pretty tricky to find good admins sometimes. Of course, the really tricky ones are the really big groups that are mostly running properly, like the Writer's Group. Ones like that, we end up having all the main admins discussing possible admins...

What you might find a really unexpected twist is that I'm also one of the admins of this group.

And yes, adminning can be pretty fun sometimes. I personally tend to like messing with banners, rule threads and things like that...

--Sweetie Belle

5271488
I suppose our expectations are only right half of the time. Well, I'll be sure to use my best judgement on the matter. I tend to lean more towards the 'Give warnings first; punishments after' style of thinking. I know too many people who would swing the Banhammer first and worry about questions later...

My art skills are almost as poor as my ability to perform open heart surgery, so I doubt I'll be messing with banners or anything. However, managing rules, helping keep the peace and working to improve the experience of everyone involved are all things I have no problem doing; in fact, I'd love it.

-Inkheart

5271493
I do too. That's why I can have difficulty finding admins sometimes.

I think I've got the banner about where I want it, and I actually replaced the group icon, too. It's the same picture, but the old one was 100x100 scaled up, and this one is 512x512, so it looks better.

Right now the rules need a rewrite, really, but it all depends on what rules we actually want to have. I can write up something, but if you feel inspired, feel free. I wrote this set of group rules for another group, though that group needs rather different rules then this one.

However, managing rules, helping keep the peace and working to improve the experience of everyone involved are all things I have no problem doing; in fact, I'd love it.

Sounds good to me!

Main thing I'd say is to warn members if things start getting out of hand, and lock the thread if things need it. At the top of all the threads, there will now be a modify button, and clicking on it lets you sticky a thread, lock it, or change the title. There's also a delete button if you just want to delete it.

Most of the other stuff is in that pencil icon next to group name, though promoting and demoting's all over in the member section...

--Sweetie Belle

5271500
Alright!
I think I need to turn in for the night, actually. As much as I hate to stop my writing and exploring here, it's 5:30 am here... I have got to stop letting my fics distract me from the clock.

If you haven't done a rewrite by the time I get on tomorrow, I'll see what I can whip up.

-Inkheart

5271504

I probably should too, actually, and that sounds good. If you get to the rewrite first, I'll look it over and see if anything catches my eye that could use to be changed.

Anyways, night!

--Sweetie Belle

5271419 My only suggestion is perhaps adding an origins folder. I think it could bring in a lot more people because I checked about half a dozen other groups and none of them had a folder set aside for stories focused on her origins. That could be a way to set this group apart.

5271913
An origins folder just for Cadence, or in general, for any characters? For any characters would mean you could have things like the story of how Rarity started the Carousel Boutique, for example. (It seems like there ought to be stories about that, anyways. Can't think of one.)

--Sweetie Belle

5273561 I mean Cadence centered. But it could be about more than maybe just how she's connected to the Crystal Empire. It could also be how she started foal sitting Twilight, why she calls Celestia and Luna her aunts (someone could make them blood related or not), etc. Just anything on Cadence's past that we don't see in the show.

I have approximately zero free time to give, but it's exciting to think that this group might rise from the ashes… I agree that an occasional story promotion would be nice, or contests based on a theme (which of course requires people to be willing to judge the entries). Anything that engages people and gets them to stop by move often sounds like a plus

5274158
Agreed. We need some way to bring people back; and not just random forum posts. Those will get buried under all the others... Hm... I will think more on this.

5273561
Hey, Sweetie, I found what you look like when you put your 'Mod Hat' on.

-Inkheart