It's explained here: http://www.squidu.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=33197 

Thanks Mike and Barkely!  After I posted this message, I was looking through the 34+ pages of new forum posts and found Kimberly's thread about the new Groups criteria.  Just a little jet-lagged still -- but getting back up to speed.  So much to do, not enough time. 

I don't remember seeing anything in the post about categories.  I wonder if they will be moving groups that are good enough to stay, but are in the wrong place?  It's annoying when you go looking for a group on Squidoo tips and find groups about cooking or weddings.

So far none of the groups in my Great Groups lensography have closed down yet   Which is great news as far as I'm concerned. But then: those groups already fit most of the criteria - because my criteria are still tighter than those of HQ.

http://www.squidoo.com/great-groups

MikeMoore wrote:

I'd hate to see it happen because I think Willow is an awesome groupmaster, but I wouldn't be surprised if the New Squid group gets closed down because it's not a narrow topic. I hope not though. I joined that group when I made my first lens and it was a great experience.

My lone group is still alive!

Luckily the final cuts are being made by people, and I can't see Fresh Squid getting the axe.  It may not have a specific topic, but it's such a great contribution to the community.  Just think of how many new Squids have gone on to be successful, active members because of Willow's encouragement!

Mortira wrote:

MikeMoore wrote:

I'd hate to see it happen because I think Willow is an awesome groupmaster, but I wouldn't be surprised if the New Squid group gets closed down because it's not a narrow topic. I hope not though. I joined that group when I made my first lens and it was a great experience.

My lone group is still alive!

Luckily the final cuts are being made by people, and I can't see Fresh Squid getting the axe.  It may not have a specific topic, but it's such a great contribution to the community.  Just think of how many new Squids have gone on to be successful, active members because of Willow's encouragement!

Exactly. She's great at encouraging new lensmasters. She greets them, visits the lenses and rates them. Leaves comments. etc. In my opinion it's one of the best Squidoo groups.

I agree Fresh Squids rocks! and it has a very active (and awesome) group master :-)

So far, only one of the groups I belonged to closed.  I hope that means the rest of them are safe.  I'm going to the link right now.

People, people... You got me worried for a moment!
Closing Fresh Squid Group??? I would never ever think of it!!!

So, I've went through all things Kimberly mentioned here: http://www.squidu.com/blog/2009/04/08/m … ups-great/
1. Make your group HQ pretty. - DONE!
2. Define the focus of your group. - FSG is focused on lensmasters - fresh squids! Promoting, couching and encouraging them!
3. Go ahead. Fire people. We dare you. - WE DON'T! If we don't have to! But rules are clear and transparent and everyone else can't get in!
4. Give lensmasters something to talk about. - We talk! We have all other thing connected to FSG - blog, contest, graduation lenses where formal Fresh Squids share what they learned!
5. Show off your best faces. - Part of rules for acceptance to group is that you have a good lens! No classic mistakes - no intro or picture, no default bio, no default titles, etc.
6. Keep it current. - DONE!
7. You’re responsible for your members. - And I've taken this responsabillity seriously and gladly.

And I even think I picked right category for it - News! It's all about what's new on Squidoo - new lenses by new lensmasters!

So, I think we are here to stay! Right?!

Last edited by a_willow (04/10/2009 3:38 am)

Portable_eBay wrote:

I noticed this too... will there be anyone available  where who we can consult if a group passes the the criteria?

I hope we can at least ask questions of somebody and get answers as to whether our groups have no hope, or what we need to do in order to make them pass the test.   I would also like to ask for some new features for groups.

Having just created my first group and finding it quite successful, and taken over another and having done a lot of work on it, I would like to think this is not all in vain.

spirituality wrote:

Of course - no problem at all.

I'm starting to get a bit worried about my Humor and Hilarity group though: http://www.squidoo.com/groups/humor_hilarity - lensrank has recently plummeted, so I think someone dinged it. But I've added a contest (reward: feature on my blog) and put up the faces of the most prolific fun lensmasters and changed the HQ around (though it was already looking good I think)...

My first group, created last month is "Laugh Away", which is in the same category as your "Humor And Hilarity" group, but obviously we want them to look different and will be promoting them differently.   I like the idea of contests etc, but it would also be nice to have tools such as a Table Of Contents so we could easily provide navigation links for our visitors.

poddys wrote:

Portable_eBay wrote:

I noticed this too... will there be anyone available  where who we can consult if a group passes the the criteria?

I hope we can at least ask questions of somebody and get answers as to whether our groups have no hope, or what we need to do in order to make them pass the test.   I would also like to ask for some new features for groups.

Having just created my first group and finding it quite successful, and taken over another and having done a lot of work on it, I would like to think this is not all in vain.

I'll be glad to answer any questions I can (from anyone), and any questions I can't I'll direct to Kimberly. I don't think Squidoo HQ is interested in closing down everyone's group, I think they just want to clean up the spammy groups that don't really serve a purpose except to spam their own spammy links out there in one more way (groups with only their own lenses on the group page, groups that don't even have a group page set up, groups that are set to let everyone in and never update their group page, abandoned groups) .

I would say most lensmasters who are visiting here care enough about their groups, and take care of them enough that they don't need to worry about their groups disappearing.

Making the cut for the top 100 and the extra prize may take a little extra effort...but I love a challenge, and I think most lensmasters here do too:-) I need to work on my own groups to get them up to snuff.

I'm working on a new lens to help lensmasters work on their group. It's not done yet (I don't even think it's ranked yet, but you're more than welcome to stop by and let me know if it helps, and give me some feedback on anything else you'd like to see there:-)

Forgot to include the link, lol: http://www.squidoo.com/great-group-tips

Last edited by Barkely (04/10/2009 6:40 am)