Help / Frequently Asked Questions

Here are some terms to help you navigate through Groups:

Announcement: Group organizers can post an announcement to their group to alert members of news and events.

Dashboard: This is your entry point for the platform to find groups to join, the latest news from groups you’re in, and any pending invites or requests from other members.

Event: Group organizers can post an event to their group, whether for an upcoming meeting or other shared event.

Organizer: Anyone who creates a group is the “Organizer” of the group. They can also assign other members as an organizer, who would receive the same access and responsibilities for the group.

Posts: Members of a group can communicate by sharing a post to start a conversation.

Writing Project: You can create a “Writing Project” to share your writing with your group’s members. Members can add comments to the writing project for feedback and critique. See below for more details.

If you’re new to P&W Groups, you’ll log in and be taken to a page to create your profile. Be sure to go through each field carefully as there are some fields that are required and marked with an asterisk (*). The more you fill out, the better matches you’ll get from your recommendation engine for open groups to join and to find members for the groups you organize. 

From the navigation menu on the left side of your screen, click on your username, then select “Edit Profile.” Edit any of the information on your profile then click “Save” at the bottom of the form.

On the left side of the screen, click your username, and then “Edit Profile.” Scroll down to the field “Hide Your Profile.” Click to change the slider from left to right and it will turn green. Then click “Save.” 

Enabling this option will hide your profile from the Writer Profiles index and the Recommendation Engine. If you request to join a group, however, the organizer(s) of that group will be able to view your profile. If you message a writer, that writer will be able to view your profile. Consider checking this box only if you’re already in at least one group and are no longer looking to connect with members outside of your group(s).

In order to search by location, you will need to enter in your city and state information in your profile. This information will activate the map in your profile to pin your location. The map will not be shown publicly, it is only needed to make the search by proximity more accurate.

If you do not fill in your city and state information, you will not be found by those seeking writers in their area and you will not be able to search for writers or groups by location in the Groups index or Writer Profiles index. 

Once you’ve logged in, you’ll find a link to “See Recommended Groups” on your dashboard which lists groups based on your matched preferences—including genres, whether you want to meet in person or online, if you want to meet for critique or accountability, and more. You can click on the group’s name to find more details about the group and “Request to Join” the group.

You can also find the “Browse All Groups” link in the navigation menu on the left side of your screen to look through the full list of groups.

When you find a group that you’re interested in, click “Request to Join.” On the following screen, write a message to group organizers and click “Request Group Membership.” You can check the status of your group memberships and access the groups you’ve joined by navigating back to your dashboard. You will also receive an e-mail notification when your request is accepted, rejected, or waitlisted. 

On the right side of your dashboard, you’ll find “Pending Invitations” from group organizers. Click on the group’s name to read their description, the genres they cover, if they prefer to meet in person or online, how often they meet, how many writers are in the group, and more. Then return back to your dashboard and click “Join” or select from the dropdown to “Decline” the invitation.

Add a writing project to share your work for feedback from your group. From your dashboard, click on the name of the group for which you want to share your writing. On the group’s page, click “Writing Projects” from the menu at the top of the page. Click “Add Writing Project” in the top right corner of the page. Enter the title and content for your writing project. You can also choose to import a Word document. Click the gear icon to open the sidebar panel to select if you’d like to save the writing project as a draft or publish it right away. Then click “Save.” You’ll then see your writing project listed for your group members to find. See below for more information about writing projects.

From your dashboard, click “My Writing Projects” next to your profile photo. You can find, view, and edit your writing projects from all your groups in one place. See below for more information about writing projects. 

Create a post to communicate with everyone in your group. On your group page, click “Posts” and then “Add Post.” On the right side of the page, click the sidebar panel icon (next to the “Save” button) to select whether you would like to save your post as a draft or publish it right away. You can also schedule your post to publish under “Scheduling Options.” All members of your group can read and comment on your posts, as well as create their own. 

You can communicate with another writer on the platform by clicking “Browse Writer Profiles” from the left navigation menu or your dashboard. You can search by their name, genres of interest, location, and more. Then, open their profile to send them a message. When you click the “Message” button on their profile, you’ll open a page where you can compose and send your message. 

Find your messages by clicking the “Messages” button on the left navigation menu or from your dashboard.

Catch up on all the latest activity on your dashboard. There, you can find alerts and upcoming events from the Poets & Writers team, updates from your groups, and check your pending group requests and new group invitations. 

You’ll receive a daily digest with new group invitations, unread messages from writers, updates from your groups, upcoming events, and more via e-mail. If there is no new activity for the day, you will not receive a digest. 
 
To turn your notifications off, edit your profile and click the “Notifications” tab and change the slider from right to left and it will turn gray. Then click “Save.” You will no longer receive notifications via e-mail, however, you can check your Dashboard for the latest activity.

It’s possible your notification e-mails are ending up in your spam folder. To ensure our messages reach your inbox, please add notifications@groups.pw.org to your address book. This e-mail address does not receive replies. Please send any questions to groups@pw.org. 

It’s always best to communicate with group organizers if you plan to leave a group so that they are aware and can make any necessary adjustments. Be sure to save or delete any writing projects before leaving a group, as you’ll no longer have access once you leave.

When you’re ready, go to your dashboard and click on the name of the group you would like to leave. You’ll find “Leave Group” in the menu at the top of your screen. You’ll then be asked to confirm that you want to leave this group. This action cannot be undone. 

From the navigation menu on the left side of your screen, click “Manage Groups,” and then “Create a Group.” Fill in each page for group details and membership preferences. Then click “Create Your Writers Group” to save it. 

Note: Your writer profile will be linked on the group page even if you choose to hide your profile from the Writer Profiles index. 

From your dashboard, under “Groups I Organize,” click on the name of the group that you would like to edit. Under the group’s name, click “Edit.” Be sure to save your changes.

On your group page, click “Members” from the menu. Find the name of the member you would like to appoint as a co-organizer. Click “Edit Membership” and check the box for “Organizer,” then save. 
 
All organizers will have the same access to the group to edit the group’s profile, make announcements, posts, events, accept/reject requests to join the group, edit memberships, and delete the group. Be sure you can trust this member with these responsibilities before appointing them. 

On your group page, click “Find New Members” to view a list of writers who match the preferences for your group. Click “Send Invite” and write a message. You will have the option to appoint them an “Organizer,” but be aware of the access and responsibilities first (see above question). It’s best to communicate with that member before appointing them to be an “Organizer.” Click “Save” to send your invitation.

On your group page, click “Find New Members” to view a list of writers who match the preferences for your group. Click their name to view their profile, then click the “Message” button to start a conversation.  
 
You can also find writers on the platform by clicking “Browse Writer Profiles” from the left navigation menu or your dashboard. You can search by name, genre, type of group, location, and more. Then, open their profile to send them a message.

You can find writers on the platform by clicking “Browse Writer Profiles” from the left navigation menu or your dashboard. You can search by name, genre, type of group, location, and more. Then, open their profile to send them a message or invite them to your group. 

If you know the writer’s name, you can go to your group page and click “Sent Invites.” Click the “Invite Member” button in the top right corner. Then enter their name and send an invitation message to them. Click “Save” to send your invitation.

Create a post to communicate with everyone in your group. On your group page, click “Posts” and then “Add Post.” On the right side of the page, click the sidebar panel icon (next to the “Save” button) to select whether you would like to save your post as a draft or publish it right away. You can also schedule your post to publish under “Scheduling Options.” All members of your group can read and comment on your posts, as well as create their own.

On your group page, click “Requests to Join.” You’ll see a list of anyone who has requested to join your group. Click on their name to review their profile. You can “Approve Membership,” or choose to reject or waitlist the request in the dropdown menu. 

The waitlist option allows you to approve or reject a membership request for a later time. You can also choose to contact the requestee by clicking the “Message” button on their profile to explain why they are being waitlisted. Under “Requests to Join” from your group page, you can filter by request status to view pending, approved, rejected, or waitlisted membership requests. 

On your group page, click “Upcoming Events” then “Add Event” in the top right corner of the next page. Enter the title, details, and content for your event.  

On the right side of the page, click the sidebar panel icon (next to the “Save” button) to select whether you would like to save your event as a draft or publish it right away. You can also select a future date to publish your event under “Scheduling Options.” Click the save button at the top of the page. 

You also have the option to make a recurring event if you want to post your regular meetings. We recommend choosing an end date and updating the event if needed. To edit an individual recurring event, click on “Manage Instances.” This will only be available after saving a recurring event.

An announcement is a great way to let your group members know about upcoming meetings, writing projects recently submitted, or new posts to read. Members cannot comment on an announcement. 
 
On your group page, click “Announcements” then the “Add Announcement” button in the top right corner of the next page. Enter the title and content for your announcement. On the right side of the page, click the sidebar panel icon (next to the “Save” button) to select whether you would like to save your announcement as a draft or publish it right away. You can also select a future date to publish your announcement under “Scheduling Options.” Click the save button at the top of the page. Announcements will show up on each page of your group for all your group members to see. You can edit or delete your announcements.

On your group page, click “Members” and find the member that you would like to remove from your group. On the right side of the screen, click the arrow next to “Edit Membership” and choose “Remove Membership.” It’s always best to speak with the member before removing them, depending on the circumstances. See our Resources page for tips on best practices.

On your group page, click “Delete” and again on the following screen to confirm your choice. This action cannot be undone. It’s always best to communicate with your members before closing your group, depending on the circumstances. See our Resources page for tips on best practices and reach out to us at groups@pw.org if you need any support. 

Your dashboard is the first thing you’ll see after you log in. You can also navigate back to it from other pages by clicking on the star icon for “My Dashboard” in the menu on the left side of the screen.

Your dashboard is your home base for everything you’ll need on Poets & Writers Groups, including your messages, pending invitations to join groups, pending requests from members who want to join your group, latest activity from your groups, and announcements and upcoming events from the Poets & Writers Groups team. 

The latest activity feed shows you all the recent updates from your groups in chronological order. This includes new members who’ve recently joined your group, announcements from your group organizers, upcoming events, new posts, and writing projects from members. You can click on the title of an activity in the feed to see more details.

On your dashboard, click “See Recommended Groups” under the “Browse Recommended Groups” heading. You’ll find groups open for you to join listed in order of your matched preferences. Visit often as new groups continue to be created as new members join Poets & Writers Groups.

To find other writers on Poets & Writers Groups, click “Browse Writer Profiles” on your dashboard or from the navigation menu on the left side of your screen. You can search for a writer by name or use the filters to search by genres of interest, experience level, type of group, meeting format, language, or location. (Note: Some writers may choose to hide their profiles and will not be included in the index.) 

You can click a writer’s name to view their profile for more details and send them a message and/or invite them to your group. 

Click “Messages” from the left navigation menu or from your dashboard to view your messages. The circled number indicates if you have any unread messages and, if so, how many.  You can browse through your message threads and use the text box to answer any messages that you’d like. 

To find your messages, click “Messages” from the left navigation menu or from your dashboard.

Go to the Writer Profiles index and click a profile name to find out more about the writer. Click the “message” button on their profile to start a conversation.

You can click on the profile name at the top of your message box to see their profile and read more about the writer. 

Once you’re logged in, look for the orange circle next to “Messages” in the left navigation menu. This number will tell you how many unread messages you have. It will remain at 0 if there are no new messages. You will also receive daily notifications via e-mail that will include any new messages from Groups members, unless you’ve chosen to turn off notifications. 

To view your messages at full screen, click on the small box-shaped button at the top right corner. This will hide your left navigation menu and allow you to view your messages with a wider view. You can click on the top right corner button again to minimize the full screen. 

Once you have a long message thread with a writer, you’ll see your most current messages on the screen. If you’d like to read any previous messages, you can click “Load Previous” to see all. Each message is marked with a time stamp for reference. 

We recommend using the “post” option in a group to communicate with all members of your group. Members can comment on your posts to send their replies. Any member of your group can create a post and reply to it. 

It’s possible that the writer is no longer a Groups member. You can check the Writer Profiles index and search for their name to see if they’re still listed. If you have further issues, contact us at groups@pw.org for assistance. 

Anyone who joins Poets & Writers Groups must agree to our Terms of Use and Community Guidelines. If you are unable to resolve an issue directly with a member or see that someone is misusing the platform, please report your concerns by sending an e-mail to groups@pw.org. 

A writing project is writing you’d like to share with your group members for feedback. After creating a writing project and sharing it, group members can make comments on your writing project. Group members will not be able to make any changes to your writing project.

You can find all of your writing shared to your groups by clicking “My Writing Projects” on your dashboard located next to your profile photo. If you are a member of multiple groups, you’ll be able to see which writing project was shared with which group.

Yes. When you create a writing project in a group, you can select if you’d like to save it as a draft or share it with your group members in the sidebar panel on the right side of the page. If you don’t see this option, click the sidebar panel icon (next to the “Save” button).

From your group’s page, click on “Writing Projects” on the top menu. Find the title of the writing project you’d like to comment on and click “Edit.” Highlight the relevant section of text, then click the comment icon. Group members will not be able make any changes to the shared writing project or delete it. Only the member who shared the writing project can delete it.

If you’re unsatisfied with your group, don’t worry! Sometimes things don’t go according to plan, or disagreements happen. Communication is always key. Sometimes these things can be worked out by speaking directly with the group organizers. Or maybe the group just isn’t for you after all. 

Making these things clear with your group organizer is important so that they can do their best to help everyone feel comfortable and get the group running smoothly. If you plan to leave or take a short absence, communicate that with the group organizer. 

If things don’t work out for you in this particular group, or you’re looking for something else, you can always search for another group in your recommendation engine or create your own group. If you need further guidance, visit our Resources page or e-mail us at groups@pw.org.

If you need to step down from organizing a group, speak to the members in your group to see if someone else might be interested in taking over. Once you’ve made that decision, you can easily switch that member’s role to organizer. 

To do so, head to your group profile and click “Members” from the list of options near the top of the page. Find the member that you would like to appoint as organizer. Click “edit membership” on the right side of the screen. Check the box for “Organizer,” then click “Save.” 

If your group leader has left without notice, reach out to us directly at groups@pw.org for assistance with next steps.

Anyone who joins Poets & Writers Groups must agree to our Terms of Use and Community Guidelines. If you are unable to resolve an issue directly with a member, or see that someone is misusing the platform, please report your concerns by sending an e-mail to groups@pw.org.

If you see anything that does not appear to be in agreement with the Community Guidelines, please report your concerns in detail and e-mail us at groups@pw.org.

You can access your account information by visiting the My P&W page. On your left navigation menu, hover over “pw.org” and click on “My P&W.”

To renew your membership, please visit our Customer Service page or call (903) 636-1119.

To cancel your membership, please visit our Customer Service page or call (903) 636-1119.