Apparently, there is some kind of bug with the deviantART groups that won't let the sidebar show to those that are either not logged into deviantART or...well, almost everyone except for some crazy reason. Now I went ahead and submitted a Bug Report to the dA admins, so I hope they can fix it. I did, however, find a way around the issue by creating a subfolder within the folder. Somehow, I guess that forces the sidebar to appear to everybody, even those not logged in. However, for now at least, I'm leaving that fix turned off until I get a response from the dA admin about if there's a fix for this where I won't HAVE to create said subfolder. If there isn't or they can't be bothered, then that fix will be used.

Anyway, I've deviated (no pun intended) from the group's core subject matter enough. I want to say thank you very much to all of you who took a moment to check that folder out for yourself and let me know what you saw, or rather didn't see. Now that I know what the problem is, I can hopefully see it fixed within a reasonable time. So let us get back to our regularly scheduled rounds of women with muscle.

I was about to actually express how disappointed and upset I was to see that not a single solitary person has visited any of the folders withing the gallery in weeks. I say that because I added the Activity widget to every one of them and set it to list anyone who visited there, whether they were a member of #FemaleMuscle or not. It really made me feel like all this work I've been doing was going to waste. That is, until I was chatting with someone and asked him to go to one of those folders on a whim. I was stunned when he said that he didn't see the left sidebar as indicated here:

[link]

I then noticed that whenever I was logged out of devintART, I MYSELF suddenly couldn't see that sidebar. And for the record, that sidebar contains the list of artists with content in that particular folder, the folder subgallery list (which is currently empty for now), and the Activity widget. I use Firefox and have been for a very long time now. The person I talked to uses Chrome. He swears up and down that even when logged in, he could NOT see that sidebar. I then had him check it through Internet Explorer. Again, no dice on his end. But then I myself checked it through Internet Explorer, yet I was able to see it. So as far as I can tell, if you're not logged into deviantART (and presumably have "View Mature Content" enabled), then you won't be able to see that sidebar. And I put a great deal of work into that sidebar. And all three of the top browsers should be able to let you see that sidebar when logged in.

Now I don't know if it's somehow just me or if that one person was having a freak situation where he couldn't see that sidebar or if he even knew he was REALLY logged in or not. But it practically breaks my heart to think that not a single person in all of #FemaleMuscle has taken any time at all to dip into the gallery and browse around the Artists: A, Artists: B, etc folders, each one sorted by artist beginning with that particular letter and in alphabetical order, all so you can find that person easily.

I truly hope that all the work I've put into that gallery hasn't been one big waste of time that no one supposedly can be bothered to even look at. The Artist List, which is part of that sidebar on the pages within those folders, was something I figured would make it even easier for people to see who had something posted there. I tried adding the Gallery Highlight widget to show what the newest additions were, but it caused me to be unable to move pictures around to sort them. Instead, it just kept opening my Favorites bar at the top instead. So I was forced to remove it.

But anyway, back to the topic at hand. I don't know if there's some kind of bug in the dA group system that I, as an admin, can't see or if no one has clicked into any of the folders through those small custom icons within the Gallery. If it's the former, then I would need to get with the dA admins themselves about fixing it. But if it's the latter, then what I am I working on this for?

I apologize for straying off the topic of female muscle itself, but this is something that really floored me and I am hoping to establish the facts in this case, so I know what direction to take next.

I finished adding the promised Artist List under each artist letter folder, complete with the newest deviations widget beneath it, so you will be able to see the newest submissions in that particular folder at all times. This is my latest in ways to make browsing all the more easier for everyone. For examples, check out the following links: [link] [link]

* * *

Also, I am waaaaay overdue for this. But I want to express my personal thanks to those of you who had donated points over the previous year, which made this year's Super Group subscription extension possible. Specifically, I'd like to thank the following individuals for their point donations:
and the three anonymous donators.

If somehow I missed someone, who had donated points during 2012 at some point, then please let me know so I can give you proper recognition and thanks. If it weren't for the Super Group status, #FemaleMuscle wouldn't look half as organized and creative as it is now. I am very grateful for all the donations.

The remaining points will hopefully be put into play as a prize for an upcoming contest I'll be hosting. Stay tuned for details in the near future.

An anonymous online troll sent me this message because I like & post muscular women. I'm sure most Female Muscle fans have encountered this bullying in some form or another. It seems almost barbarian in an age of political correctness and sexual preference acceptance. I've learned to ignore most internet idiots, but it got me thinking...

How do you react to comments like these?

Vegeta! What does the scouter say about the submission count?
It's over twelve thouuuuusaaand!!!
Wait, what? Vegeta, you didn't say it right!
Yes I did, Nappa...yes I did.

FINAL UPDATE: At last, the work is finally done! Though it's not the true number, given the deviations that have been removed or outright deleted at various points in time after being originally submitted, the archive had to be split into three parts with a grand total of 12515 female muscle deviations over seven years! That's a LOT of muscular women!!

To get you reaquainted with the changes, please hear me out on this.

First off, the TL;DR version:
Monthly Themes archive on lefthand side of front page: [link]
Newly redesigned gallery: [link]
Upcoming Artist List for each primary folder: [link]
Archive, split into three parts: [link] [link] [link]

* * *

First off, let's start with the front page of #FemaleMuscle itself: [link]

If you look to the left and scroll down a little bit, you'll see that I have (re)created a new separate archive for all of the past monthly themes. Each icon is clearly labeled and it incorporates a new icon design that I made, in the hopes that it would make it easier to read the text against. Yes, I know I need to add March over there. That'll be next on my to do list.


* * *

Second, allow me to direct your attention to the main gallery page: [link]

The first thing you'll obviously see is the new, improved, and yes, a longer menu off to the left there. The new icon designs really make a difference IMHO. Now the reason why the menu is longer, due to my having assigned each individual letter a folder, is because for one it will make my workload easier when it comes to sorting out the pictures. The other reason is actually to make your browsing experience easier than before, which is what I'm going to explain next.


* * *

I now direct your attention to Artist - A for my next explanation: [link]

At the moment, the folder is empty. But that'll soon change once I finally get to sorting all of the Featured pictures into their respective folders according to the first letter of each deviation owner's name. In this case, all artists, whose name begins with an A. Same thing for the other letters.

Now regardless of how many pictures a person has submitted in the past, whether they previously had a subfolder or not, they all were moved to the Archive, which will be explained soon. Like I said before, the number of folders I can create in the Gallery are very limited. And while I just made that limit closer due to the increased number of primary folders, it also means less frequent need to create subfolders for certain artists who have submitted a lot of deviations to the group.

However, if any certain person reaches a certain number of submissions to the group, then I'll once again create a subfolder for that person to keep the number of deviations in the main letter folder manageable. And here's the kicker, once it becomes necessary to create a subfolder for someone, I'll also move all of that person's deviations from the archive into that subfolder as well, if applicable. But please don't take this as a challenge to submit as many pics as you can. This isn't a numbers game, and there's nothing special to gain from it. We value quality over quantity. The latter is simply circumstantial.

One other thing you'll see there is the inclusion of an Artist List, as seen to the left there. Again, it's currently empty. But as more and more artists and their pictures are sorted into each lettered folder, I'll also add that person's name to that list, so you'll be able to see who has material there at a glance. I may move that list beneath the subfolder menu, once said subfolders start being created, but I'm not sure yet.

The point is, I've broken down the sortment of pictures even further, so that any specific person you may be following, can be more easily located.

* * *

Fourth, I now direct you here: [link]

The specific categories, such as CGI Female Muscle (now renamed 3D Female Muscle as well as several others) have been moved into their own folder for the reason that there ARE more folders on the gallery's main page to begin with. And since people looking to browse through a specific category aren't generally looking for any certain person in particular, I felt that those ten gallery folders didn't need to be on the front gallery page, especially since there are 33 primary folders there already.

* * *

And finally, our tour ends here: [link]

With 42 pages of female muscle deviations, each page holding 120 (except the last page, which has 80), All this is assuming that you're a premium member and have your count set to 120, that pretty much amounts to a LOT of older pictures to browse through here.

Please note, however, that this isn't all there is. I'm going to begin a longer term project, that I'll be tackling a little bit at a time, where I'll create a list of every single artist list in that archive folder as well as which page(s) you can find that artist one. Again, this is ONLY provided that you are a premium member of deviantART and that your deviation browsing count is set at 120. Otherwise, the information in that list WON'T be accurate. Consider this another little incentive to have a premium subscription, not that I'm trying to make a sales pitch or anything.

* * *

Anyway, that's the lowdown for ya. Aside from that, everything else will remain the same. Monthly themes will continue as well as other events and hopefully contests as well. If you can, I'd really appreciate your opinion on the gallery redesign. I realize there isn't much to go on without the pictures sorted there yet, but this is more about the icons and the folder placement anyway.

Enjoy!