Updates

What has changed on Writer's Grove, newest first.

A warning before flagged content, and everything shown by default

Version 1.0.131 · September 16, 2026

Release 1.0.131.

  • Adult and AI-written content is shown by default again. The account setting from 1.0.130 that hid both is off for everyone.
  • The first time you open a series, book or chapter marked AI-generated or mature (18+), or carrying a content warning, a card lists what it contains. Continue opens it and remembers your choice, Go back returns you, and Hide some of this in future lets you pick what to hide from then on.
  • Your choices are saved on your account, or in your browser for one hour when you are not signed in, and move to your account when you sign in.
  • A page that contains something you chose to hide still opens from a direct link, with a reminder at the top and a link to the Account page.
  • The Terms of Service now say that covers and titles, which everyone sees before any warning, must not be graphic.

Adult and AI content hidden by default

Version 1.0.130 · September 16, 2026

Release 1.0.130.

  • Every account now hides adult content and AI-written content unless you turn those on yourself. Existing accounts have been set the same way. Both settings are on the Account page under Content Preferences.

Chapter pages land on the title

Version 1.0.129 · September 16, 2026

Releases 1.0.124 to 1.0.129.

  • After a swipe, an arrow key or the Previous and Next links, the new chapter opens with its title at the top of the screen, so you carry on reading without scrolling past the share buttons.
  • The share buttons on a chapter now sit above the chapter title, under the breadcrumb.
  • The text-to-speech player is smaller and takes one row. Its Play button works again on a chapter you reached by swiping or by the Next link.

Swipe between chapters, and prizes for the top ten

Version 1.0.123 · September 16, 2026

Releases 1.0.121 to 1.0.123.

  • On a phone or tablet, swipe left on a chapter to open the next one and swipe right to go back, like turning a page. The Previous and Next links and the arrow keys work as before.
  • The monthly contest now has prizes for the top ten: first place takes US $100 by PayPal and 12 months of Premium, second and third 6 months of Premium, fourth and fifth 3 months, and sixth to tenth 30 days. Premium time is added to the account as free time; an author who pays for Premium has the subscription not charged for that many months instead. The Contest Terms and Conditions, the Contests page and the Help page carry the list.
  • A book without an uploaded cover no longer shows a tall empty space above its Start Reading button on a phone.
  • The contest sign-up form now says so itself when the PayPal address is left empty.

Monthly contests, and reading before rating

Version 1.0.120 · September 16, 2026

Releases 1.0.115 to 1.0.120.

  • There is now a monthly writing contest with a $100 prize. The Contests page under Write lists every month. While a month runs, an author can enter one published series from its dashboard and withdraw it again the same way. At the end of the month each entry is scored on how readers responded during the month: how many signed-in readers opened chapters published that month, how many of them followed the series, and how readers who read it rated its books. The winner is picked on the first of the next month, the standings appear on the contest's page, and the winner and the top ten are marked on their series pages. An author can win once.
  • Before entering a series, an author signs up for contests on the Contests page: the PayPal address the prize is paid to (the same address the Referrals page uses for payouts) and an agreement to the Contest Terms and Conditions, a new page that says who may enter, how the winner is decided, how the prize is paid, and that fees and taxes on the prize are the winner's own. An author who presses Enter on a series dashboard without having signed up is taken to the Contests page to do that first.
  • A book can be rated only after you have opened a chapter of its series. Reads are remembered per chapter, so a book you had already started counts.
  • Trending now follows what readers did in the last seven days: new readers, follows and ratings. Two new rows on the home page: Rising Stars, for series whose first chapter went live in the last thirty days, and Favorites This Week, for series with three or more ratings this week. The home page leads with two featured series instead of one.
  • The Help page has a Ratings topic under Reading and a Contests topic under Writing.
  • For administrators, contests have their own page under Admin, and Analytics has a Contests tab with each month's top ten.