diff --git a/js/widgets/widget-grouping.js b/js/widgets/widget-grouping.js
index c12a06da..e7a2333b 100644
--- a/js/widgets/widget-grouping.js
+++ b/js/widgets/widget-grouping.js
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-/*! tablesorter Grouping widget - updated 4/12/2013
+/*! tablesorter Grouping widget - updated 10/1/2013
  * Requires tablesorter v2.8+ and jQuery 1.7+
  * by Rob Garrison
  */
@@ -6,11 +6,52 @@
 /*global jQuery: false */
 ;(function($){
 "use strict";
+var ts = $.tablesorter;
 
-$.tablesorter.addWidget({
+ts.grouping = {
+	number : function(c, $col, txt, num, group){
+		var t, w;
+		if (num > 1 && txt !== '') {
+			if ($col.hasClass(c.cssAsc)) {
+				t = Math.floor(parseFloat(txt)/num) * num;
+				return t > parseFloat(group || 0) ? t : parseFloat(group || 0);
+			} else {
+				t = Math.ceil(parseFloat(txt)/num) * num;
+				return t < parseFloat(group || num) - t ? parseFloat(group || num) - t : t;
+			}
+		} else {
+			w = (txt + '').match(/\d+/g);
+			return w && w.length >= num ? w[num - 1] : txt || '';
+		}
+	},
+	word : function(c, $col, txt, num){
+		var w = (txt + ' ').match(/\w+/g);
+		return w && w.length >= num ? w[num - 1] : txt || '';
+	},
+	letter : function(c, $col, txt, num){
+		return txt ? (txt + ' ').substring(0, num) : '';
+	},
+	date : function(c, $col, txt, part){
+		var wo = c.widgetOptions,
+			t = new Date(txt || ''),
+			t2 = t.getHours();
+		return part === 'year' ? t.getFullYear() :
+			part === 'month' ? wo.group_months[t.getMonth()] :
+			part === 'day' ? wo.group_months[t.getMonth()] + ' ' + t.getDate() :
+			part === 'week' ? wo.group_week[t.getDay()] :
+			part === 'time' ? ('00' + (t2 > 12 ? t2 - 12 : t2 === 0 ? t2 + 12 : t2)).slice(-2) + ':' + ('00' + t.getMinutes()).slice(-2) + ' ' +
+				('00' + wo.group_time[t2 >= 12 ? 1 : 0]).slice(-2) :
+			t.toString();
+	}
+};
+
+ts.addWidget({
 	id: 'group',
+	// run AFTER the zebra widget, so the header rows do not get zebra striping
+	priority: 100,
 	options: {
 		group_collapsible : true, // make the group header clickable and collapse the rows below it.
+		group_collapsed   : false, // start with all groups collapsed
 		group_count       : ' ({num})', // if not false, the "{num}" string is replaced with the number of rows in the group
 		// change these default date names based on your language preferences
 		group_months      : [ 'Jan', 'Feb', 'Mar', 'Apr', 'May', 'Jun', 'Jul', 'Aug', 'Sep', 'Oct', 'Nov', 'Dec' ],
@@ -29,73 +70,51 @@ $.tablesorter.addWidget({
 		}
 	},
 	format: function(table, c, wo) {
-		var j, k, curr, $tr, t, t2, time,
+		var j, k, curr, $tr, t, t2, time, n,
 		group = '',
-		col = c.sortList[0] ? c.sortList[0][0] : -1,
-		groupBy = {
-			number : function($col, txt, num){
-				if (num > 1 && txt !== '') {
-					if ($col.hasClass(c.cssAsc)) {
-						t = Math.floor(parseFloat(txt)/num) * num;
-						return t > parseFloat(group || 0) ? t : parseFloat(group || 0);
-					} else {
-						t = Math.ceil(parseFloat(txt)/num) * num;
-						return t < parseFloat(group || num) - t ? parseFloat(group || num) - t : t;
-					}
-				} else {
-					var w = (txt + '').match(/\d+/g);
-					return w && w.length >= num ? w[num - 1] : txt || '';
-				}
-			},
-			word   : function($col, txt, num){
-				var w = (txt + ' ').match(/\w+/g);
-				return w && w.length >= num ? w[num - 1] : txt || '';
-			},
-			letter : function($col, txt, num){
-				return txt ? (txt + ' ').substring(0, num) : '';
-			},
-			date   : function($col, txt, part){
-				t = new Date(txt || '');
-				t2 = t.getHours();
-				return part === 'year' ? t.getFullYear() :
-					part === 'month' ? wo.group_months[t.getMonth()] :
-					part === 'day' ? wo.group_months[t.getMonth()] + ' ' + t.getDate() :
-					part === 'week' ? wo.group_week[t.getDay()] :
-					part === 'time' ? ('00' + (t2 > 12 ? t2 - 12 : t2 === 0 ? t2 + 12 : t2)).slice(-2) + ':' + ('00' + t.getMinutes()).slice(-2) + ' ' +
-						('00' + wo.group_time[t2 >= 12 ? 1 : 0]).slice(-2) :
-					t.toString();
-			}
-		};
-
+		col = c.sortList[0] ? c.sortList[0][0] : -1;
 		c.$table
 			.find('tr.group-hidden').removeClass('group-hidden').end()
 			.find('tr.group-header').remove();
+		if (wo.group_collapsible) {
+			// clear pager saved spacer height (in case the rows are collapsed)
+			$.data(table, 'pagerSavedHeight', 0);
+		}
 		if (col >= 0) {
 			if (c.debug){ time = new Date(); }
 			for (k = 0; k < c.$tbodies.length; k++) {
-				$tr = c.$tbodies.children('tr');
+				n = c.cache[k].normalized;
+				group = ''; // clear grouping across tbodies
+				$tr = c.$tbodies.eq(k).children('tr');
+				if (wo.group_collapsed && wo.group_collapsible) {
+					$tr.addClass('group-hidden');
+				}
 				for (j = 0; j < $tr.length; j++) {
-					t = (c.$headers.eq(col).attr('class') || '').match(/(group-\w+(-\w+)?)/g);
-					// group-{type}-{number/date}
-					t2 = t ? t[0].split('-') : ['','letter',1]; // default to letter 1
-					curr = groupBy[t2[1]]( c.$headers.eq(col), c.cache[k].normalized[j][col], /date/.test(t) ? t2[2] : parseInt(t2[2] || 1, 10) || 1 );
-					if (group !== curr) {
-						group = curr;
-						// show range if number > 1
-						if (t2[1] === 'number' && t2[2] > 1 && curr !== '') {
-							curr += ' - ' + (parseInt(curr, 10) + ((parseInt(t2[2],10) - 1) * (c.$headers.eq(col).hasClass(c.cssAsc) ? 1 : -1)));
+					if ( $tr.eq(j).is(':visible') ) {
+						t = (c.$headers.eq(col).attr('class') || '').match(/(group-\w+(-\w+)?)/g);
+						// group-{type}-{number/date}
+						t2 = t ? t[0].split('-') : ['','letter',1]; // default to letter 1
+						curr = n[j] ? ts.grouping[t2[1]]( c, c.$headers.eq(col), c.cache[k].normalized[j][col], /date/.test(t) ? t2[2] : parseInt(t2[2] || 1, 10) || 1, group ) : curr;
+						if (group !== curr) {
+							group = curr;
+							// show range if number > 1
+							if (t2[1] === 'number' && t2[2] > 1 && curr !== '') {
+								curr += ' - ' + (parseInt(curr, 10) + ((parseInt(t2[2],10) - 1) * (c.$headers.eq(col).hasClass(c.cssAsc) ? 1 : -1)));
+							}
+							if ($.isFunction(wo.group_formatter)) {
+								curr = wo.group_formatter((curr || '').toString(), col, table, c, wo) || curr;
+							}
+							$tr.eq(j).before('<tr class="group-header ' + c.selectorRemove.slice(1) + (wo.group_collapsed && wo.group_collapsible ? ' collapsed' : '') +
+								'" unselectable="on"><td colspan="' + (c.columns+1) + '">' + (wo.group_collapsible ? '<i/>' : '') + '<span class="group-name">' +
+								curr + '</span><span class="group-count"></span></td></tr>');
 						}
-						if ($.isFunction(wo.group_formatter)) {
-							curr = wo.group_formatter((curr || '').toString(), col, table, c, wo) || curr;
-						}
-						$tr.eq(j).before('<tr class="group-header ' + c.selectorRemove.slice(1) + '"><td colspan="' + (c.columns+1) + '">' +
-							(wo.group_collapsible ? '<i/>' : '') + '<span class="group-name">' + curr + '</span><span class="group-count"></span></td></tr>');
 					}
 				}
 			}
+			$tr = c.$table.find('tr.group-header').bind('selectstart', false);
 			if (wo.group_count) {
-				c.$table.find('tr.group-header').each(function(){
-					$(this).find('.group-count').html( wo.group_count.replace(/\{num\}/g, $(this).nextUntil('tr.group-header').length) );
+				$tr.each(function(){
+					$(this).find('.group-count').html( wo.group_count.replace(/\{num\}/g, $(this).nextUntil('tr.group-header').filter(':visible').length) );
 				});
 			}
 			if (c.debug) {