You are correct that I've been building along with you, as to my rgbeffects file, I have been returning to an old version in my backup as I rebuild.
What I now realize is the following, after starting up the first time all the groups define are reflected in the group window. After making changes and restarting they disappear from the group panel, and now appear in the element list.
I have included a screen capture so you can see the results, and my rgbeffects file if you need to review.