Any tips on group portraits?

[nikonchick1985]

Hey y'all. This past week I've attempted twice to take family pictures. I'm attaching two pictures. The smaller family is my cousins next door and the bigger family is my family( I am to the far right in the black turtle neck). Obviously somebody else took that picture but I had to arrange it and my friend snapped the picture while my camera was on the tripod(so I didnt have to use the self timer). Anyways...I've been asked by another family here in town to do their family picture also. I wanted to know what the rules or tips or whatever are for taking group pictures. Any help is much appreciated!!!!!! I really need to know what all is wrong or right *((if there IS anything right)* BTW...I know I know these pictures are very pixelly(is that a word? I had to lower the resolution to make it small enough to get it on this site. The pictures DO NOT look like this, they are very clear and sharp. (sorry I've tried working with the pictures for a long time to get them the right size without lowering the quality but it's not working ) ugh.


The were takin with my D70.