🎉🎂Happy 21st Birthday IF, India Forums is 'Major' now!👏💐

Happy 21st Birthday, India Forums! You're a 'Major' Site now!

Another year of upholding our values, traditions, and the spirit of excellence.

From a simple Idea to an interactive Website!! From a nascent kid to a magnificent youth, IF has gone through enormous growth, it is a great transition, from discussions to celebrations, the journey is enchanting, a zest of festivity all the way!!

Credit goes to Vijay, Jayshree and his hardworking Staff & DT Team who are with him since its inception.

It's a 21-year-old "MAJOR" website today!

A new world was created on December 9th, 2003, at around 6.24 AM! An interesting article called 'General Discussion Forum: Jassi Jassi Koi Nahin.' appeared in one of the online sites!

It's Vijay's first blog post, which marked the arrival of a new star in the

interactive cosmos!

The cheers started arriving in the form of members from then on, and they’re still coming!

Thus began the journey of our India forums

Opportunities do not occur. You have to create those!!

Vijay's perseverance prompted him to overcome numerous challenges and succeed during the development of this website.

Desire is the starting point of all Achievements!

The progression of a future story

In many cultures, including India Forum's, turning 21 is a big event!! Because it signals the start of an Explosion of Opportunities, amazing website emancipation, and new talent discoveries.

IF's success story in Vijay's words...

(From IF main page)

18th January 2005 – IF reached 5000 members mark.

19th February 2005 – IF Blog launched.

23rd February 2005 – egreetings.in launched.

23rd March 2005 – India Forums Star Gallery launched

3rd May 2005 – 10,000 members

5th May 2005 – India Forums is the first forum in India (not sure about the world) which provides an option to create personal Home page.

30th June 2005 – 15000 members

14th July 2005 – India Forums reaches 20,000 members in a very short time.

15th July 2005 – I-F Radio started.

6th August 2005 – We added the support for Skype & Yahoo Messenger to Member's Profile.

28th August 2005 - in Association with Craze FM, IF got a bevy of stars on air, first starting with Iqbal Khan. Since then, we have had 27 stars so far.

Feb 18th 2006, IF reached 100000 members.

1st September 2005 – India Forums reaches 30,000 members


3rd September 2005 – India Forums features in The Hindu

10th September 2005 - A special story carried on India-Forums by Indo-Asian News Service (IANS) and it appeared on several newspapers like: The Tribune, Indian Express, Yahoo India, New Kerala and many more.

19th September 2005 – 2903 on Alexa Rankings

6th October 2005 – Newsletter launched.


7th October 2005 - SIFY association for the "Fame Gurukul show".


19th October 2005 - SIFY extends its association to the "Sa Re Ga Ma Pa" Show. IF is now the official discussion forum on the SIFY site for these shows.


13th October 2005 – Association with MTV – Roadies

23rd October 2005 – 50,000 members reached. (Reaching this milestone on my Birthday was so SPECIAL) Vijay

27th October 2005 – India Forums Members Slam book introduced.

22nd November 2005 – 2311 on Alexa

December 2005 - India Forums reaches the 25 Million Page views a month! .

From day one to date, the growth story continues.

As we celebrate 21 years of association, we want to express our sincere gratitude to everyone who has contributed to India Forums' success.

A Shout-Out from "Millions Of IF Members" 🎉

Congratulations, Vijay on achieving another significant milestone.

Dear Members

IF was created for you, for me, and for all of us! To share, to care, to continue the conversations, and to maintain our friendly interactions in that process!!

A big thanks to our Administrator Vijay and Global Moderator Jayshree from the 'Millions Of IF Members!!'

Best wishes to each and every participating Member, and Salutations to all our hardworking Staff, and a big shout-out for all our DT Members.

In times of Need and in times of Joy

Always there for you,

Your India Forums Development Team.

🎉Happy 21st Foundation Day, India Forums! You Rock!🎉

Simple Ideas Often Lead To Great Achievements.

An interesting story unfolded on December 9th, 2003, 6.24 AM,

At that point, Angels helped Vijay by saying, "Toss your dreams into space like a Rocket, and look at what it's going to bring you!! A busy life, a million new friends, a sense of accomplishment, an endless path to success!"

Laying foundation is the first step, expansion is the next, Success is the biggest one in this ever-changing interactive world.

Honesty, integrity, faith, love, and hard work are the cornerstones of our IF's well-rounded success.

On this Foundation Day, let's honour our past, celebrate the present,

and look forward to a brighter future.

A few facts about India Forums

From modest beginnings to outstanding accomplishments, IF endured many obstacles and triumphs along the way!!

Now, our IF is a roaring Major at the age of 21, rearing to run with millions of members to reach many milestones.

In all these years, IF has changed from Existence to Excellence in its Expansive Expressiveness.

Vijay's passion for consistent improvement gave India Forums its unique identity.

The transition from planting to fruition, IF gifted to you, an enthusiastic you! IF shown you how to showcase your latent talent, here!

Twenty One prolific years of engaging people to share their thoughts is the main story of IF.

Here are a few facts...

(From main IF page)

An Invitation to Everyone In The India Forums Family:

We love to hear from you, and we keep reinventing ourselves, based on your feedback!

We cordially invite you to join us in commemorating this significant occasion. India Forums is nothing without its members. A big thank you to all our members for helping us in every endeavour of ours.

In times of need and in times of joy,

Always there for you.

Your India Forums Development Team.

Let's celebrate IF's 21 years of growth and recognition on social media and its impact!

According to available information, "India Forums" currently ranks as one of the top 10 most popular entertainment news websites in India based on website traffic and user engagement, although a precise numerical ranking across all websites is not readily available.

India Forums is in the Top 5 Forums in the world in terms of pageviews and ranked 79 in forum ranking and have got there in a short time of 3 years. Source: Big-Boards.com

India Forums is not only #1 Television Discussion portal but also India's #1 Discussion Portal for all age groups and with a strong base of over 2 Million+ members

All this surely makes all of us proud IFians :)

Vijay once said: Well every successful year of completion we set ourselves some targets we want to achieve in the coming year.

Those are:

• To reach 200 Million pageviews and 10 Million members!
• To break into the Top 3 Indian Websites and in the Top 50 sites in the world.
• There are a lot of features which are going to be introduced and so many fun filled contests to make India Forums the best place to hang out on the internet and make new friends.

IndiaForum technical team is always adding new amazing features to enhance user experience and also takes feedback from members. IF is a community and we love every member and are very proud to keep them involved in the upgradation process . Member’s inputs help us keep enhancing the experience at the site .

We’re thrilled to announce some major upgradations in the last one year ..that added improvement in the experience on our site . IF wants our members to Keep posting, stay engaged, and watch the progress soar.

1…. Improved New URL structure for IF to make it more user-friendly, more clarity , shorter URLs , easier to share, and optimized for search engines (SEO).

2…. TV Celebrity Rankings Refreshed: Priority to ongoing tv shows actors.The updated TV Celebrity Ranking will offer a more accurate and up-to-date reflection of the television landscape while continuing to account for news buzz, fan following, and social media engagement.

3 …. Daily Digest of Popular Topics in Your Favorite Forums IF is sending out a daily email digest to all our members featuring popular topics created in the last 24 hours in the Forums they have marked as their Favorite. This digest highlights topics that have seen significant engagement, this feature helps you stay updated with the most active and interesting discussions happening in your favourite forums, ensuring you never miss out on a hot topic.

4…. Transitioning from Classic Smiley GIFs to Modern Emojis , that have served us well, to the colourful and vibrant emojis that are now universally used on digital platforms.This has made our platform more modern , ensure a smoother, faster and more interactive experience for all our users.

5 …. Enhanced PM System: Improved Threaded Conversations for Easy Follow-up. This grouping mechanism allows you to effortlessly follow the entire email chain within a single view. Members can now easily identify the main discussion topic and its subsequent replies.

6 …. Introduction of Display Names on India Forums .It's a name that appears on your profile, comments, and posts, allowing you to showcase your identity in a more personalized . We have a choice of real name, a nickname, or any name that you identify with.

7 …. "Members Currently Online." Feature ….when you visit our Forum section, you'll notice a dynamic new section that displays the members who are currently active on the site within the last 20 minutes.

8 …. Increased Posts Per PageTo improve your reading experience, we are increasing the number of posts per forum topic page from 8 to 10. This change means less clicking and more continuous reading for you.

9 …. Enhanced Email Notification Previews In our ongoing effort to make your experience more seamless, we're upgrading our email notifications. Going forward, you'll be able to read the content of private messages and other notifications like new post replies directly in your email. This means less switching back and forth between your email and the forum to stay updated on what matters to you. Currently in testing phase and we should be live by next week.

10 … Content Copying RestrictionsTo safeguard the valuable contributions of our users, we are introducing a new feature that restricts the copying of post content. When copying text from posts, only the first 150 characters will be allowed, followed by a link to the original post. This change is to encourage users to visit the forum for full content, fostering a more engaged community.

11 … Increased Topics per Forum Page To improve your browsing experience, we've upped the number of topics per forum page from 20 to 30. This update means easier access to a broader range of discussions without the need for frequent page turns.

12 … Improved Forum Quick Jump Navigation
We’ve reorganized the forum categories in the quick jump menu, making it much easier for you to find the right forum. This streamlined navigation will save you time and enhance your browsing experience.

13 … Clear Identification of Private ForumsTo help you easily distinguish between public and private spaces, we are now marking private forums as [Private] in the dropdown list. This added clarity will help you navigate our forums more effectively.

14 … New Ladder Groups and User Levels on India Forums the detailed structure and the complete breakdown of the groups and their corresponding post ranges have been revamped .

15 … New Badge Category for User Levels:In addition to our existing badges, we are introducing a new badge category specifically for User Levels. Each time you reach a new level, you'll receive a badge that reflects your progress and dedication. These badges will be a mark of pride and recognition within our community. this new structure makes your progress and achievements clearer and more rewarding.

16 … Simplified "Create New Topic" The goal with this update is to provide you with a streamlined and user-friendly experience when creating new topics.

17 … Enhanced Navigation: There hs been a restructuring our navigation to make it easier for you to find your way around the site. The new design will include a prominently displayed Translate option, allowing you to read the site in your preferred local language.

18 … Reorganized and Expanded Categories:
We’re reorganizing our categories and adding some interesting new ones to expand into newer areas of discussion. This will help us cater to a wider range of interests and make India Forums even more engaging for everyone! We are also changing the page so that its easier to find relevant Forums.
19 … Improved Topic Display: There has been revamping how topics are displayed to you. You'll have the option to choose between a compact view and a card view. Additionally, you'll be able to see all topics within a specific category in one place.

20 … Profile Image Restrictions for New Users:
To enhance security and prevent misuse, we're introducing new measures to restrict the addition of profile images for multiple identity users (MIDs) unless they have reached the Explorer ladder group.

21 … Improved Site Speed, Enhanced Security & Updated Links We’re now using Cloudflare’s Business plan, bringing several benefits: Faster Page Loads: We’re now serving pages from an “Edge cache,” meaning content is delivered from servers closer to you, this pages load faster!Enhanced Security: We have upgraded our CDN service which also provides us advanced security features that helps protect our site and keep your data safe.Higher Reliability: This new setup helps us reduce downtime, ensuring the site stays up even during busy times.Updated Links: We’ve also migrated all old forum post links that pointed to “india-forums.com” to the latest URLs, and removed links that are no longer active, making navigation easier.

22 … Media Integration into Posts You can now effortlessly search and insert Tenor GIFs , Giphy and Unsplash , IF Gallery directly into your posts. These new features are designed to make your posts more engaging and visually appealing, offer creative freedom by providing easy access to a wide range of media, keep conversations lively and fun.Word Limit removed when we add GIF / Images using Add Media feature.

23 … Progress Bars for User Levels Introduction of Visual Progress bar for User Levels under the Profile Drop down menu. For a clearer visual representation of your achievements and progression, we've added progress bars to your profiles. These bars will show how far you've come and how close you are to reaching the next milestone in your forum journey.

Members are requested to take a look at the updates done over last 3 yrs .

Updates three yrs back https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/post/159648695

Updates two yrs back https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/post/162293617

Updates one yr back https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/post/164424815

https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/suggestions-comments/5343665/india-forums-a-legacy-of-excellence-happy-20th-birthday-if

Salutations to all our Current and Former DT members

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIlvST91UM8

(IF video presentation from a DT member)

IF was nurtured by many caring hands, they have created an emotionally enriched debating society.

👏IF's Development Team is its Pillar of Strength.

Our Alumni, the previous development team that prepared IF for today's celebrations!👏

As our path makers, they defined unity in diversity, which is more applaudable than the forced uniformity, they elucidated it meticulously.

The collective efforts and contributions of DT members from past to current, are worth to be mentioned and honoured today, in this glorious moment.

We are grateful to these "Dedicated Team Members". Each member in the Development Team played a unique role in the growth of this forum.

A few successful stories shared by successful past DT members---

(From past IF BD threads)

Aahaana

Channel Moderator To Global Moderator

My journey started October 22nd 2005 in Kavyanjali forum. Joined Tamil sections and wrote updates there and became forums Viewbie on April 2007. On 27th May 2009, I had a pleasant surprise awaiting in my inbox. In what I thought was supposed to be my promotion as the Moderator in Tamil Section turned out to be the Channel Moderator Promotion for Sun TV and in June 2011, I became Channel Moderator for India-Forums sections (top one) and on 26th November 2012, I was promoted as Global Moderator for India forums. There have been a few heart-wrenching moments during my journey, yet everything happens for a good, and enthralled by my second home! A day doesn't go by without India-forums.com, a place I have made many friends. Happy 11th Birthday, India-forums.com!

gk_09

DT Member To BollyCurry Head

I began my journey with BollyCurry by writing feature articles back in 2008-2009. To expand on this initiative, a small team of I-F members was formed. A team, which merely consisted of a couple of people when it started, is now comparatively quite large. Through this successful journey, I became in charge of the Newsroom operations of BollyCurry (i.e. we write all the fun feature articles!)

My DT journey has been equally intriguing. I joined the Development Team as a Coolbie. Shortly after, I was promoted to a Viewbie for the same section and followed the chain up to the Global Moderator position. It's been a bitter-sweet roller coaster ride but an unforgettable journey!

Angel-Jot.

Viewbie To Crazy Creative Head

My journey first began at the Fan Fictions Forum on March 24th, 2008. Being an avid fan of fan fictions, I spent much of my time reading Angad-Kripa fan fictions and then later writing some. On August 9, 2010, I managed to get selected as a Buzzer for the BollyCurry team and later, I got promoted to Viewbie of the Twilight Forum on January 5th, 2011.

Finally, on December 26th, 2011 I made it to the Crazy Creative team. On November 26th, 2013 I was promoted to Moderator. Shortly after, on December 31st, 2013 I was announced the new Crazy Creatives Head.

somergasm.

Ladder Group To Crazy Creative

I have no memory of how I stumbled upon I-F. Weird! I know.

But every moment I spend at this place is amazing.

Crazy Creatives has got be the best thing that happened to me over here. Not a day passes without talking to my wonderful team.

We're like this CRAZY HAPPY FAMILY!

And we're definitely going to remain the same. =P

God knows how much homework they've helped me with

MSN_Vanny

Ladder Group To BollyCurry Buzzer

Out of a dozen other popular Indian portals, I found myself creating an account on India-Forums mainly because of its wide coverage and user-friendly lay out. Becoming a part of the BollyCurry team has been just a stab in the dark, but I'm glad I took that stab because now, I can't imagine life without my fellow mates in the News Room or without keeping abreast with the world of Bollywood. BollyCurry has taught me more than I had initially expected. Whilst improving my writing and researching skills and learning from some senior members (free at that!), I'm having fun! Now, in particular, BollyCurry has become a part of me and I wouldn't want it any other way.

Thanks to our DT Members for brightening our IF world

@_Manpreet_

India Forums is indeed a lovely gift to all of us.
Thank you for creating such a wonderful forum, Vijay Bhaiya!!
It has given me the most precious gift!!

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Gagori Chatterjee @jyoti06 Alumni 55 (Posted: 14 years ago

Happy Birthday IF🥳🥳...I really pray to God that IF can celebrate many more such birthdays in the future and creates a history for being the most popular online Forum😳

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@Scribbler184

This is a place where you not only discuss endlessly about your favorite star/show but also learn a lot from others.

Like in the member's lounge, you can learn a lot about festivals etc and at the same time enjoy playing games. Not only this, but you can also try your hand/mind/brain at writing skills in the Fan fiction forum . . . . . There are so many interesting things that you can do over here.

I have discovered a lot, and I am still discovering. . . . .😉

Way to go, India Forums. You rock. 😊

And yes, a big Thank You to Vijay Sir and all the Dev Team members of IF. You all rock, guys.

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@Aahaana Alumni 40

This place has given me so many great friends for an entire lifetime😳 and I meet my friend com sister here only😳 So many good memories and experience from this forum...can write essay about it😆

8th years and a lot of happening and developments⭐️...may this forum reach higher places👏👏 (From 8th IF Anniversary thread)

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@.Prometheus. Alumni-- 44

Happy Birthday India-Forms!!! Agree with Meli met great friends from India-Forums and some i now see outside of IF as well!!!I left for 2 years due to commitments but as soon as i found the time i couldn't wait to come back This place have given me so many great friends for a entire lifetime😳 and I meet my friend com sister here only😳 So many good memories and experience from this forum...can write essay about it😆

8th years and a lot of happening and developments⭐️...may this forum reach higher places👏👏

A site that merely started out as a blog, and look where it has reached by now!

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hopper_ocean Alumni 35

Happy birthday to IF. Love being here, especially on Sensational South ... I found many sweet friends here and in short period I've gained so many memories here 🤗

It is not just any forum where users can visit, peruse, and occasionally post. It's more, much more than that. Many of the members have made it a family.

It began as just a blog, but look how it has grown over the past eight years. A lot has changed, and in an excellent way. We can assess how successful this forum is just by looking at the number of members.

@supercool3 Alumni 30

Wow, 8 long years !! That's absolutely amazing !!! I'm reaching 2 years here, but I've come across a variety of individuals, met unique people, and made some wonderful friends 😳 A shout-out to my Pagals, SR and SS gangs especially 😆 always will be close to my heart 😳

On top of that, a hearty thanks to all members for their contributions to IF and for having made it what it is 😳 Love this place loads !! ⭐️

@Angel-Jot Alumni- 35

Happy Birthday to IF. This website is crazy addicting and lots of fun.

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We would like to express our gratitude to all the DT Members who are our India Forums' enchanting gardeners!

We have just begun to share the interesting experiences of our previous DT members. We will continue sharing many more in honour of our Alumni in our future threads.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBqOZuinikU

In times of need and in times of joy,

Always there for you.

Your India Forums Development Team.

21 years already? Time really flies, feels like last week when i posted in the 20 years thread

Happy 21'st birthday I-F

This thread looks so lovely

Originally posted by: CID-fan-394

This thread looks so lovely

Congrats to IF on 21 years!

Friends, tag your friends to greet our Vijay with good wishes and to thank him for his relentless good efforts.

Congratulations on completing 21 successful years of IF

Many more to come