Re: Welcome back …
Adaab dostoon …
Azkar, thank you for the email.
Restored attachments:
Re: Welcome back …
Salaams,
Thanks for the email 
I commute between Oslo and London on weekdays and weekends so free time is a bit scarce but will still try and log in on good old gupshup often
Hope to see my old gang again.
Re: Welcome back …
Doh… aaj kel tumateron ka kiya rate hai?
Re: Welcome back …
I was around just reading but never posted in the past 5 years. Back after seeing the mail from AZKAR. Cheers,
Re: Welcome back …
I am back !!, thank you Azkar for your emotional email 
Re: Welcome back …
Welcome Back everyone 
Re: Welcome back …
On GS
Re: Welcome back …
I’m wondering the same and I did’nt get the email, just stumbled in at the right time. Can someone post the text of the email and give a summary of what happened here in last few months?
Re: Welcome back …
Here:
Hello LPBack in 1995, I created a discussion forums website to bring together our online community. We morphed from pak.org to paklinks.com and now gupshup.org. Sometimes around February 05, 2006 you decided to give it a try and over time accumulated some 121469 posts! Now that’s an accomplishment in itself!
I will come to the point. Times have been difficult. Without your participation, this green tree of knowledge is withering. You made your last post on November 23, 2016.
Before I ask you, I will admit that along the way, I made terrible mistakes. Working behind the scenes, I did not engage in the day to day management of the forums and decided to let the democracy and will of users govern the site. The Directors and Moderators were chosen from among you, the site patrons. But when I stopped innovating and giving them the tools to succeed, they could not carry on the mission. Some bad decisions were made and the forums traffic started to decay rapidly. The abundant use of ban feature annoyed many of you and restricted free speech. I am not pointing fingers at anyone but myself. Many of you have volunteered your time as a moderator or CM at this place and I am very thankful to you for your sacrifices.
Over the last few months, I have pondered if I should shutdown GupShup and call it quits. Every single time I lean forward to take this action, I am reminded of the millions of posts made by contributors like YOU. This is an asset and window into time that I cannot simply take away from the future readers. Over the 22 years of operation, your posts have generated several Billion page views for readers all across the world. This treasure is too precious to abandon or let it sink into the depths of cyberspace. Yes, you cannot swipe through it and it does not come with fancy apps, but browsing through endless forums and posts is not much different from wandering an old school library. And just like books and libraries, GupShup is a treasure trove of knowledge and wisdom; created, articulated and explained by YOU!
I fully understand that life happens. We grow up and move on. Interests and priorities in life change and time is always short. And on top of that, why would you engage in a place which lacks modern technological appeal and where big name alternatives are abundant?
But if you come back and start posting again, I will make a promise; I will personally get involved and start innovating like we used to. I have the following 5-points plan to revive this old tree:
- Modernize the look and feel of forums to match the available technologies.
- Relaunch native IOS and Android Apps for easy mobile usage.
- Integrate modern messaging platforms (text, audio, video).
- Reassemble the admin team with a clearer focus.
- Integrate with other social platforms like Paklinks.com and Facebook, etc.
Together, we can make GupShup the shining beacon it was once again. Your seed posts will encourage the newer generation to engage in discussions and learn from you the art of debate, persuasion and artful commentary. I am hoping you would not want to miss this chance to propagate your skills. Humanity is about sharing and passing along your knowledge after all.
Please come back.
Azkar Choudhry
Ps: I have started a welcome back thread where you can announce your continued presence.
Pps: If you have forgotten your password, please click here to have it reset.
Re: Welcome back …
Re: Welcome back …
Waiting for Mirch, Light Bearer and other friends! Have you knocked you all?
Re: Welcome back …
Re: Welcome back …
alright, I am here too. Got email. how many bachelors we have … i mean girls!
Re: Welcome back …
Well atleast veteran guppan PCG got hitched. Last she was seen celebrating her relationship goals..
Restored attachments:
Re: Welcome back …
Hi guys! Azkar thanks for the email (and the reminder that GS still exists 
)
Just a few points I wanted to address though - I appreciate that you want to modernise the site, and make it busier again. I wouldn’t mind contributing again because Paklinks used to be a fun place - I loved the wedding forums (and the ‘what you’re wearing thread’!) and I also made a lot of friends from this site, some of whom I’ve have since met or still speak to.
However there are a few things which needs to be done, and I don’t think changing the way GS looks or the way it’s run will necessarily bring more traffic.
- You need to stop banning people for trivial things - a lot of fun/funny posters who were banned just stopped coming back because of touchy mods. I know this is being addressed but we need to see it in action. Consider unbanning the cool people and inviting them back.
- Introduce interesting threads, not pointless samey, boring ones. One of the reasons I never visited Cafe threads in the past was because of the pure bongi people would write
- Change people’s attitudes - how many times do you need to have the answer ‘divorce him/her’ whenever people post a serious issue, or people getting OTT with posts? I’ve had some really fascinating chats with people which just aren’t taken seriously because there’s too much bakwaas in between which drowns out the interesting stuff
- Less of the favouritism - so many people who should be banned weren’t, and a lot of people were banned or restricted for stupid things because of how much mods like them. Give people a chance to explain before kicking them out.
I know this sounds a bit wishy washy and obvious, but it’s just a few things which came to mind when I saw there was a welcome back thread. Some of the funniest, bestest posts from the 90s and 00s which I loved were random threads full of really interesting people who didn’t get overly sensitive, overly judgy and could take a joke.
Good luck erryone.
Re: Welcome back …
Hello Azkar and all others
Well, I never left the forum and every now and then, used to peep into different threads. I admit that I have not contributed much but still, will keep on picking pearls of wisdom from here. By the way, thanks for remembering me, Sir Azkar. Just want to say that I am here, as before.
Regards.
Re: Welcome back …
Just clicked the Dislikes by mistake. Kindly disregard. And please try to add a feature to undo likes/dislikes as in Facebook.
Re: Welcome back …
points noted. thank you. and welcome back.
as you said, GS has food for thought for any mood. there are easy, light and silly discussions and then there are cut throat seriousness of politics and religion. what makes us collectively very beautiful is our diversity of thoughts. all anyone can ask is be courteous to others and don’t let the heat of the moment taint your delivery. keep it civil and all schools of thought will be recorded!
Azkar
Re: Welcome back …
sufi … aatay he panga?
point noted. i am working on the entire likes/dislikes system. expect changes soon. i hate the way all of them icons are bundled together. easy to dislike.
Re: Welcome back …
Sorry can’t afford a panga with the Admin.