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TSR through the ages
Look how we've grown!
Can you remember what The Student Room was like then you first visited? Take a trip down memory lane with these images we found of the TSR homepage over the years. We've managed to get an image of what the site was like every year since it was born back in 2001. Which year was your favourite? What do you think TSR will look like in next year, or in another 10 years time? Tell us your thought and opinions. Click on the images to see larger versions of what each year looked like.
| 2001 | 
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| Let's start our trip way back in summer 2001. The site, then called UK Learning, has just been set up by the mysterious 'd'. The homepage shows discussions, which would later branch off to become TSR and an essay bank, which would later become Marked By Teachers, our sister site. |
| 2002 | 
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| In 2002 we see the site starting to take on the format that was familiar for many year, with the main forum list making up most of the homepage content. There were also sections linking in with USENET internet discussion as well as UK Learning dedicated forums. Note the max users on line was at just 67 - a far cry from our current record of 16,366! |
| 2003 | 
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| In 2003 we see the site has become a single forum, with all the latest threads appearing on the home. Note the colour change too - from red in 2002 to the default colour palette of vBulletin (the forum software we use to power TSR) of purples, blues and greys. These colours would remain for many years. |
| 2004 | 
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| By 2004 we had moved back to a forum structure - note some of the familiar names of forums which remain to this day (Entertainment and About the Student Room) and others which have either been lost or renamed (eg General Chat and UCAS Personal Statements). We also reached the 1 million post milestone in 2004! |
| 2005 | 
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| Little had visually changed in 2005, but the forums continued to develop and expand as the site grew in popularity. You can see many more familiar forum names on the list. The image here shows a 'poppy' theme on the site for Remembrance Day in November. Note also the addition of the old TSR logo. |
| 2006 | 
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| The forum list has grown even bigger and more familiar by 2006 and as the site grew in size it started to cost more to run. Advert space was added to help the site generate some income to ensure it could keep growing (though the ad spaces are both blank here). The TSR wiki also features for the first time (having initially been set up in late 2005) and we are celebrating Christmas with a snowy logo! |
| 2007 | 
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| The site saw massive changes in 2007 as a complete redesign of the site saw the the creation of a brand new homepage (with the forums listing moved to its own dedicated page) and a move away from the default vBulletin design to its own custom style. There was a new TSR logo too! Things are starting to look more familiar, but many people called for us to change back to the old design - which do you prefer now? |
| 2008 | 
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| We made a number of tweaks to the design during 2008 - the tabs were updated so they look more like the ones we have today and the first incarnation of the sidebar can be seen. This image is taken during the exam results and clearing period showing a range of resources for this period. |
| 2009 | 
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| Things are starting to look really familiar now. The feature box appeared in 2009 and we widgetified the homepage so you could customise TSR to show what you wanted where you wanted. Six different skin colours were available - the green one here shows the site as admin saw it. |
| 2010 | 
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| TSR didn't see many visual changes during 2010, but it did see a massive behind-the-scenes overhaul as we moved from the 3.5 to the 3.8 version of vBulletin forum software. The changes happened in October. You can see a few differences here, including the site footer changes to add a colour change palette to every page. |
| 2011 | 
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| TSR celebrated its 10th birthday with a birthday logo designed by member: Refrigerator. We also got nostalgic, looking back at various what-could-have-been moments. All included in the 10th Birthday article. |
| 2012 | 
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| 2012 was a busy old year for TSR. The site's homepage was redesigned, with a fixed-width format and 'pods' linking out to new content. The forum pages also had a thorough update and we unveiled entirely new branding for TSR - including a new logo, colour palette and tagline: 'where students connect'. |
| 2013 | 
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| Things have been happening fast on TSR in 2013. We've unveiled the second stage of our rebranding, with a brand new look and feel rolled out across the whole site. We're also launching a brand new subscription package, which offers an amazing selection of new features for students who sign up. As ever, there's much more to come! Stay tuned... |
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