I'm thrilled to announce the addition of three significant new projects to my portfolio, each representing a different facet of my passion for development and knowledge sharing. One is a modern, full-stack blog application, and the other two are comprehensive technical guides on Git and DNS.

Project 1: Laravel Svelte 5 Blog

The Laravel Svelte 5 Blog is a fully functional, production-ready application that demonstrates how to build a modern web app with a monolithic backend and a reactive frontend. It combines the power of Laravel 12 for the API and the cutting-edge features of Svelte 5 for the user interface, seamlessly integrated using Inertia.js.

Key features include:

• Full-Stack Architecture: A robust Laravel backend handles authentication, data management, and business logic.
• Reactive Frontend: A Svelte 5 frontend provides a fast, interactive user experience without the complexity of a separate API client.
• Educational Focus: The repository is extensively commented, serving as a learning resource for developers interested in this stack.

This project was an excellent opportunity to explore the latest advancements in both the PHP and JavaScript ecosystems and build something practical and educational.

Project 2: A Practical Guide to Git

The second addition is A Practical Guide to Git. As developers, we use Git every day, but many of its powerful features remain underutilized. This guide was created to be a clear, concise, and comprehensive resource for both beginners and experienced developers looking to level up their version control skills.

The guide covers:

• Core Fundamentals: From git init to your daily add, commit, and push workflow.
• Branching and Merging: Mastering one of Git's most powerful features.
• Working with Remotes: Collaborating with others on platforms like GitHub.
• Advanced Topics: Diving into more complex commands like rebase, cherry-pick, and reset to manage your project history effectively.

My goal was to create the kind of resource I wished I had when I was first learning Git—straightforward, practical, and focused on real-world scenarios.

Project 3: Domain Registration & DNS Guide

The third project is the Domain Registration & DNS Guide. This guide is designed to demystify the often-confusing world of domain names and the Domain Name System (DNS). Whether you're a developer launching a new side project or a hobbyist setting up a personal website, understanding these concepts is fundamental.

This guide walks through:

• Domain Registration Basics: How to choose and purchase a domain name.
• Understanding DNS: A clear explanation of what DNS is and why it's essential for the internet to function.
• Core DNS Records: A practical overview of common record types like A, CNAME, MX, and TXT records.
• Practical Configuration: Step-by-step examples of how to configure DNS records for common use cases, like pointing a domain to a web server or setting up email.

Like the Git guide, this resource is aimed at being a practical, easy-to-follow reference for essential developer knowledge.

A Commitment to Open Source

All three projects are open-source and available on my GitHub. I believe strongly in the power of sharing knowledge and contributing to the developer community. I invite you to explore the code, use the guides, and provide any feedback you might have!

Today marks an exciting update to my portfolio site with the addition of several new projects and a complete design refresh of the projects section. These changes showcase my recent work while implementing improved visual hierarchy and UI components based on my design system guidelines.

New Projects Added

I've expanded the portfolio with four additional projects that highlight different aspects of my technical expertise:

• Wazzup News Aggregator API - A Laravel-powered API showcasing SOLID principles and design patterns
• Brief Markdowns for Gen AIs - A collection of standardized UI/UX reference documents for AI code generation
• Store with basic Cart features - A Laravel 12 e-commerce implementation with Stripe integration
• Accumulated HackMD Knowledge Base - A personal knowledge hub covering various technical topics

Design System Implementation

The redesign of the projects section provided an opportunity to better apply the principles from my Web Design System Brief. The key improvements include:

• Enhanced Typography Hierarchy - Section headings now feature a consistent styling with an underline accent that creates visual interest while maintaining readability
• Card-Based Layout - Each project is displayed in a card with subtle shadows and hover effects that provide depth without overwhelming the content
• Refined Tag System - Technology tags now use pill-shaped elements with the site's color scheme for better visual distinction
• Interactive Elements - Project titles feature subtle underline animations on hover, improving user feedback and engagement

Technical Implementation

The redesign leveraged several modern CSS techniques:

• CSS Grid for responsive, automatically adjusting layouts
• CSS custom properties (variables) to maintain consistent styling across components
• CSS transitions for smooth hover interactions
• Improved semantic HTML structure with appropriate header, article, and section elements

Visual Consistency

A key goal of this update was to maintain visual consistency throughout the site. By applying the section-heading class to all major headings and using consistent spacing patterns, the entire site now has a more cohesive feel. The project cards use the same color variables and border-radius values as other components, ensuring a unified design language.

Enhanced Connectivity with Social Links

In addition to the project updates, I've added social media links to the footer and a dedicated GitHub button in the header. These changes make it easier for visitors to connect with me across different platforms and explore my code repositories. The social links include profiles on:

• GitHub - Where all my project repositories are hosted
• LinkedIn - For professional networking
• HackerRank, LeetCode & freeCodeCamp - Showcasing my coding practice and problem-solving skills

The dedicated GitHub button in the navigation area provides instant access to my main code repository, emphasizing the importance of this platform in my development workflow. These social connections are designed with subtle hover animations and consistent styling that matches the site's overall aesthetic.

What's Next?

With these updates in place, I'm now looking ahead to further refining the portfolio. Future improvements might include:

• Adding detailed project case studies with development processes and outcomes
• Implementing a dark mode toggle based on the existing color variables
• Creating a filterable projects section to allow visitors to sort by technology or project type

Stay tuned for more updates as I continue to enhance both the content and design of this portfolio!

Welcome to the very first post on my new portfolio site! It feels fitting that the inaugural article should be about the creation of this site itself – a project built from the ground up using fundamental web technologies: HTML, CSS, and vanilla JavaScript.

The Initial Spark & Requirements

The goal was to create a clean, modern, and responsive online space to showcase my skills and projects. Key requirements included a design that could adapt its color theme from a logo, content driven by my resume, standard navigation (Home, Projects, Contact, Blog), a Google Maps integration for my location, and crucially, a structure that would be easy to maintain and potentially upgrade to a more dynamic backend or a JavaScript framework like Svelte or React in the future.

Our Approach: Phased & Iterative with AI Collaboration

We tackled this with a phased implementation. Working within the Cursor IDE, I leveraged its AI capabilities extensively. My AI assistant (Gemini!) helped generate boilerplate code, suggest modern design patterns, draft content like this very blog post, and rapidly iterate on CSS styles and JavaScript functionalities. This collaborative approach significantly sped up the development process and helped in exploring different solutions quickly. Starting with the basic HTML skeleton, we progressively layered on styling and functionality, allowing for focused development on each section.

Core Technologies & Design Philosophy

Sticking to vanilla HTML, CSS, and JavaScript was a deliberate choice to demonstrate foundational skills. The design process was guided by the principles outlined in my GenAI-UI-UX Design System Brief, emphasizing simplicity, usability, and accessibility. The AI played a crucial role here too, by helping to translate these principles into concrete code and ensuring adherence to the brief. We aimed for a modern aesthetic with responsive layouts, dynamic elements like the sticky header with a logo swap on scroll, and a mobile-friendly hamburger menu.

Key Features Implemented:

• Responsive Design: Ensuring the site looks and works great on desktops, tablets, and mobile devices using CSS media queries and flexible layouts (like CSS Grid and Flexbox).
• Dynamic Header: A sticky header that changes appearance and swaps the logo on scroll for a polished user experience.
• Modern Navigation: Smooth scrolling for on-page links, active link highlighting, and a responsive hamburger menu for smaller screens.
• Content Sections: Populating the Home, Projects, and Contact sections with relevant information and interactive elements like the Google Map.
• Future-Proofing: Using semantic HTML and modular CSS to make future updates or framework integrations smoother.

Challenges & Learnings

One of the interesting parts was fine-tuning the Google Maps API integration, especially ensuring the API key was correctly activated and configured, and then migrating to the new AdvancedMarkerElement. Iteratively refining the CSS with AI suggestions to achieve the desired modern look and feel for elements like section titles and the skills layout was also a key part of the process. Each step was a learning opportunity!

What's Next?

This portfolio is a living project. I plan to add more projects, write more blog posts sharing insights and learnings, and perhaps even explore those future upgrades we planned for. For now, I'm excited to have this platform live. Thanks for reading!