Areeb’s Online Realm

My Blogging Toolkit includes >

Blogging Platform:
WordPress :
I’ve been blogging for over a year now, and I have found Wordpress, the best blogging platform. I started with Blogger, moved to microblog, before settling on Wordpress. I’m using version 2.09 of wordpress right now.

Desktop Blogging Client:
BlogJet :
There are a lot of good desktop clients out there, but I have become most comfortable with BlogJet. It was after a long search that I have found this software. ScribeFire is also a good blogging add-in for Firefox.

Statistics Software:
Google Analytics, Tracewatch
Google Analytics is a free service by Google while Tracewatch is a free PHP Script to monitor your website.

Blog Promotion and feed:
Technorati, Feedburner :
So far, I am also using the ping feature of BlogJet to notify a large list of services each time I post. There’s more work to be done in this area.

Browser:
Firefox – While a browser may not be a blogging tool, but, I find Firefox simplifies the blogging experience. The ability to keep a number of tabs open to links, or while researching and reading related information is helpful. I keep a number of regular bookmarks on the bookmark toolbar, which get a lot of use, along with the Google toolbar for Firefox.

Graphics:
ACDSee 8.0 – I don’t have a lot to do with graphics. Most of what I want to do with an image is crop or resize. ACDSee lets me do that easily as well as being able to play around with other graphics features.

I tag Sizlopedia, Hammad

4 Comments »

I still dont know how I developed the passion for Webdesigning. As far as I can remember, I had started learning HTML when I was in final year of my O-Level from a basic tutorial from Page Tutor. Since then, I often experimented on different websites, read their HTML and understood their structure and all that stuff. During this period I also learnt how to insert Javascript into the Webpage and how to modify it. I am really thankful to Dynamic Drive who provide free Javascripts which are really awsome.

I had developed four websites on my Computer. Although those Websites were never uploaded on a Web Server as they were so bad that I did not wanted people to laugh at me .
In 2004, I made the first website which was uploaded. Infact that was an assignment of my friend’s brother on Litter Patrol. It was developed by both me and my friend. My friend actually did the HTML work using Frontpage (GUI Mode) and I actually inserted relevant Javascript and modified the Coding. Although we were really proud of our work at that time, but if u ask me now, than I will suggest that please dont see that website, as it is really really pathtic. if u wish u can see it here.

In the late 2005, I came to know more about Web Servers and Domains. Furthermore I also gained more experience on WebDesigning and understood the importance of optimization of Websites so that they occupy minimum space and maximum content. That was the time when I decided that I should have a personal website where I will be writing about myself, my professional work including my Resume, and some other stuff. I started the work, and it took me about one month to complete that website. I had used Dreamweaver as my web-building Software and used Swishmax for creating a Flash navigation menu. I had tried to use CSS as much as possible in that, as I had just learnt CSS and wanted to implement my skills. Since I had no idea about PHP or CGI and thus I used free services for stuff like Guestbook, Polls etc. Here is a list of Services which I had used:

• Feedback Forms by Black Fire Networks
• Shout Box by Tag World
• Guestbook by Brave net
• Counter & Statistics by Statcounter
• Web Polls by Poll Host

The next task was to search a Host. I was really allergic to Ads and most of the Webmasters know that almost all of the free Web Hosts place Ads on ur Site. I searched the Internet for more than 10 days to find a reliable Webhost and finally I found Walagata .It is suitable for beginners. It had fast servers and rapid upload. But the only problem was their long Website name as www.jupiter.walagata.com/w/urname.

In the beginning of 2006, I started to learn PHP. The reason why I preferred to chose PHP and not ASP will be explained later on in some posts. I started learning PHP as Scripting Language and MySQL Database and their control using PHPmyAdmin. Although more than one month has passed but I still dont know how to write PHP but I can insert PHP Script taken from some website as Hot Scripts and can use it into the Website, provided that instructions are there.This obviously posed another problem as Walagata didnot supported PHP. Infact some-one told me that u will find one in a hundred WebHost who will support PHP and even those who support PHP usually disables their email function of PHP. After much struggle and hardwork, I managed to find another Ad-Free Webhost Awardspace . I shifted my website to www.areeb.awardspace.com to use some of the PHP Scripts.

In early February, I decided that I should be using a Paid host. When I searched for some WebHosts in Pakistan, I was really glad to know that domains are really cheap. Infact a .com or .net they costs something like Rs. 400-500. I found 5 good Webhosts in Pakistan but the best I coud find was Unique Links .It is cheap, reliable and fast all at the same time. Furthermore, they also respond very quickly to the problems of their customers.Finally I had to select some Domain name. I felt really bad when I came to know that areeb.com areeb.net and areeb.us have already been taken. So finally I thought that I should select areebonline.com. So finally I had my website came on the Internet. All of u can access it at this address :
www.areebonline.com/

1 Comment »

Since I basically like to work on PHP & MySQL Based systems, so here is a breif introduction to what these two things are :

PHP

PHP is a server-side scripting language for creating dynamic Web pages. PHP’s programming syntax is very similar to that of Perl. Because of its elegant design, PHP makes it easy for anyone to learn. It is significantly easier than comparable Perl or ASP Code. Unlike other scripting languages, PHP supports the most common databases like Oracle, Sybase and MySQL. It is also possible to integrate external libraries to generate PDF documents or parsing XML PHP is an open-source language and is supported by a large groups of delvelopers. The code is downloadable from php.net.
www.php.net

MySQL

MySQL is a relational database management system. It is a Open Source SQL database provided by MySQL AB. MySQL is very fast, reliable, and easy to use. It also has a very practical set of features developed in very close cooperation with our users. MySQL was originally developed to handle very large databases much faster than existing solutions and has been successfully used in highly demanding production environments for several years. Though under constant development, MySQL today offers a rich and very useful set of functions. The connectivity, speed, and security make MySQL highly suited for accessing databases on the Internet.
www.mysql.com

No Comments »