Blog

Deploying at: linky.faisaldarbar.com 🔹 Project Goals Build a fully working, self-hosted link shortener Track click data: timestamps, referrer, location (IP-based) Clean and privacy-conscious (no creepy tracking) Add optional monetization via Razorpay (phase 2) Learn and apply Next.js, API routes, database, SSR 🧱 Stack Layer Tech Frontend Next.js (App Router), Tailwind CSS Backend Next.js API Routes, Node.js, Razorpay SDK (optional) Database SQLite for dev → Postgres (self-hosted) Auth (admin) Clerk or magic links / basic auth Hosting Self-hosted on Proxmox/Hetzner/VPS Domain linky.faisaldarbar.com 🗂 App Structure /linky ├── pages (or app/ if using App Router) │ ├── index.tsx (create + view links) │ ├── [shortcode].tsx (redirect handler) ├── /api │ ├── create.ts (generate short link) │ ├── track.ts (log analytics) │ └── verify-payment.ts (Razorpay, optional) ├── lib/ │ ├── db.ts (Prisma or raw DB queries) │ └── utils.ts (random slug, etc.) ├── prisma/ │ └── schema.prisma ├── .env ├── next.config.js 🎯 Core Features (MVP) 🔗 Shorten long URLs to custom slugs 📊 Basic analytics (total clicks, referrer, timestamp) 📍 Optional geolocation via IP (no cookies) ⏰ Set expiration or limit on number of uses (optional) 🧑‍💻 Admin-only dashboard to view/manage links 🔒 Auth (magic link or simple passcode for MVP) 🚀 Phase 2 – Monetized Links (Optional) 💸 Razorpay integration: create link → pay → unlock redirect 🔐 API verifies payment → returns actual destination 🧾 Email or page shows receipt/confirmation 📈 Phase 3 – Advanced Analytics View individual link performance: CTR, traffic sources Dashboard charts (Recharts, Chart.js) Export CSV 🛡️ Security & Deployment Use Helmet.js for backend security headers Rate-limiting on API routes Logging with Pino or Winston Environment variables via dotenv GitHub Actions for CI/CD 💡 Future Ideas Team/multi-user support Custom domain per user Link folders / categories Tag links by campaign (UTM builder) Razorpay payout dashboard (for creators earning through links) Invite system for early access 📍 Initial Hosting Plan Self-hosted on your Ubuntu server via Proxmox Reverse proxy via Nginx + SSL Subdomain: linky.faisaldarbar.com SQLite for now → PostgreSQL later (local) ✅ Next Steps Initialize Next.js app with TailwindCSS Set up DB schema using Prisma (with SQLite first) Build URL shortening form (slug input + long URL input) Create API route to store short URL and long URL Build redirect route handler (e.g., /[slug] → redirect) Add click tracking (store timestamp, referrer, IP) Create simple admin dashboard (protected route) Add basic auth (env password or magic link) Deploy to VPS and point subdomain Monitor logs + errors Let’s build it! ...

This post is meant to be my development guide. 🌐 Main Site – faisaldarbar.com Stack: Hugo + Giscus + GitHub Pages Static content: blog, about, contact SEO-optimized and fast Newsletter via ConvertKit Comments via Giscus Hosted on GitHub Pages ✅ Done and live 🛍️ Storefront – store.faisaldarbar.com Stack: React + TailwindCSS + Vite Static SPA for digital/physical products Product catalog and detail pages Razorpay Buy Now integration (guest checkout) Inventory indicators (in stock, low stock, out of stock) Tokenized download links for digital products Hosted via GitHub Pages or Netlify (free tier with caution) 🔧 Backend API – api.faisaldarbar.com Stack: Node.js + Express + Prisma + PostgreSQL (self-hosted) ...

✅ Step 1: Signed Up on Vercel Visited vercel.com Signed up using GitHub Granted Vercel permission to access all repositories (default option) Vercel automatically fetched all repos under the GitHub account ✅ Step 2: Selected a Template On Vercel’s dashboard, chose the “Next.js SaaS Starter” template. It auto-filled the project name: next-js-saas-starter Clicked “Create” to proceed with the setup ✅ Step 3: Chose a Database Vercel prompted to add a data store (PostgreSQL): ...

A contact form with: ✅ Cloudflare Workers (as serverless backend) ✅ Google reCAPTCHA v3 (invisible, automated bot detection) ✅ Brevo (Sendinblue) for transactional email ✅ Honeypot field (for extra spam protection) ✅ Secrets management via Wrangler CLI ✅ Works with any frontend (e.g., Hugo, React, plain HTML) 🧰 1. Install Wrangler CLI npm install -g wrangler wrangler --version # Confirm it's installed 🏗️ 2. Scaffold the Worker mkdir contact-worker && cd contact-worker wrangler init --no-git --type javascript ✅ This creates: ...

✅ Prerequisites Make sure you have the following installed: Hugo (extended version) Always update your packages before an install. sudo apt update Download and install the extended version of Hugo wget https://github.com/gohugoio/hugo/releases/download/v0.147.9/hugo_extended_0.147.9_linux-amd64.deb sudo apt install ./hugo_extended_0.147.9_linux-amd64.deb Git sudo apt update sudo apt install git Configure Git: git config --global user.name "Your Name" git config --global user.email "your@example.com" Node.js and npm Instead of using apt, which installs outdated versions, use NodeSource to install the current LTS version (more stable for dev work): ...

🌟 Purpose This checklist is for use after filing GSTR-3B to create manual journals in Zoho Books. These journals ensure your books reflect the actual GSTR-3B return filed — especially handling reverse charge, input credit availability, and GSTN rounding adjustments. 🗓️ WHEN TO USE THIS Right after filing GSTR-3B each month All entries are created after filing, but many are backdated to the last day of the return month (e.g., June 30 for the June return filed on July 20) ...

This guide walks through setting up a dedicated logical volume, formatting it, mounting it, configuring Samba, and accessing it from a Windows client — using user-based authentication. ✅ 1. Check Available Space in Your Volume Group sudo vgdisplay Look for the Free PE / Size — it should show free space (e.g., ~647 GB). ✅ 2. Create a Logical Volume sudo lvcreate -l 100%FREE -n data-lv ubuntu-vg This creates a logical volume named data-lv using all available free space. ...

📁 Project Context This documentation captures the setup process of an Ubuntu Server Virtual Machine hosted on Proxmox VE, intended for general-purpose use in my home lab. 💻 Hardware & Host Setup Host System: Lenovo ThinkStation P3 Tiny Hypervisor: Proxmox VE Primary VMs already present: pfSense (handles LAN, DHCP, firewall) Proxmox Backup Server (PBS) ⚙️ VM Configuration Summary VM Host: Proxmox VE Machine Type: Q35 BIOS: UEFI (OVMF) with EFI disk on local-lvm, no pre-enrolled keys SCSI Controller: VirtIO SCSI single Disk Bus/Device: VirtIO Block Disk Cache: Write back I/O Thread: Enabled CPU: 1 socket, 4 cores (host type) Memory: 8192 MB RAM 🌐 Network Setup Bridge: vmbr1 (VM-only LAN, 10.0.1.0/24) Model: VirtIO IP assignment: Static via pfSense DHCP reservation Assigned IP: 10.0.1.10 Gateway/DNS: 10.0.1.1 (pfSense) 🔍 Installation Walkthrough Booted Ubuntu Server 24.04 ISO in VM Selected guided install → full disk usage (750 GB assigned) Created user: faisal, password set Enabled Ubuntu Pro Enabled OpenSSH server for remote access Skipped featured snaps Completed install → reboot Removed ISO from CD/DVD device in Proxmox Server booted successfully 🛁 Static IP Configuration via pfSense To ensure the Ubuntu Server VM always receives the same IP address, I created a DHCP static lease in pfSense: ...

“Can my VA update the blog?” That one sentence kills more dev dreams than a last-minute plugin update on launch day. Let’s be honest: the tools we want to use as developers rarely match what the rest of the world actually wants. Or needs. 🎥 Watch the video version: The Stack We Dream Of We care about clean code, fast builds, and deploy pipelines that make us feel smart. ...

🌱 Introduction: The Journey So Far This project started with me setting up a Hugo blog using the PaperMod theme, developed on a Linux environment and deployed via Cloudflare Pages. I then moved to WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux) for better flexibility but ran into high I/O issues with VS Code when working across the Windows (/mnt/c/) and WSL filesystems. To resolve this, I moved all project files fully into the WSL-native Linux filesystem. ...