Portfolio Website Development

Summary

This project is the first one in my portfolio. The hosting and website development are all done by myself and from my own office. Each time the website is updated, a new blog style post is added, along with the list of things done since the previous update. I learned a lot about network security and website development through simply choosing to not pay a hosting fee and deciding to do it myself. All I had to buy was the domain name, blakekottlowski.com.

11/25/24

  • Added icons for Tetris and Auto-Pilot Plane

11/11/24

Added a password strength checker to the list of projects. Created a github repository and synced everything because the amount of files and folders are getting too difficult to keep track off. A new project should be unveiling soon.

  • Password Strength Tool added
  • Github set up
  • Website updated

11/4/24

Portfolio Website 2.0 is live! Large aesthetic changes were created to make the portfolio much easier on the eyes it has also been designed to be easier to navigate. I have introduced a button to download my resume and an about section. This will be the last big update on the website development end while I create new projects to showcase.

  • Made a new dark theme
  • Added pictures and icons for each project
  • Created an about me tab
  • Added a footer
  • Utilized CSS to make enhanced stylistic choices

10/23/24

Today is the first day the website goes live! After a long-winded battle with Comcast (waiting on customer service), the technical issues I was having with port forwarding have been resolved. Today I did the following things:

  • Obtained an SSL certificate and set up the server to use encrpytion and HTTPS
  • Fixed port forwarding issues with Comcast to make the site go live
  • Pointed the domain name to the server's ip
  • Set up a page to show the work done on the website and establish it as my first project

10/22/24

The website is very close to being ready to go! Today I set up the server, firewalls, and network settings. For some reason the port forwarding is not working on the network and not allowing external access. Everything works internally right now. Today I did the following:

  • Set up firewalls
  • Installed apache server services on the raspberry pi
  • Created a basic html landing page for the website
  • Configured apache to enhance security

10/21/24

Today I began to setup the hardware to host my website. I am running this site off of a raspberry pi 4 with the latest version of Ubuntu running off of it. I also did some other light foundational work. Updates for today include:

  • Buying the domain blakekottlowski.com
  • Setting up ssh to securely access the server from anywhere
  • Installed Ubuntu on raspberry pi