Web Development Progression Guide: From Static Landing Page to Dynamic Site
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Stage 1: Static Site Foundations
What You'll Learn:
- Basic HTML structure: <html>, <head>, <body>
- Styling with CSS
- Linking pages with <a href>
- File and folder organization
Site Can Do:
- Display styled pages with sections like About, Contact, and Blog
- Navigation bar with internal links
- Responsive layout with media queries
Example Features:
- A simple landing page with bio and links
- A gallery of AI-generated images
- Blog posts as separate HTML files
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Stage 2: Adding Interactivity (Frontend JavaScript)
What You'll Learn:
- JavaScript DOM manipulation
- Event listeners (e.g., clicks, form input)
- Basic animations
- Fetch API for data calls
Site Can Do:
- Light/dark mode toggle
- Interactive image gallery or slideshow
- Contact form with input validation
- Fetch and display GitHub stats or RSS feeds
Example Features:
- Show/hide sections without reloading the page
- Scroll-to-top button
- Collapsible blog summaries
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Stage 3: Serving with NGINX (Static Hosting)
What You'll Learn:
- Installing NGINX
- Hosting HTML/CSS/JS files under /var/www/html
- Basic NGINX config syntax
- Using NGINX Proxy Manager (optional)
Site Can Do:
- Go live under your domain (e.g., peejspleasurepalace.xyz)
- Serve multiple sections or sub-sites
- Use SSL (via Let's Encrypt)
Example Features:
- A secure HTTPS site with a professional domain
- Multiple subdomains (e.g., blog., ai., vault.)
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Stage 4: Dynamic Backend (Flask or Node.js)
What You'll Learn:
- Python Flask or Node.js basics
- Routing (e.g., /blog, /api) and templates
- Handling POST and GET requests
- Working with form data
Site Can Do:
- Dynamic blog system (Markdown or database)
- Submit and display user comments or messages
- REST-style API endpoints for structured data
Example Features:
- Blog post renderer from .md files
- Contact form that sends emails or stores messages
- JSON API returning site metadata
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Stage 5: Database Integration
What You'll Learn:
- SQL basics (SQLite, PostgreSQL)
- ORMs (SQLAlchemy, Prisma, etc.)
- Schema design and CRUD operations
Site Can Do:
- User accounts and login system
- Admin panel for managing content
- Searchable archives and filters
Example Features:
- Login/auth for blog contributors
- Taggable image library
- Dashboard with visitor stats
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Stage 6: Advanced Features and Tools
What You'll Learn:
- Git version control and CI/CD
- API integrations (Discord, GitHub, etc.)
- WebSockets for real-time features
- Static site generators (Hugo, Astro)
Site Can Do:
- Auto-deploy when code is pushed
- Real-time comments or status feed
- Build blog from Markdown files dynamically
Example Features:
- Live dashboard of server stats
- Self-updating AI art feed
- Project roadmap with issue tracker
Website Security Progression Guide: From Static Site to Hardened Web App
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Stage 1: Static Site Security Essentials
Focus: Public-facing content only
What You'll Learn:
- How HTTPS protects traffic (TLS/SSL)
- Basic DNS hygiene
- NGINX security headers
Checklist:
- Use HTTPS (via Let's Encrypt or built-in NGINX Proxy Manager)
- Hide backend server IP with reverse proxy
- Set proper file permissions (644 files, 755 dirs)
- Disable directory listing in NGINX
- Add security headers:
- Content-Security-Policy
- X-Frame-Options
- X-XSS-Protection
- Referrer-Policy
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Stage 2: Secure File & Server Practices
Focus: Securing your LXC/VM and deployment pipeline
What You'll Learn:
- Linux user management & firewall basics
- SSH hardening
- Automatic system updates
Checklist:
- Use UFW or nftables to limit exposed ports
- SSH:
- Disable root login (PermitRootLogin no)
- Change SSH port or use port-knocking
- Use key-based auth only
- Use fail2ban for brute-force protection
- Keep system packages updated
- Set up log rotation & monitor /var/log/
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Stage 3: Dynamic App Hardening
Focus: Protecting routes, inputs, and dynamic logic (Flask, Node, etc.)
What You'll Learn:
- Input sanitization
- Rate limiting
- Authentication basics (JWT, session cookies)
Checklist:
- Sanitize user input (XSS, SQLi prevention)
- Set up CORS policies properly
- Use helmet.js (Node) or flask-talisman (Flask)
- Add rate limiting middleware (e.g., Flask-Limiter)
- Secure session handling (cookie flags, CSRF tokens)
- Validate API payloads with schema validation
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Stage 4: Account & Auth Security
Focus: Protecting user login systems
What You'll Learn:
- Hashed passwords
- 2FA integration
- Session management
Checklist:
- Use bcrypt or Argon2 for password hashing
- Enforce strong password policies
- Implement account lockout or delay on repeated login failures
- Offer 2FA via TOTP or email/SMS
- Audit authentication logs
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Stage 5: Monitoring & Intrusion Detection
Focus: Watching for problems before they explode
What You'll Learn:
- Basic SIEM/log correlation
- Anomaly detection
- Alerting
Checklist:
- Monitor logs with fail2ban, logwatch, or Grafana Loki
- Set up alerts for unusual activity (port scans, auth failures)
- Optionally use file integrity monitoring
- Watch NGINX logs for odd URLs, POST abuse, bots
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Stage 6: Defense in Depth + Isolation
Focus: Redundancy, compartmentalization, and minimal privilege
What You'll Learn:
- Principle of Least Privilege (PoLP)
- Service isolation strategies
- Container/network segmentation
Checklist:
- Run apps as unprivileged users
- Use LXC unprivileged containers or VMs for extra isolation
- Separate sensitive services onto VLANs or subnets
- Use read-only mounts where possible
- Back up config and databases securely
