
As part of this blog's re-design, I wanted to show the number of posts and comments as a widget in the sidebar. But I couldn't find a plugin that does exactly what I wanted. So, I wrote one on my own.

Below is the source code for this wordpress plug-in which you can drop it in your *plugins *folder and then activate it as usual. Then, in your *Widgets* section, you'll see a new widget that you can use it in your sidebar.

## Source for WordPress StatsBoard plugin to display the posts and comments count:

[gist id='1976268']

You can use the plugin however the way you want, of course, at your own risk! ![:)][1]

[1]: https://veerasundar.com/blog/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif


WordPress plugin to show the posts and comments count in the sidebar


![][1]The time sure flies! Yet another December 31'²st and 'ËœHappy New year' wishes everywhere. What else would be the right time to stop and look back?

[1]: https://veerasundar.com/img/2011/12/new-year-2012.png "new-year-2012"

As I did [last year][2], here's a retrospection of things that I did in the past one year.

[2]: https://veerasundar.com/blog/so-long-2010-welcome-2011 "Last year retrospection"

## Last year resolutions:

- Release the new website I am working on - I did [release it][3], around last March or April, I think. Though I didn't made any BIG attempts to market it as I knew there are lots of things to be done before putting it on the line of fire.
- Learn a new language - ha.ha! this one became a sticky point in my every new year resolutions (like how people have 'Ëœreduce weight' in their list but fail to do so). Seriously, didn't have any reasons to go beyond the languages that I already [knew][4]. I did learn few frameworks and new techniques but that won't fall under 'ËœLearning a new Language'. Isn't it?
- Network with more people in my field - Well, I was able to interact with some great people and I'm hoping to do so in the coming years too!

[3]: http://www.timethetask.com
[4]: https://veerasundar.com/resume/ "resume"

## New year resolutions:

Time for setting new goals.

- Release treesk.com - I'm currently working hard on this and my plan is to release it in another few months and make it as a successful product.
- Get a new job - if I fail in my first resolution, obviously the next step would be to find a new job.
- Improve my skills in photography.

## Important events for veerasundar.com/blog:

- My blog performed really well in terms of traffic. For the past four months, it was consistently hitting 40K page views/month and the total number of page views has crossed **800, 000 **(compared to 400,00 page views last year).
- Adsense earning was comparatively good. Received the Google check twice last year. And, some ad offers were renewed.
- Google Friend connect subscribers grew to **144 **(compared to 69 last year).

## Traffic stats for 2011:

From WordPress.com stats plug-in:

![][5]

[5]: https://veerasundar.com/img/2011/12/2011-stats.png "2011-stats"

From Google Analytics - stats for past 1 year:

![][6]

[6]: https://veerasundar.com/img/2011/12/visitor-count.png "visitor-count"

## Happy new year!

So, that's it for now. As an end note, I'm wishing everyone a happy and eventful new year. May all your wishes come true! ![:)][7]

[7]: https://veerasundar.com/blog/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif


Looking back and forward


Well, well, well, I completely forgot that I started this blog on this same month, three years ago. Yes! Now this blog completes **3 years **and steps into the fourth year.

Of course, without your support and feedback, this wouldn't have happened. So, **thank you one and all **for reading my blog and encouraging me through comments.

Its time for some retrospection. Let's see  how this blog performed till now (thanks to WordPress Stats and Google Analytics for tracking the data)

## Number of visitors:

![visitor data for my blog][1]

[1]: https://veerasundar.com/img/2011/06/stats-2011.png "stats-2011"

The total number of page views is now stands at **587,916** a healthy number for a blog like mine. Now, on an average, my blog gets close to 30K page views per month (twice it crossed 30K recently). Not bad!

## Traffic sources:

![traffic sources for the year of 2011][2]

[2]: https://veerasundar.com/img/2011/06/traffic-sources-2011.png "traffic-sources-2011"

## Other Metrics:

- Alexa Rank: **248, 372** [[check ][3]]
- Page Rank: **2**
- Subscribers: **351 **[ [subscribe ][4]]
- Google Connect: **95 members **[ join below ? ]
- Affiliate Ads: **~Rs 20K** [ [interested?][5] ]

[3]: http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/veerasundar.com# "Alexa ranking for veerasundar.com"
[4]: http://feeds.feedburner.com/veerasundar/dreamz "subscribe to this blog feed"
[5]: https://veerasundar.com/contact "Contact me for any offers"

## Thank you:

Thank you once again for keeping this blog alive. I know I have considerably reduced my posting frequency. But, I'm trying to improve that now (5 posts in 6 days now! ![:)][6] ).

[6]: https://veerasundar.com/blog/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif

Do let me know your comments which will definitely help me to improve on.


Thank you friends! This blog is now 3 years old.


![firefoworks][1]First of all, let me wish you a **happy holidays** and advanced wishes for the **wonderful new year**!

[1]: https://veerasundar.com/img/2010/12/fireworks.jpg "fireworks"

While we are so busy with our work and other stuff, the clock never stopped ticking and yet another year has passed away in-front of our eyes. To compensate this, the Time (not that _[Time][2]_!) has gifted us a brand new year - **2011**. So, lets start live in the present than worry about the past.

[2]: http://www.time.com/time/ "Time magazine"

Enough of philosophies and preaching. Lets come to the point of this post. That is, sharing my stats, as I did on [last year][3].

[3]: https://veerasundar.com/blog/so-long-2009-welcome-2010 "so long 2009, welcome 2010"

## Last year resolutions:

Last year I had [three resolutions][4].

[4]: https://veerasundar.com/blog/happy-birthday-2010 "Happy Birthday, 2010!"

- Build a better blog - Which, I think, is accomplished by looking at the [stats below][5]. But, the mission does not end here. ![:)][6]
- Learn a new language (Scala, Python) - unfortunately, this one is still open. But, I did learn new (markup) languages after joining PayPal. But still, Scala is in my mind always.
- Learn photography and buy a DSLR - Done. Bought one DSLR and learnt some basics of photography. But a long way to go. Here are some clicks for you: [Photos 1][7] , [Photos 2][8] and [Flickr][9].

[5]: #stats
[6]: https://veerasundar.com/blog/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif
[7]: https://veerasundar.com/blog/few-photos-from-my-nikon-d3000 "Photos collection 1"
[8]: https://veerasundar.com/blog/when-the-shutter-opened-photos "Photo collection 2"
[9]: http://www.flickr.com/photos/veerasundar/ "Flickr photo stream of me"

## New year resolutions for 2011:

Time to set some new goals.

- To release the new website that I'm currently working on.
- To learn a new language (Rails and Scala are in, as of now).
- To network with more and more people in my field.

I think three is enough. So, what are your resolutions? Do share it in comments and leave a link to your blog post.

## Important events for veerasundar.com/blog:

- Last year, this blog fetched some good advertisement offers. I spent that money again for improving this blog itself: [Bought the Thesis theme][10] and setup an [additional monitor][11] (and btw,  If you like to advertise here, do [contact me][12] ![:)][6] )
- The total number of page views crossed **4,00,000** and as of today it is 4,24,140. That's some number! (source: wordpress.com stats)
- A total of **61** posts have been published in this year (238 posts overall).
- Google Friend connect members count is grown to **69** while feed subscribers count is at **314 **now.

[10]: https://veerasundar.com/blog/switching-to-thesis-wordpress-theme "Switching to Thesis wordpress theme"
[11]: https://veerasundar.com/blog/dual-monitors "Dual monitor"
[12]: https://veerasundar.com/contact/ "contact me"

## Visitor trend for the year 2010:

[![visitor trend][14]][14]

[]: https://veerasundar.com/img/2010/12/stats-visits.png

## Traffic source stats for the year 2010:

[![traffic source][15]][15]

[]: https://veerasundar.com/img/2010/12/stats-source.png

## Thank you my blog readers!

Of course, with out you, nothing above was possible. So, I **thank you very much** for the continued support and wish you all a wonderful and happy new year.

See you all in new year with more and more posts about Java and Web development!

And, please share your thought about my blog in the comments. That'll help me to improve. ![:)][6]


So long 2010, Welcome 2011


First of all, let me say a BIG THANKS to all my readers who visited, read my posts, commented,  sent me emails, joined my network, subscribed to my posts  (and _some times_ clicked on the ads ![:)][1] ). Because of all your positive feedback, this blog turns **2 year old** in this month (June 3rd to be exact) . Thank you again, my readers.

[1]: https://veerasundar.com/blog/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif

![second birthday][2]

[2]: https://veerasundar.com/img/2010/06/second-birthday.jpg "second-birthday"

It was a wonderful experience to be blogging for the past 2 years. It earned me several good friends and it gave an unique identity for myself in the cyberspace. I used to be so happy when people read my tutorials and email me to clarify their doubts. I hope I responded to all of them usefully. At that time I used to feel like I built something that is \*little\* useful to other folks. I pledge that I'll continue to do the same.

## Time for some numbers:

![blog stats for veerasundar.com/blog][3]

[3]: https://veerasundar.com/img/2010/06/blog-stats-2010.png "blog-stats-2010"

category

1st year

2nd year

Extra

Page views

64379

272,614

(_Source_: WordPress Stats)

Alexa rank

350, 468

276,900

[Alexa Link][4]

Feed subscribers

68

276

[Subscribe][5]

Google Page Rank

3

2

(_Source:_ Google)

Thank you once again. Please let me know what do you feel about my blog and how I can improve from here. Your comments are well appreciated.

[4]: http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/veerasundar.com "Alexa stats for veerasundar.com"
[5]: https://veerasundar.com/feed.xml "Subscribe to my blog!"


Thank you my readers! This blog turns 2 year old!!


2009 is one of those unforgettable years in my life, both at personal and professional levels. Some success, some failures, some struggles and some achievements - overall, 2009 had been a well balanced in terms of events. Well, I'm not going to discuss all of those here because if I do, you might click on the 'ËœX' on the top-right of your screen. Instead, I'll just record some of my thoughts that are related to this blog alone. Let's start:

## I was more active in blog than the previous year:

Yes, I was. You can see that yourself by looking at the **post count** in the Sidebar _Archives_ section. Out of the **175 posts** that I published till now, **121 posts** were published this year. [July 2009][1] tops the ranking with 18 posts!

[1]: https://veerasundar.com/blog/

## My Blog performed very well in 2009:

My active blogging was reflected by the good amount of traffic that my blog recieved. Here's a snapshot of my blog's traffic stats from WordPress.

[![Blog Traffic Stats][3]][3]

[]: https://veerasundar.com/img/2009/12/blog-stats.png

And my post '[Closing the last tab in Firefox 3.5][3]' was one of the popular post with more than 8000 views this year, while my other article '[15 creative Java applications based on Netbeans platform][4]' was [featured][5] in Netbeans.org home page.

[3]: https://veerasundar.com/blog/closing-the-last-tab-in-firefox-35
[4]: https://veerasundar.com/blog/15-creative-java-applications-based-on-netbeans-platform
[5]: http://twitter.com/vraa/status/5863043226

## 'ËœUnited' stats for veerasundar.com/blog:

Well, I meant the 'Ëœcombined' stats, not USA! anyway, here's the comparision between my [last year's stats][6] and the current year's.

[6]: https://veerasundar.com/blog/a-very-happy-new-year-to-all-the-readers-of-dreamz

stats for what?

2009

_2008_

**Views**

172,932

_21,000_

**Number of Posts**

175

_54_

**Comments**

780

_180_

**RSS Subscribers **- **[Subscribe!][7]**

200

_28_

**Google Friend Connect Members**

16

_N/A_

**Spam comments!** ![:)][8]

4032

_854_

That's some good stats, isn't it?

[7]: https://veerasundar.com/feed.xml
[8]: https://veerasundar.com/blog/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif

## On the Dev side, I released 3 apps:

While I was working/blogging hard, I was also spending some time to realize my ideas. I released three applications, well each of them were developed using different technology. Here are they for you:

**[CSS Sorter][9]** is a Java application that sorts the CSS rules alphabetically.
[![][11]][11] **[Timelinr][11]** is a PHP based web application to create timelines online.
[![][13]][13] **[Stockr][13]** is a Firefox extension for tracking share prices online.
[![][15]][15]

## Thank you, my Readers! YOU made this possible:

Yeah, all these numbers were came true, only because of **you, my readers**. I thank you for supporting me through out this year and I **wish you a happy and prosperous new year 2010**. lets welcome the new year together! ![:)][8]

[9]: http://csssorter.appspot.com

[]: http://csssorter.appspot.com
[11]: https://veerasundar.com/timelinr
[]: https://veerasundar.com/timelinr
[13]: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/52363/
[]: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/52363/


So long 2009, Welcome 2010!


It was June 2008, when I decided to go for my own website. Before that, I was having my blog  at [Blogger.com][1]. But, I was always looking forward to a own a domain, mainly for building a identity for myself in web. So, I started this website and the blog, during the month of June 2008. From then, this website has grown from zero to what it is now. In this month, this blog has **completed one year** of existence. So, it's time to look back and analyze how this blog has been performing.

[1]: http://blogger.com

## Some statistics for **veerasundar.com/blog**

From the time I started using WordPress as my blogging platform, I've integrated WordPress Stats plug-in to track my website readers. Below is a snapshot of my reader's trend from WordPress Stats.

![stats for Veerasundar.com/blog][2]

[2]: http://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x201/talktoveera/veerasundar-com-stats.png

- **Total Number of Visitors : 64,379** (till June '09)
- **Google Page Rank : 3**
- **Alexa Traffic Rank : 350,468** [[link]][3]
- **Number of RSS Subscribers: 68** (as per Jun 27 '09) [[Subscribe]][4]

[3]: http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/veerasundar.com "Alexa traffic rank for veerasundar.com/blog"
[4]: https://veerasundar.com/blog/feed "Subscribe to this blog"

As you can see, even though there are some spikes and lows, my blog readership numbers are increasing steadily, which is a good news to me. This wouldn't be possible with out **you**. So, **thanks a lot, my readers,** for your continued support to this blog.

## Time changes, so does my blog theme!

If you are a frequent visitor to my blog, you would have noticed a BIG change in the look and feel of this blog. YES! I've changed the blog theme, again. I've waved good bye to the image-rich [Arclite theme][5], to welcome a neat and minimalistic theme [Oulipo][6]. The new theme sports a very clean white look and fixed sidebars in both side. I like this theme very much and I hope (note 'Ëœ**hope'**) that I'll be using this theme for some time.

[5]: http://digitalnature.ro/projects/arclite/ "Arclite - Free wordpress blog theme"
[6]: http://www.andreamignolo.com/oulipo "Oulipo - Free wordpress theme"

That's it for now. I once again thank you for your support. Please let me know what you feel about my blog and the new theme!


#stats (7)