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Gita JSON files API Initial Version Done; Inviting Second Chunk Sponsorship for Remaining Work

The first chunk of work, sponsored by the first donor/sponsor, was done from 06-Jan-2026 to 14-Jan-2026 with total work time of 23 hours 35 minutes. Many thanks to the first sponsor for sponsoring this first chunk of work. As part of first chunk of work, initial version of Gita Static JSON files API was developed and hosted on GitHub Pages. To test this API, Gita frontend app version was modified to use this API, with limited functionality of only Swami Sivananda translation and commentary, and which is live at: https://gita-test.vercel.app/ . As of 15 Jan. 2026, the project work is paused awaiting sponsporship from interested persons. If there are persons who are interesed in sponsoring the second chunk of work (done by me at deeply discounted rates), they may please mail me at riyer02@gmail.com. But dear reader, please don't feel obliged in any way to sponsor such work. Sponsor(s) should contact me in this regard, only if they are really interested in patronizing such service to ...
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Status of Project: Development of Gita Static JSON files API hosted on GitHub Pages and Modifying Gita Frontend App to Use it

Project Overview This project consist of two parts: Development of Gita Static JSON files API hosted on GitHub Pages Associated gita-data GitHub project:  https://github.com/ravisiyer/gita-data  gita-data Its  README  is the key documentation page for the hosted JSON APIs It follows the design provided in section of my blog post: Summary of best option for generous free-tier Gita API implementation . Modifying Gita Next.js frontend app (production live app in main branch) to use above gita-data JSON API Associated gita GitHub project:  https://github.com/ravisiyer/gita . As of now, this project has three parallelly maintained branches: datajson branch  has a test version that uses above JSON API. It is functional but has limited functionality of only one translator and commentator's text being shown. Here's  its README  and here's the deployed live app . main branch is not working as its GraphQL backend service is not available. datarest branch ...
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Notes on General Blogger Customization (Theme-Independent)

Quick Info Pages Gadget vs Link List Gadget For Blogger menu for this blog, I found that the Pages gadget does not reliably preserve custom menu labels . When a page linked via the Pages gadget was updated or republished, at least at times, if not all times, Blogger automatically reset the menu entry text to the page title , overriding any custom label previously set. I use custom labels that are shorter than the longish page titles for this blog's menu. So this auto reset by Blogger of these custom labels was a problem. To avoid this issue, I switched to using a Link List gadget for this blog's menu. That is not altered when the linked page is edited or saved. Menu Spacing Workaround Using a Dummy Entry Blogger menus created using either the Pages or Link List gadgets can render menu items with very little vertical spacing , making it difficult to visually distinguish between multi-line and single-line menu entries. Since Blogger does not provide a built-in option to cont...
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Notes on Development of Gita Static JSON files API hosted on GitHub Pages

Last updated on 15 Jan. 2026 15 Jan. 2026 Update The first chunk of work, sponsored by the first donor/sponsor, was done from 06-Jan-2026 to 14-Jan-2026 with total work time of 23 hours 35 minutes. As of now, project is paused. For more, see my post: Status of Project: Development of Gita Static JSON files API hosted on GitHub Pages and Modifying Gita Frontend App to Use it . End 15 Jan. 2026 Update As of now at least, this post has minimal details info. ============= ============= 08 January 2026 On Vercel, new git branch (datajson branch of gita Nextjs frontend project) deployment was not done automatically. Procedure to create preview deployment from datajson branch on Vercel: Vercel a/c page -> project -> Deployments -> click '...' button on top right -> Create Deployment Chose datajson branch reference - it was automatically set to Preview -> Clicked Create Deployment button Deployment got done successfully and build was started automatically. Deployment suc...
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Timestamp Tracker app is now live on Google Play

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My first Android app on Google Play has been published and is now live. It is a small, free utility app to easily record timestamps and see the duration taken for tasks, with the interval from the previous timestamp shown automatically. The app is called Timestamp Tracker and is available on Google Play here: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ravisiyer.timestamptracker On my Samsung M21 (Android) phone, the app download size is only 8.4 MB. The Google Play publication process for 'new developers' (I am a 'new developer' on Google Play Console) was quite involved and time consuming. But it is the main store for Android apps. Note that I had previously published this app on Uptodown store as an APK  (in June 2025) but that requires sideloading the APK and navigating through warnings shown by Android, which would be a major problem for many Android users. So I had to bite the bullet and go through the rather long-drawn publication process on Google Play .
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Notes on creating a new Blogger blog from another Blogger blog's Google Takeout backup

Quick Info To create a new Blogger blog from another Blogger blog's Google Takeout backup (new Takeout blog backup and not old all in one XML file backup): Create a new Blogger blog. Restore theme and layouts, using Theme -> Restore and providing theme-layouts.xml file of other Blogger blog backup folder as input to it. Restore posts, pages and comments, using Settings -> Import content -> Import and providing feed.atom file of other Blogger blog backup folder as input to it. Back up or import your blog,  https://support.google.com/blogger/answer/41387?hl=en  clearly states that it is feed.atom or older xml backup files that have to provided as input to "Import posts, pages & comments to your blog".  Details Ref: Blogger Text LMS Backup-Restore I have created a very simple content/presentation only LMS using Blogger with minor customization of its Contempo Light theme. The blog was created under one of my Google userIds which I am referring to as rG user...
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Notes on creating a small test LMS with limited functionality but free hosting, using a Blogger theme (template)

Last updated on 12 Jan. 2026 Related previous post Free/Low-cost LMS (Education app) for small NGOs: Blogger Templates vs WordPress Plugins vs Moodle , 29 Dec. 2025 =========================================================== Quick Info Development Test LMS:  dravilms.blogspot.com/ Initial Test LMS:  ravilms.blogspot.com If I deploy a simple LMS site with a third-party theme then if there are some bugs, if I do not have a good knowledge of the theme code, I will find it very difficult to fix the bugs. Also the theme license, including license in its code, should be a suitable license for my needs. This post covers my exploration of using Google provided Blogger theme Contempo Light and doing some customization of it for a test LMS. All gadgets are widgets, but not all widgets are gadgets. Gadget = UI-manageable widget. A widget is any <b:widget> instance in the theme XML that has an ID, renders content and participates in Blogger’s rendering pipeline. Blogger uses th...
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