Relaunching UnblockWebsites.com!
About the history and relaunch of UnblockWebsites.com
So UnblockWebsites.com has been "relaunched" for a few months now, but I wanted to write a short blog post about the redesign and launch.
The History
I started BlockedLoser.com, a proxy, back in 2005 as a way for people to bypass school/work/library/etc and access websites such as Myspace.com, which was very popular during that time.
That website took off, and within a couple of months had 500,000+ page views a day. In 2006 I converted that website with a paywall that charged $5.00 for 1 year of usage.
I remember that my host had to shut down the site because of the traffic, and servers were expensive back then, so I made a deal with them and added a paywall instead of shutting it down.
In later 2006, I bought the domain name UnblockWebsites.com, and then basically shut down the BlockedLoser.com website.
By late 2006 I had a cluster of servers (around 6 servers depending on the month), and was able to properly run a proxy website.
However, it looks like (on Archive.org) that I shut down the website again in 2009, and parked the domain name.
It wasn't until 2016 that I redeveloped the website, but I never got the actual proxy aspect working. I set up the front end, but was too lazy I guess to finish the backend (proxy) aspect.
The website sat with just a basic frontend from 2016 until 2025, when I redeveloped it again, and made a working proxy.
The Website
I built the backend of the website from scratch, just a blank text file. I wanted to use my own system this time, instead of some free turnkey platform, or even worse, have to pay for it.
The backend is a normal proxy, that also logs the websites so that we can monitor and fix them to run on UnblockWebsites.com. Each website, such as Youtube.com, Roblox, Instagram, etc., all use special JavaScript and such. So the backend has to have certain code for each popular website so they will run correctly.
Getting that aspect down will help the proxy in the long run, IMO.
The frontend of the website is just a redesign from the previous design. It looks completely different from the 2016 version, but the code is almost the same.
To attract new users to the website, I also built a tool that will automatically create passwords, which I personally use myself. I also built a page that shows all of the users' data, to show them what kind of data the website can block.
The website is still fairly new and currently receives around 800 unique visitors per month. As we continue adding content and word of mouth spreads, I believe traffic and visibility will grow steadily.
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Ever since building my first website in 2002, I've been hooked on web development. I now manage my own network of eCommerce/content websites full-time. I'm also building a cabin inside a old ghost town. This is my personal blog, where I discuss web development, SEO, cabin building, and other personal musings.
