belgium.be/new belgian portal site launched

May 30, 2008 / 12:57

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I don't write too much about my job on this blog. Of course, there's a whole "work profile" section where I talk about html, css and other job/web related things, but I usually stay clear of mentioning specific projects I'm working on. Today I will make a small exception, since the new portal site of Belgium launched yesterday.

new belgium.be portal site

When I first started my job at Internet Architects I had little experience with high profile projects. At first it scared me a little bit, being in charge of the html and css of sites with a broad audience. Still, it was an amazing opportunity and I jumped at it without a second thought. Six months later we were chosen to work on the front-end of the new Belgian portal site. I gasped.

Yesterday, the new portal finally launched. If I slow down to think about it, it's still a pretty strange thought that it's (mostly) my html/css on there, sitting on a site that's presenting Belgium to its citizens. I'm still pretty proud of the code on there, though there are of course things I'd do differently, with all experiences gained.

I usually refrain from mentioning my job projects on this blog as most of them have a very little international appeal, this one is an exception. Though the main focus of the site lies on the service for Belgian citizens, a national portal site still compares itself to its surrounding countries.

The site is still not 100% finished (is any site ever?), but you can check it out alive and kicking on the following url:

http://www.belgium.be

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5 comments in total

pepelsbey #1 May 30, 2008 14:19

Omg, 217 lines of tabs and spaces before DOCTYPE in nl-section. About 7 kb of JSP-templates trash. But em-sized layout looks nice :)

Niels Matthijs #2 May 30, 2008 14:43

Well, I can guarantee you those lines were not in the templates ;) From what I've heard, the whitespace is a result from the CMS used. Just do what I do, use firebug instead of "view source".

Oh, and it's an em-sized liquid layout! It gave me quite a few headaches.

pepelsbey #3 May 30, 2008 15:49

Those tabs and spaces may cause layout troubles in IE, especially BOM-signs, especially before DOCTYPE. I'm talking about my experience with JSP templates. So, be carefull.

«It gave me quite a few headaches», — yes, it's really brave solution ;)

Niels Matthijs #4 May 30, 2008 17:55

I know that if there are actual characters in front of the doctype, IE switches to "quircks" mode. Spaces and tabs are fine, but I guess everything else is off limits. Thanks for mentioning though :)

Linn #5 June 04, 2008 20:06

Great job guys!! Congrats :)

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