Building websites is my job, but it is also my passion. That is why I do not stop when the work is done. Over the years that has resulted in quite a few side projects, and a couple of conference talks. Some started as documentation for myself, others as an itch I simply had to scratch. Here they are.

E-card website (2007)

My oldest side project is still running. It started out as fliefd.nl, a small Dutch e-card site for Valentine’s Day. Over the years it grew into an international website with work from multiple artists: ecardlinks.net. The concept never changed: you pick a card and send it as a link, by email, in a messaging app or on social media. The technology did change. The first version was built with the Prototype framework. In 2019 I rewrote it in plain JavaScript on top of Jekyll, a static site generator. We also use it for our own company cards for birthdays, Christmas and New Year.

Without Coding (2014)

Without Coding was a static site generator for graphic designers, made for HTML5 magazines. You built your pages with layers and absolute positioning, just like in photo editing and drawing programs. In a way it was a lot like Figma, but the result was an actual website: a ZIP file you could host anywhere. To make those websites work on every screen, I came up with the two viewports trick. I discontinued it in 2020.

Jekyll Codex (2015)

When I switched from WordPress to static site generators, I started with Jekyll. I wanted to share everything I learned, so I built Jekyll Codex. It is a collection of scripts and best practices for front-end developers who want to switch to Jekyll. It has a getting started guide that does not even require the command line, and a section on doing everything without plugins. The site is a showcase of its own scripts: everything you see, you can use.

Invoice Lion (2019)

Invoice Lion started as an open-source online invoicing platform. The public platform stopped in 2022, but I still use it for myself. Its main purpose is to take the work out of invoicing. Recurring invoices for subscriptions and payment reminders each take a single click. That is how I send well over a hundred invoices a month, while spending hardly any time on it. On top of that, it gives me insight into my business numbers.

Online Magazine Maker (2019)

Beautiful print deserves better than a PDF download. Online Magazine Maker turns your PDF into a flipping book. You can embed it on your website or link to the full-screen reader, on your own domain. No ads, no branding, GDPR-compliant and password-protected if you want. A PDF loses its links along the way, so I also built a hotspot editor. You select a page, drag and resize areas on top of it, and turn each area into a link to a website or a jump to another page. Think of a clickable table of contents. Then you copy the code and the hotspots appear in the flipping book. See it in action for the Samen magazine.

JekyllConf (2019)

Sharing what I learn does not stop at websites. In 2019 I gave my first conference talk ever, at JekyllConf, live from my own home studio. I built a professional website with a CMS and a form builder in under 20 minutes, using nothing but a browser. Read about it in speaking at JekyllConf 2019 or watch the talk.

Hugo Codex (2020)

When I moved on to Hugo, the fastest popular static site generator, I did what I had done for Jekyll. Hugo Codex has a getting started guide, add-ons like a lightbox and a simple webshop, and blog posts on things like image compression for the lazy. All the code is free to use. Even the code of the website itself.

Usecue CMS (2021)

For years I used CloudCannon as my CMS. Then I built my own: Usecue CMS, made for Hugo. Today it runs more than 100 websites and has more than 200 users. It is a CMS and a hosting setup in one, with GDPR-compliant forms and statistics built in. A site with hundreds of pages publishes in under 2 seconds. These days you do not even need to open it: connect Claude and you can publish by just asking.

HugoConf (2022/2023)

After my switch to Hugo, I spoke at HugoConf twice. In 2022 I gave a lightning talk about image resizing: instantly loading pages need properly sized images, and Hugo can do that by itself. In 2023 I presented Hugobricks, a concept for stackable content blocks in Hugo.

Hugobricks (2023)

People kept telling me creating a page builder in Hugo was impossible. So I built one: Hugobricks, a free theme with stackable content blocks, or bricks, that keeps layout and design neatly apart. In 2026 I rebuilt it from scratch. In Hugobricks v2 your pages are plain Markdown, without shortcodes, and the theme picks the right brick by looking at the content. Form follows function.

Usecue POS (2024)

This one started at the sports canteen. Somebody pays 2 euros for a sports drink, and up to 29 cents of that disappears into the pocket of the payment provider. Why? Moving money from one bank account to another can be free. So I built Usecue POS: a free point of sale in your browser. No terminal, no contract, no cut. You type an amount, your customer scans the QR code with their own banking app and the money lands in your account. It also includes a free online checkout for your webshop. Read why I think EPC QR could take over.

Code library (2025)

My newest code library is code.usecue.com. It contains small web components without dependencies: plain JavaScript and modern CSS, no frameworks, no build step, no jQuery. Think of an accordion, a carousel, a lightbox, masonry, filter and sort in 60 lines, a multiselect polyfill and page transitions. Each one comes with a readme, a live demo and the full source code. They work on any website, whatever it is built with.

Annotate.now (2026)

“Can you make the button a bit bigger?” Which button? Feedback on websites usually comes as screenshots with red arrows. With Annotate.now your client clicks on the exact spot on the live page and leaves a remark right there, on desktop, tablet or mobile. There is nothing to install and nobody needs an account. Best of all: you can give the same link to your AI. It knows exactly which element is meant and can make the change. Read more in feedback your AI can act on.

Why I do this

Passion aside, I have a strong urge to share what I learn. That is also why I write this blog. Side projects are where I try new ideas without a deadline. What I learn there ends up in the websites I build for my clients. Curious what that could mean for you? Let’s talk.

()  Joost van der Schee