Introduction

Abstract

To create an initial impression of what a portal is, we can compare a portal page to the colonial window pictured on Figure 3. This window can represent a Web page, with several smaller windowpanes. We can now imagine that the user is looking at a different application through each windowpane. To extend this metaphor, we can imagine that the application behind each pane belongs to the builder and that each member of the household uses his or her personalized window, with only some panes visible to him or her. The portal is the frame that holds the window together (indeed, we will see later that it is a container); the window itself is the Web page, and the windowpanes are called portlets.