A gateway to portal technology

The magic word “portal” seems to be everywhere. You may be asking
 what a portal actually is. Set aside answers like Seznam or Centrum.
 A portal lets you showcase and make full use of your information system’s services. It goes well 
 beyond the usual variations on extranets and intranets.

In Introducing the Portlet Specification, Part 1
 , Stefan Hepper describes the portlet specification. More importantly, he explains basic terms such as
 “portal” and “portlet” and outlines how a portal is put together.