Web portals
Web portals are organized gateways that help to structure the access to information found on the Internet. Much more than a simple search engine, the web portal usually includes customizable access to data such as stock reports, local, regional, and national news, andemail services. Most of the better-known portals are commonly identified as search engines, although they offer much more than simply the ability to search the Internet.
Introduction to Web Portals
A web portal or links page is a web site that functions as a point of access to information on the World Wide Web. A portal presents information from diverse sources in a unified way.
Apart from the standard search engine feature, web portals offer other services such as e-mail, news, stock prices, information, databases and entertainment. Portals provide a way for enterprises to provide a consistent look and feel with access control and procedures for multiple applications and databases, which otherwise would have been different entities altogether.
Portals can be classified as either ‘horizontal’ or ‘vertical’; a horizontal portal caters to a general audience and provides a broad range of content and services; a vertical portal caters to a niche audience and provides more targeted offerings.
What is Web Portals
● A portal is a secure, single-point-of-entry Web site configured for a specific community or organization.
● Portals are built on the same technology used for Web sites, but enhance the functionality and flexibility to cater to the demands of its users.
● Filter and facilitate access to Web-based information
● Initiate and facilitate collaboration and exchange of ideas among members
● Provide secure, single sign-on service that will be the entry point of access to organized Web information coming from the College and other validated and reputable sources
The benefits of a portal
A. INFORMATION STRUCTURE
● A portal offers a structured approach to navigating information, e.g. by subject (category) then sub-category. As the information hierarchy is created by people, it is more likely to relate to the user’s query than a search engine keyword search. An additional benefit is that the information structure may improve a user’s contextual understanding of the subject area.
B. CONSISTENT INTERFACE
● Once familiar with the portal, users are able to easily locate (and relocate) information and services. This is often a key driver for the creation of government portals, e.g. govt.nz (New Zealand government), Directgov (UK government).
Web Portals - Earrow Design
● Product Portals
● Travel Portals
● Partner or Agent Portals
● Tender's portals
● Customer Self-Service & Support Portals
● Real Estate Portals
● News portals
● Corporate web portals
● Search portals
● Hosted web portals
● Domain-specific portals
● Finance Portals
● Personal portals
Common portal features
A. Authentication
● Login required; portal knows who you are through authentication process
B. Personalization
● Focused content eliminates need to visit many sites for information
C. Customization
● Users select and organize their own content based on preferences; “My Page” concept
D. Integration
● Relevant tools and information come from many sources and are displayed just for you
E. Content Management
● Provides content authoring systems that allow nontechnical staff to create content; controls access to content to allow only authorized users to view
