 |
A Web 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.
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
A web portal, also known as a links page, 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.
Common Portal Features
-
user authentication (log in and password)
-
personalised content views (portlets); where the user can modify the content displayed on the portal homepage to match specific interests
-
personalised navigation, e.g. ‘quick links’ to frequently accessed information pages
-
directory-based information structure
-
community-building tools: chatrooms, bulletin boards, emailing lists, etc.
-
subject-specific search functionality: e.g. synonym-matching industry-specific jargon
Types of portals(Click to Preview)
|
