Web portals are websites on the World Wide Web, which offer personalized capabilities to the visitors. The portals are designed to utilize distributed applications; various numbers and kinds of hardware and middleware to offer services from different sources. Additionally, business portals such as dunkinbrands.csod.com are designed for sharing collaboration in workplaces. A business-driven need of a portal is that the content must be able to work on several platforms including personal computers, cell phones, and personal digital assistants. Web portals are commonly called portals, a service, or a website that provides a wide range of services and resources including forums, emails, online shopping malls, and search engines.
The primary website portals were online services like AOL, which offered access to a website; however, many traditional search engines have changed themselves to website portals to attract a wider audience. An internet portal is a ubiquitous, integrated, and helpful access to data, people, and applications. A web portal though looks similar to a website, is much more. It is a vital component of a university’s communications strategy, and is a way to offer static information. Portals provide the internet users with a customized and a single entry point. In higher education, portals tend to be horizontal. They are designed so that a user can access almost everything such as faculty, students, parents, alumni, and community members.
Kinds of portals
The kinds of web portals are as follows:
- Vertical Portals- It provides access to a lot of services and information regarding a specific area of interest. These portals provide customized services and information for niche students.
- Horizontal portals- These portals are often known as “megapor-tals,” and they target the complete internet community. Websites for instance http://www.yahoo.com is a megaportal. These sites contain search engines and offer users with the ability to personalize a page through various channels such as access to information such as stock quotes, regional weather, and news updates. Megaportals providers anticipate that users shall first visit their websites before accessing the remaining part of the internet.
Enterprise portals
Enterprise portals such as dunkinbrands.csod.com may be either vertical or horizontal. In vertical portals, it focuses on a particular application including accounting, human resources, and financial aid information. In horizontal portals, they offer access to all aspects that a user in an organization requires for carrying out his function. Access and authentication are dependent on the role a person plays in an organization. Horizontal enterprise portals or HEPs is customizable. When designed properly, they are able to replace much of the users’ desktop.