A web portal is a dynamic website which collects data at single point of time from many different sources.
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. Examples of public web portals are MSNBC, Yahoo!, AOL, iGoogle and Netvibes.
When Website Portal is required by a company or individuals.?
 When your website collect data from mutliple sources- 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
- User Authentication (log in and password)
- Directory-based information structure
- Community-building tools: chatrooms, bulletin boards, emailing lists, etc.
- Subject-specific search functionality: e.g. synonym-matching industry-specific jargon
The benefits of a portal
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.
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).
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