text: what is portal?   web portals are sites on the world wide web that typically provide personalized capabilities to their visitors. they are designed to use distributed applications, different numbers and types of middleware and hardware to provide services from a number of different sources. in addition, business portals are designed to share collaboration in workplaces. a further business-driven requirement of portals is that the content be able to work on multiple platforms such as personal computers, personal digital assistants (pdas), and cell phones.