The following list suggests some activities you need to consider before creating and administering your portal. This list is not a comprehensive planning guide for a new portal; however, it should provide guidance for getting you started.

• Determine the database you want to use for your portal. BEA provides a default PointBase database for all new domains. Using a database other than the default involves procedures for switching databases.
• Identify who will be using your portal by defining users and groups.
• Develop a convention for determining which portlets are for internal viewing and which are for external viewing. These conventions help administrators create desktops and roles.
• Identify portal management roles and responsibilities - that is, who are the system administrators and portal administrators and what are they required to do?
• Identify the portal content. What do you want to appear in your portal?
• If you are developing a new portal, build the wireframes for the portal and its portlets.
• Determine what you want your portal to look like.
• Develop campaign and personalization strategies carefully before adding the functionality to your portal.

Related Topics:

• Overview of Portal Administration
• Key Portal Concepts
• Overview of Users and Groups
• Overview of Delegated Administration
• Overview of Interaction Management
• Overview of Content Management
• Overview of Server Administration
• Overview of Third Party Tools