# Step 2: Create a Portal

In this step, you will create a portal file for an existing portal project, add a page to the portal, add portlets to the pages, and view your finished portal.

The tasks in this step are:

- Create a Portal File
- Add a Page to the Portal
- Add a Portlet to the Portal
- View the Portal

Create a Portal File

A portal file is an XML file that contains all configuration information for a portal. The XML file is rendered graphically in the Portal Designer of the WebLogic Workshop Portal Extensions. As you build the portal in the graphical interface, the XML is generated automatically behind the scenes. To create a portal file:

1. In the Application window, right-click the sampleportal project and choose New-->Portal.
2. In the New File dialog, enter my.portal in the File name field. You must keep the file extension.
3. Click Create.

The new file is added to the sampleportal project, and a new portal file appears in the Portal Designer. The new portal has a header, footer, and a main body containing a default book and page. The Document Structure window displays the component hierarchy.

Add a Page to the Portal

A new portal already contains a page. In this step you will add a second page to your portal and rename the tabs of both pages.

1. In the Palette window, drag the Page control into the Portal Designer next to the existing page tab. A page tab called "New Page" appears.
2. Click the New Page tab.
3. In the Property Editor window, change the page's Title property to My Page 2.
4. In the Portal Designer, click the Page 1 tab.
5. In the Property Editor window, change the page's Title property to My Page 1 and press Enter.

Add a Portlet to the Portal

In this step you will add a pre-built sample portlet from the sampleportal project to each page.

1. In the Portal Designer, click the My Page 1 tab.
2. In the Data Palette window, drag the Login to Portal portlet into the left placeholder of My Page 1.
3. In the Portal Designer, click the My Page 2 tab.
4. In the Data Palette window, drag the RSS News Feed into the left placeholder of My Page 2 and the Dev2Dev portlet into the right placeholder.
   Note: The RSS News Feed portlet requires an Internet connection to access the content feed.
5. Save the portal file.

View the Portal

You can view your portal with the WebLogic Test Browser or with your default browser.

- WebLogic Test Browser - In the WebLogic Workshop toolbar, click the Start button (or press Ctrl+F5). Navigate between the portal pages using the My Page 1 and My Page 2 links.
- Default Browser - In the WebLogic Workshop menu, choose Portal-->Open Current Portal. Navigate between the portal pages using the My Page 1 and My Page 2 links.

Congratulations! You have built a portal.

What You Can Do Next

The portal development lifecycle involves development with the WebLogic Workshop Portal Extensions and administration with the WebLogic Administration Portal. The tutorial you have just completed covers the development phase. The following steps instructions for starting a tutorial that covers the administration phase. The second phase of the portal-building process involves administering the portal you have created. To run a companion tutorial for administering a portal:

1. In the WebLogic Workshop menu, choose Portal-->Open Portal Administration.
2. Log in with Username: weblogic Password: weblogic.
3. When the Administration Portal appears, click Show Help in the upper left corner of the window.
4. In the Help window, click the Tutorials tab, select Build Your First Portal, and follow the tutorial.

Related Topics

Developing Portal Applications

Building Portlets

Portal Samples

Click the following arrow to navigate through the tutorial: