Making Sense of SharePoint Portal Server Architecture

Microsoft SharePoint Portal Server builds on Windows SharePoint Services' ability to create team sites by letting you construct a central portal that comprises several different types of sites, links the individual team sites, and lets users share information across them. If you're responsible for implementing and administering your organization's SharePoint Portal Server project, to ensure the project's success you'll need to be familiar with SharePoint essentials: the basic architecture of a SharePoint portal, SharePoint portal area permissions, portal listings, Web Parts, and how to manage the information that's shared through the portal. I'll start here by explaining key aspects of SharePoint's portal architecture—in particular, portal listings and how you can use them to flatten your SharePoint site's navigation structure and aggregate and display information consistently across portal areas. Then, in the upcoming part two of this article, I'll delve into more detail about the visual elements of SharePoint, such as Web Parts, and how to use them to build a SharePoint site's UI. (If you're just beginning the planning phase of your portal, see the sidebar "Planning Your SharePoint Portal," for some planning guidelines.) . . .