Due: 26 October

Your second project for this course will be a web portal. This project will take the idea of the web "portal," and use an alternate interface metaphor to create a new kind of "portal."

This project has two parts: your new web portal and your "web portal instructions."

• Instructions
  Begin by surveying some websites you consider to be "web portals." Take notes about the sites and look for common elements. What makes something a web portal? What information do they create, and what information do they link to (off site)? Write a list of several (at least five) "rules" for creating web portals, along with short blurbs explaining why that rule is important—feel free to link a web portal that embodies the rule. These should be specific instructions that will guide you in creating your own web portal.
  
  Next, consider the "interface" discussion from class, as well as the reading from Manovich. Referring to your brainstormed list, think about how you can blend your portal's subject with an appropriate metaphor for your portal. Add at least two "rules" to your list about how to choose an interface metaphor for your portal. Put these rules on a page linked to and from your portal.
• Your portal
  Construct a web portal about a subject of your choice using the rules you have compiled. Your portal should include many links to appropriate outside sites, as well as at least two additional pages that serve as part of your "portal." Feel free to make use of images and creative layout, following the rules you have outlined for yourself.

This project should be produced for the web, and should total at least four pages, with many links. (Your pages should include: portal homepage, two other portal pages, and your rules page). Your project should be uploaded to your site by the beginning of class on 26 October.

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