[Zope-PTK] Do we *need* a Portal object?

[Steve Alexander]

Kevin Dangoor wrote:
<deletia>
>     It seems to me like it would be nicer to drop in a set of components
> that provide the features you want than to have to move an entire site
> within a Portal when you want to take advantage of a new widget that is
> designed as PortalContent.
> 
>     Is there some giant Portal feature that I'm missing that requires things
> to be factored out the way they are?

I don't think there is such a feature, and I agree with what you said
above.

The portal arrangement is a conglomeration of

 * Membership
 * Review process
 * Effective date (should have expiry date too)
 * Cataloging of dublin core and "searchable text"
 * Toolbox contributed to by portal content types

These functions can be separated from each other, and handled by
different Specialists.

However, I think we are in an evolutionary discovery phase at the moment
-- we're just beginning to find out what Portals have in common, and
what they have in common with other applications and products.

Perhaps a measure of PTK's success in the coming months is how many
products and standard interfaces get abstracted out of it to take on
lives of their own. This might leave PTK as just a default
implementation of a particular combination of these patterns and
products.

--
Steve Alexander
Software Engineer
Cat-Box limited