[Zope] metal: how to get a portlet to render in the default index_html

[hpinson at indepthl.com]

>> do you have any published news that could be rendered.
>> The portlest does only show published news.

Yes, all news is published.  The portlet <h5> title and border do not 
render either. 

In fact, I am beginning to wonder if the Plone default index_html is 
a page template at all.  I cannot even get the following simple 
snippet to render:

The URL is <span tal:replace="request/URL">URL</span>.

The document object type seems something called "Dublin Core".

I have tried to replace the top level index_html with a page 
template, but that just generates errors.

Harlow Pinson
Indepth Learning
Email: hpinson at indepthl.com 
Web: http://www.indepthl.com
Voice: 505-994-2135
FAX: 208-475-7678