A highly configurable query-oriented portal for a co-operative environment

Web portals and “my” portals are now commonplace but they are constructed along familiar lines with hierarchical management structure. Typically one or more owners of data will allow a larger group of people to view data in rigid, pre-planned ways. Historically data on the web was presented on static pages. Nowadays the data is likely to be drawn from a database, but it still tends to be presented in a layout defined by the supplier. This suggests that it might be fruitful to consider what designs might be natural or possible in a cooperative, trusting, egalitarian environment. Although this ideal situation is rarely, if ever, truly found in real life it may be that some of the ideas will be appealing and find application even in an imperfect environment.