Patent ID: 7277924

Claim:
A method for fulfilling a user request for a web page comprising one or more portlets, comprising: at a portal web server, transmitting one or more first requests for content to one or more web providers, each of the one or more first requests being for content used to render at least one member of the one or more portlets; at each web provider, wherein when said web provider is not responsible for retrieving and supplying one or more requested contents, transmitting one or more second requests for content to one or more content retrievers, each of the one or more second requests being for a subset of content from one member of the one or more first requests corresponding to a particular subject; at each content retriever, transmitting one or more third requests for content to one or more content providers; checking, upon receiving the one or more first requests for content one or more central repositories to determine whether the one or more web pages exist in the one or more central repositories; retrieving the one or more web pages to assemble one or more requested web page in response to the one or more first requests for content by using information about appearance and operation of the one or more requested web page and any responses obtained from the one or more content providers; and assembling the web page at the portal web server using information about the appearance and operation of the one or more first, second, or third requests for content, one or more web pages stored at the one or more central repositories, and any responses to the one or more third requests for content.