System, method, and apparatus for generating a portlet by merging content from a plurality of portlets

A system for generating an object for a portal platform from a plurality of objects, the system comprising:

• a content selection tool accessible via a web interface from a remotely located client for selecting a uniform resource locator (URL) addressable content from a web source and a further URL addressable content from a further web source;
• a platform specification tool accessible via a web interface from the remotely located client for selecting a platform agnostic container comprising the URL addressable content and the further URL addressable content established by the content selection tool, wherein a platform specific portal framework is indicated for the selected platform agnostic container, wherein use of the platform specification tool generates a content object for the indicated platform specific portal framework, the content object containing the URL addressable content and the further URL addressable content;
• and
• a portal customization tool accessible via a web interface from the remotely located client for customizing a portal in accordance with the platform specific portal framework using a set of selectable software objects which can be placed within the customized portal, wherein the set of selectable software objects comprises content objects generated using the platform specification tool, wherein the content objects remain synchronized with a source of the URL addressable content and a further source of the further URL addressable content.

A method for generating an object for a portal platform from a plurality of objects, the method comprising:

• selecting a uniform resource locator (URL) addressable content from a web source and a further URL addressable content from a further web source;
• establishing a platform agnostic container for the URL addressable content and the further URL addressable content wherein the platform agnostic container comprises a link to the URL addressable content and a further link to the further URL addressable content;
• adjusting the platform agnostic container for the portal platform;
• and
• adding the adjusted platform agnostic container to a set of user selectable objects for the portal platform, wherein the user selectable objects are customizable by a user to create a customized portal for the portal platform accessible via a URL associated with the portal platform, wherein the URL addressable content and the further URL adjustable content appear with the customized portal in response to selection of the adjusted container.