http://msmvps.com/blogs/talkingpoint/archive/2005/08/31/64775.aspxBill English has posted a great piece on sites, areas and portals over in his SharePoint Café *. I think there is a simpler core set of factors around point III. A new portal represents a more formal boundary than separate areas. Within an enterpriseenCommunityServer 2008.5 SP2 (Build: 40407.4157)