Under the present invention desired portlet behaviors are embodied as portlet patterns. When a developer wishes to create a new portlet for a portal page, the developer will select a presentation template, select one or more portlet patterns and input values for the selected portlet patterns. Thereafter, the portlet will be encoded by binding the values to the selected patterns according to the presentation template. Once encoded, the portlet will be bound to a portal server catalog corresponding to the portal page. The binding to the portal server catalog allows the portlet to be visible to end users visiting the portal page. Then, if an end user selects the portlet, an instance thereof will be created by an instantiator portlet. Any underlying functions of the portlet can then be carried out by the instantiator portlet.