The present invention concerns methods and apparatus for implementing an interactive graphical user interface having the ability to graphically depict the relationships between or among multiple portlets. In one aspect, the present invention relates a child sub-portlet to a parent portlet with at least one graphical indicator when the child sub-portlet is surfaced from the parent portlet. Other aspects of the present invention concern in-line tools integrated in the graphical indicators for managing portlet operations. The graphical indicators and inline controls of the present invention allow a user to accurately and precisely control portlets.