Planning a Portfolio

Before creating a portfolio, we recommend that you carefully consider the following questions and take appropriate action.

• What is the objective of this portfolio?
• What content do I need to include in order to achieve this objective? What specific word-processing, spreadsheet, image, and other files do I need? After answering these questions, store the files you plan to use in Resources. For information on adding items to Resources
• What additional information (context, explanation, and so forth) do I need to provide?
• In what order do I want to present the material?
• How much creative control do I want to have over the appearance of the portfolio? Would I rather use a template that controls the layout and text/color/display style of the entire portfolio or design my own approach by selecting from a set of predefined layouts and styles? In order to answer these questions, we recommend that you review all appropriate templates, layouts, and styles that your institution has made available for your use.
• If I plan to design my own approach, will the presentation be more effective if I use the same layout on each web page or if the layout changes from page to page? You may choose a different layout for each page or use the same layout for all pages in your presentation.
• Based on the layout(s) I have chosen, how many web pages will be required?
• If I plan to design my own approach, will the presentation be more effective if I use the same set of fonts, text colors and sizes, spacing, and background colors for all pages? Or should the text display and background change from page to page? Your institution has a default "style" that includes a standard set of fonts, colors, and so forth. If your institution has created other styles as well, you may choose between them for each page or you may choose to use a single style for the entire presentation.