Open Educational Resources (OER) play a growing role in formal and informal learning settings – in the form of software, open courseware, open access publications and e-journals or information resources of the Internet. This paper focuses specifically on the design of portals, which compile information on a specific topic and, thereby, offer a focal point for informal learning activities. These resources have implicit or explicit educational goals: They aim to give comprehensive information on their topic and they usually support knowledge exchange in a community. This paper provides an overview of typical components constituting educational portals. Basic elements are identified in an explorative website analysis survey.