1. A method for rendering a portal graphical user interface (GUI), comprising: providing for the representation of a GUI desktop, a GUI look and feel, and a GUI book as a set of controls wherein the controls can be organized in a logical hierarchy; traversing the representation, wherein the traversing comprises: associating a theme with a first control in the set of controls; rendering the first control according to the theme; rendering any descendents of the first control according to the theme; wherein any descendents of the first control can override the theme; and wherein one of the set of controls can communicate with another of the set of controls.