A web services system enables web servers to serve pages that utilize remote portlets stored on remote systems. A consumer system serves pages that utilize remote portlets stored on one or more producer systems. When a user system accesses a page utilizing a remote portlet through a web browser, the consumer system contacts the producer system, obtains content for the page and delivers the page to the user system. Information for configuring the consumer system to utilize the portlets on the producer system can be transmitted with the aid of a graphical interface that enables a user to send configuration information through electronic mail.