you can place as many dashboards on a page as you want. each dashboard can point to the same repository or a different repository on the same page or different pages.

the physical layout is really controlled by the panes of your skin. If you place 2 dashboards in the *same* pane, they will be stacked vertically, so you'll have to create 2 panes side by side, then place a dashboard in each one.

something like this.. then drop one dashboard in the dash1 page, and another in the dash2 pane.

you can apply one skin to the portal so it will be applied to all pages, then override that skin for any particular page, so you can have a special skin for just your home page without affecting the rest of your site.

1) go to the admin skin page and set the skin and containers for your portal site

2) go to your home page settings page and override the skin by selecting your new skin just for that page