Organization mode support mechanisms
First Claim
1. A computer program product comprising one or more computer-readable physical storage media having stored thereon computer-executable instructions that are executable by one or more processors of a computing system to cause the computing system to perform a method for supporting an organization mode in which a plurality of user interface elements may be organized within a user interface, the method comprising:
- an act of displaying a canvas on the user interface, the canvas being subdivided into at least an extendable start board portion and a constituent element portion, the extendable start board portion being displayed simultaneously with the constituent element portion on the canvas, wherein;
upon selection of any one user interface element in the extendable start board portion, the constituent element portion is updated to include a group of user interface elements that each corresponds to the selected any one user interface element,a size of the constituent element portion is dependent on a size of the extendable start board portion such that as the size of the extendable start board portion increases, the size of the constituent element portion decreases in response, andwhen the size of the constituent element portion decreases, an appearance of at least some elements in the group of user interface elements included in the constituent element portion is progressively cutoff to coincide with the decreasing size of the constituent element portion;
an act of displaying a plurality of user interface elements on the extendable start board portion of the canvas so as to conform to a grid pattern having a plurality of grid positions on the extendable start board portion, each of the plurality of user interface elements occupying one or more of the grid positions of the plurality of grid positions and having boundaries corresponding to boundaries between grid positions;
an act of detecting a user instruction representing an intent to organize one or more of the plurality of user interface elements on the canvas, the user interface entering the organization mode after the user instruction is received;
an act of causing an appearance of at least some remaining user interface elements in the plurality to change such that the appearances are deemphasized, the at least some remaining user interface elements being elements that were not associated with the user instruction;
an act of causing at least some of the plurality of grid positions to be displayed in response to the act of detecting the user instruction; and
while in the organization mode and in response to selecting a particular user interface element, an act of causing a contextual actions menu to appear for the particular user interface element, the contextual actions menu displaying a subset of available commands, the displayed subset of available commands being commands that have been previously identified as being commonly used by a user while the user interacts with the user interface in the organization mode, the contextual actions menu being displayed simultaneously with the particular user interface element.
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0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An organization mode in a user interface that displays multiple user interface elements. The multiple user interface elements fit over a grid positions that are at least conceptually imposed over a canvas. In organization mode, the grid positions are displayed, allowing the user to more easily see where user interface elements may be placed. As the user moves and/or resizes a user interface element, one or more corresponding grid positions are highlighted to show where the user interface element would be placed if the move or resize operation were to conclude at that moment. The organization mode may also provide a contextual actions menu with respect to a particular user interface element. The contextual actions menu includes multiple organization mode commands, including one or more that may be directed selected from the contextual actions menu to invoke the command.
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Citations
22 Claims
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1. A computer program product comprising one or more computer-readable physical storage media having stored thereon computer-executable instructions that are executable by one or more processors of a computing system to cause the computing system to perform a method for supporting an organization mode in which a plurality of user interface elements may be organized within a user interface, the method comprising:
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an act of displaying a canvas on the user interface, the canvas being subdivided into at least an extendable start board portion and a constituent element portion, the extendable start board portion being displayed simultaneously with the constituent element portion on the canvas, wherein; upon selection of any one user interface element in the extendable start board portion, the constituent element portion is updated to include a group of user interface elements that each corresponds to the selected any one user interface element, a size of the constituent element portion is dependent on a size of the extendable start board portion such that as the size of the extendable start board portion increases, the size of the constituent element portion decreases in response, and when the size of the constituent element portion decreases, an appearance of at least some elements in the group of user interface elements included in the constituent element portion is progressively cutoff to coincide with the decreasing size of the constituent element portion; an act of displaying a plurality of user interface elements on the extendable start board portion of the canvas so as to conform to a grid pattern having a plurality of grid positions on the extendable start board portion, each of the plurality of user interface elements occupying one or more of the grid positions of the plurality of grid positions and having boundaries corresponding to boundaries between grid positions; an act of detecting a user instruction representing an intent to organize one or more of the plurality of user interface elements on the canvas, the user interface entering the organization mode after the user instruction is received; an act of causing an appearance of at least some remaining user interface elements in the plurality to change such that the appearances are deemphasized, the at least some remaining user interface elements being elements that were not associated with the user instruction; an act of causing at least some of the plurality of grid positions to be displayed in response to the act of detecting the user instruction; and while in the organization mode and in response to selecting a particular user interface element, an act of causing a contextual actions menu to appear for the particular user interface element, the contextual actions menu displaying a subset of available commands, the displayed subset of available commands being commands that have been previously identified as being commonly used by a user while the user interacts with the user interface in the organization mode, the contextual actions menu being displayed simultaneously with the particular user interface element. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method for supporting an organization mode in which a plurality of user interface elements may be organized within a user interface, the method comprising:
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an act of displaying a canvas on the user interface, the canvas being subdivided into at least an extendable start board portion and a constituent element portion, the extendable start board portion being displayed simultaneously with the constituent element portion on the canvas, wherein; upon selection of any one user interface element in the extendable start board portion, the constituent element portion is updated to include a group of user interface elements that each corresponds to the selected any one user interface element, a size of the constituent element portion is dependent on a size of the extendable start board portion such that as the size of the extendable start board portion increases, the size of the constituent element portion decreases in response, and when the size of the constituent element portion decreases, an appearance of at least some elements in the group of user interface elements included in the constituent element portion is progressively cutoff to coincide with the decreasing size of the constituent element portion; an act of displaying a plurality of user interface elements on the extendable start board portion of the canvas so as to conform to a grid pattern having a plurality of grid positions on the extendable start board portion, each of the plurality of user interface elements fitting over one or more of the grid positions of the plurality of grid positions; an act of entering an organization mode in which the plurality of user interface elements may be organized on the canvas in a manner not permitted outside of the organization mode; after detecting user input directed to at least one user interface element in the plurality while in the organization mode, an act of causing an appearance of at least some remaining user interface elements in the plurality to change such that the appearances are deemphasized, the at least some remaining user interface elements being elements that were not associated with the user input; an act of causing at least some of the plurality of grid positions to be displayed on the canvas while in the organization mode; and while in the organization mode and in response to selecting a particular user interface element, an act of causing a contextual actions menu to appear for the particular user interface element, the contextual actions menu displaying a subset of available commands, the displayed subset of available commands being commands that have been previously identified as being commonly used by a user while the user interacts with the user interface in the organization mode, the contextual actions menu being displayed simultaneously with the particular user interface element. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A computer-implemented method performed by one or more processors of a computing system which includes a memory having stored thereon computer-executable instructions that are executable by the one or more processors to cause the one or more processors to perform the computer-implemented method, which permits visualizing an organization mode in which a plurality of user interface elements may be organized within a user interface, the computer-implemented method comprising:
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displaying a canvas on the user interface, the canvas being subdivided into at least an extendable start board portion and a constituent element portion, the extendable start board portion being displayed simultaneously with the constituent element portion on the canvas, wherein; upon selection of any one user interface element in the extendable start board portion, the constituent element portion is updated to include a group of user interface elements that each corresponds to the selected any one user interface element, a size of the constituent element portion is dependent on a size of the extendable start board portion such that as the size of the extendable start board portion increases, the size of the constituent element portion decreases in response, and when the size of the constituent element portion decreases, an appearance of at least some elements in the group of user interface elements included in the constituent element portion is progressively cutoff to coincide with the decreasing size of the constituent element portion; displaying a plurality of user interface elements on the extendable start board portion of the canvas, wherein the interface elements conform to a grid pattern having a plurality of grid positions on the extendable start board portion, each individual interface element occupying one or more of the grid positions and having boundaries corresponding to the boundaries of the one or more grid positions occupied by the individual interface element; the one or more processors detecting at the interface an input representing an intent to organize one or more of the interface elements on the canvas; in response to detecting said input representing an intent to organize one or more of the interface elements on the canvas, the one or more processors initiating an organization mode at the interface, wherein unoccupied grid positions of the canvas are displayed to permit visualization of where interface elements can be moved, added, enlarged or reduced in size, in order to facilitate visualizing organization of one or more interface elements on the interface, and wherein the one or more interface elements associated with the input are visually emphasized; an act of causing an appearance of at least some remaining user interface elements in the plurality to change such that the appearances are deemphasized, wherein the at least some remaining user interface elements are elements that were not associated with the input, and wherein the appearances are deemphasized by becoming darker; and while in the organization mode and in response to selecting a particular user interface element, an act of causing a contextual actions menu to appear for the particular user interface element, the contextual actions menu displaying a subset of available commands, the displayed subset of available commands being commands that have been previously identified as being commonly used by a user while the user interacts with the user interface in the organization mode, the contextual actions menu being displayed simultaneously with the particular user interface element.
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Specification