Systems for peer-to-peer knowledge sharing platform

• US 10,243,751 B2
• Filed: 03/29/2018
• Issued: 03/26/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 05/06/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: ServiceNow Incorporated
• Original Assignee: ServiceNow Incorporated
• Inventors: Paul, Sarup, Godavarthy, Umakanth, Mishra, Prabhat, Luckiewicz, Paulina, Dey, Avishek, Misra, Vinamra, Aggu, Mallesh, Bellamane, Harish, Dodda, Rampradeep, Chittimalla, Preethi, Currier, Ryan
• Primary Examiner(s): Pollack, Melvin H
• Application Number:
  US15/939,617
• Publication Number:
  US 20180323986A1
• Time in Patent Office: 362 Days
• Field of Search: 709204
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1813 for computer conferences, e.g. chat rooms instant messaging H04L51/04; protocols for multimedia communication H04L65/1101; arrangements for multi-party communication H04L65/403; telephonic conference arrangements H04M3/56; television conference systems H04N7/15
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/10 Multimedia information
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/214 using selective forwarding
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/104 Grouping of entities
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1044 Group management mechanisms management of multicast group membership H04L12/185; reconfiguring of node membership in a computing system to eliminate errors G06F11/1425
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/306 User profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/55 Push-based network services

Abstract

A system implements user permissions and user subscriptions with regard to content posted on one or more peer-to-peer knowledge sharing platforms (e.g., Community pages). Permissions are assigned to groups of users, rather than individual users. Permissions are determined by the groups of which the user in question is a member.

Claims

1. A method for providing access to community forums for users of a software resource, the method comprising:

assigning a community forum user to at least two of a plurality of community forum groups, wherein the plurality of community forum groups comprises content readers, content writers, and one or more administrative groups;

assigning a permission to each of the plurality of community forum groups for each of a plurality of content types, wherein the permission comprises one of read and write, read only, and access denied, and wherein the plurality of content types comprises one or more of a question, an answer, a blog, a video, or a combination thereof;

determining the permission for a first community forum for each of the plurality of content types for the community forum user based on the at least two of the plurality of community forum groups to which the community forum user is assigned, wherein the first community forum allows users of a software resource to interact with one another regarding use of the software resource; and

displaying a community forum page of the first community forum configured to allow the community forum user to interact with content of the plurality of content types in accordance with the determined permission for each of the plurality of content types for the community forum user.

2. The method of claim 1, comprising:

determining the permission for a second community forum for each of the plurality of content types for the community forum user based on the at least two of the plurality of community forum groups of users to which the community forum user is assigned; and

displaying a community forum page of the second community forum configured to allow the community forum user to interact with content of the plurality of content types in accordance with the determined permission for each of the plurality of content types for the community forum user.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the permission for the first community forum for each of the plurality of content types for the community forum user based on the at least two of the plurality of community forum groups to which the community forum user is assigned comprises assigning the community forum user the assigned permissions of a first group of the plurality of community forum groups, wherein the first group is selected based on a ranking of the at least two of the plurality of community forum groups.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the at least two of the plurality of community forum groups are ranked by seniority, and wherein the first group is most senior of the plurality of community forum groups of users to which the community forum user is assigned.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the permission for the first community forum for each of the plurality of content types for the community forum user based on the at least two of the plurality of community forum groups to which the community forum user is assigned comprises assigning the community forum user the assigned permissions of a first group of the plurality of community forum groups, wherein the permissions assigned to first group are more permissive than the permissions assigned to the other community forum groups of which the community forum user is assigned.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the permission for the first community forum for each of the plurality of content types for the community forum user based on the at least two of the plurality of community forum groups to which the community forum user is assigned comprises:

determining the permission for the first community forum for each of the plurality of content types for each of the at least two of the plurality of community forum groups to which the community forum user is assigned;

ranking the determined permission from most permissive to least permissive for each content type; and

selecting the most permissive determined permission for each content type.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the permission for the first community forum for each of the plurality of content types for the community forum user based on the at least two of the plurality of community forum groups to which the community forum user is assigned comprises:

determining the permission for a first community forum for each of the plurality of content types for each of the at least two of the plurality of community forum groups to which the community forum user is assigned;

ranking the determined permission from most permissive to least permissive for each content type; and

determining the permission based on the ranking.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the permission for the first community forum for each of the plurality of content types for the community forum user based on the at least two of the plurality of community forum groups to which the community forum user is assigned comprises assigning the community forum user the permission in accordance with one or more permission exceptions if the one or more permission exceptions have been assigned to the community forum user.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the one or more permission exceptions override the permissions assigned to the first community forum, and change one or more of the permissions of the community forum user from the permissions assigned to the first community forum to more permissive permissions.

10. The method of claim 1, comprising:

accessing a table listing the permission for each of the at least two of the plurality of community forum groups for each of the plurality of content types; and

displaying a window including community forum content access based on computed permissions for the community forum user.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more administrative groups comprise developers, managers, or a combination thereof.

11. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising computer readable code, that when executed by one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:

assigning a community forum user to at least two of a plurality of community forum groups, wherein the plurality of community forum groups comprises content readers, content writers, and one or more administrative groups;

assigning a permission to each of the plurality of community forum groups for each of a plurality of content types, wherein the permission comprises one of read and write, read only, and access denied, and wherein the plurality of content types comprises one or more of a question, an answer, a blog, a video, or a combination thereof;

determining the permission for a first community forum for each of the plurality of content types for the community forum user based on the at least two of the plurality of community forum groups to which the community forum user is assigned, wherein the first community forum allows users of a software resource to interact with one another regarding use of the software resource; and

displaying a community forum page of the first community forum configured to allow the community forum user to interact with content of the plurality of content types in accordance with the determined permission for each of the plurality of content types for the community forum user.

12. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 11, wherein the computer readable code is executable by the one or more processors to cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:

determining the permission for a second community forum for each of the plurality of content types for the community forum user based on the at least two of the plurality of community forum groups of users to which the community forum user is assigned; and

displaying a community forum page of the second community forum configured to allow the community forum user to interact with content of the plurality of content types in accordance with the determined permission for each of the plurality of content types for the community forum user.

13. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 11, wherein determining the permission for the first community forum for each of the plurality of content types for the community forum user based on the at least two of the plurality of community forum groups to which the community forum user is assigned comprises assigning the community forum user the assigned permissions of a first group of the plurality of community forum groups, wherein the first group is selected based on a ranking of the at least two of the plurality of community forum groups.

14. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 13, wherein the at least two of the plurality of community forum groups are ranked by seniority, and wherein the first group is most senior of the plurality of community forum groups of users to which the community forum user is assigned.

15. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 11, wherein determining the permission for the first community forum for each of the plurality of content types for the community forum user based on the at least two of the plurality of community forum groups to which the community forum user is assigned comprises assigning the community forum user the assigned permissions of a first group of the plurality of community forum groups, wherein the permissions assigned to first group are more permissive than the permissions assigned to the other community forum groups of which the community forum user is assigned.

16. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 11, wherein determining the permission for the first community forum for each of the plurality of content types for the community forum user based on the at least two of the plurality of community forum groups to which the community forum user is assigned comprises:

determining the permission for the first community forum for each of the plurality of content types for each of the at least two of the plurality of community forum groups to which the community forum user is assigned;

ranking the determined permission from most permissive to least permissive for each content type; and

determining the permission based on the ranking.

17. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 11, wherein determining the permission for the first community forum for each of the plurality of content types for the community forum user based on the at least two of the plurality of community forum groups to which the community forum user is assigned comprises assigning the community forum user the permission in accordance with one or more permission exceptions if the one or more permission exceptions have been assigned to the community forum user,

wherein the one or more permission exceptions override the permissions assigned to the first community forum, and change one or more of the permissions of the community forum user from the permissions assigned to the first community forum to more permissive permissions.

18. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 11, wherein the computer readable code is executable by the one or more processors to cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:

accessing a table listing the permission for each of the at least two of the plurality of community forum groups for each of the plurality of content types; and

displaying a window including community forum content access based on computed permissions for the community forum user.

20. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 11, wherein the one or more administrative groups comprise developers, managers, or a combination thereof.