System and method for managing content on a network interface

• US 10,606,930 B2
• Filed: 10/21/2016
• Issued: 03/31/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 02/13/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Meta Platforms, Inc. (f/k/a Facebook, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Bruce Zak
• Inventors: Zak, Bruce, Zak, Regina
• Primary Examiner(s): Stork, Kyle R
• Application Number:
  US15/299,530
• Publication Number:
  US 20170039173A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,257 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/958 Organisation or management of web site content, e.g. publishing, maintaining pages or automatic linking
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0484 for the control of specific functions or operations, e.g. selecting or manipulating an object, an image or a displayed text element, setting a parameter value or selecting a range
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/134 Hyperlinking
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/14 Tree-structured documents parsing G06F40/205; validation G06F40/226
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/186 Templates
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/00 Network arrangements, protocols or services for addressing or naming
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/306 User profiles

Abstract

The disclosed invention is a system and method (collectively the “system”) for the automated management of content on a network interface. The network interface can be a web site on the World Wide Web, an Internet location, an intranet location, an extranet location, or some other form of network interface (collectively “web site”). The system can automatically create applications and links to those applications without human intervention. Examples of automated applications include newsroom applications, calendar of events, employment opportunities, project portfolio, biographies, frequently asked questions, document library, category management, product catalogs, e-mail broadcasts, surveys, and newsletters. Fully normalized hierarchies of business rules and user profiles can be supported by the system to facilitate automation and configurability. Multiple content providers can manager a single web site in a simultaneous or substantially simultaneous manner. In ASP embodiments, multiple organizations can use the system to manage multiple web sites in a substantially simultaneous manner.

Claims

1. A system, including a computer, for managing content displayed on a web site viewable by users of the web site through browser or mobile application, comprising:

a plurality of configurable applications administered by the computer, wherein;

each configurable application includes a category of content stored by the computer and displayable to users of the web site,

one of the plurality of configurable applications is a biography application comprising biographical information about users of the web site,

at least one of the plurality of configurable applications is generated by the computer at least in part based on inputs received from users of the web site, and

the inputs include at least one of text, graphics, sounds, documents, and multi-media content;

a first configurable link on the web site that points to the biography application; and

a second configurable link on the web site that points to at least one of the plurality of configurable applications, wherein;

the computer includes a portal through which a user acting as an administrator can manage at least one user-configurable business rule that permits the user acting as an administrator to selectively control the content viewable by other users of the web site,

the computer automatically generates the first configurable link according to at least one rule that is configurable by a first user acting as an administrator,

the computer automatically generates the second configurable link according to at least one rule that is configurable by the first user acting as an administrator, and

at least some displayable content is generated by the computer based at least in part on a user-configured business rule that manages displayable content for one of the plurality of configurable applications by selecting from among the content stored by the computer before the displayable content generated by the computer is sent.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein the at least one configurable link is generated by the computer based at least in part on a profile attributed to at least one user of the web site and at least one rule that is configurable by a user acting as an administrator and that applies user profiles to select what content stored on the computer can be viewed by which of the users of the web site.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the first configurable link is a uniform resource locator (URL).

4. The system of claim 1, wherein:

one of the plurality of configurable applications is an events application that schedules and displays events based at least in part on inputs received from at least one user of the web site;

one of the plurality of configurable applications is a communications application that displays communications provided by a plurality of the users of the web site; and

communications related to events scheduled in the events application are automatically displayed in the communications application.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein user profiles are configured to selectively include information associating a user with a subgroup of all users of the web site, and wherein the rule determines what content can be seen by which users based at least in part on whether users are associated with a particular subgroup.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the second configurable link includes information concerning a user profile and information relating to which of the users of the web site are permitted to view the configurable application to which the second configurable link points.

7. A system, including a computer with a web server, for managing content returned from the server displayable on client access devices of multiple users of the system who have profiles stored on the system, the system comprising:

at least a first configurable application and a second configurable application, wherein;

each of the first and second configurable applications includes content that is stored on the server and that is displayable to the users of the system,

one of the configurable applications is a biography application that is managed by the server and that displays biographical information that is received from and that is about one of the users of the system,

at least one of the configurable applications is generated by the server at least in part based on inputs received from multiple users of the system, and

the inputs include at least one of text, graphics, sounds, documents, and multi-media content;

an administrator portal through which users of the system are permitted to act in the role of an administrator of certain content, wherein;

a user acting in the role of an administrator may manage business rules that utilize profiles of the users of the system to control interaction of the users with the certain content,

each user of the system is permitted to act in the role of an administrator at least with respect to a subset of the content returned from the server;

a first user configurable link posted to the server that points to the biography application; and

a second user configurable link posted to the server that points to at least one of the configurable applications, wherein;

the computer automatically generates the first user configurable link according to at least one rule that is configurable by a first user acting as an administrator,

the computer automatically generates the second user configurable link according to at least one rule that is configurable by the first user acting as an administrator, and

at least some content is assembled and delivered to at least one user by the server based at least in part on a profile attributed to at least one user of the system and at least one rule that is configurable by a user acting in the role of an administrator and that applies user profiles to select what content stored on the server can be viewed by which of the users of the system.

8. A system, including a computer with a web server, for managing content returned from the web server displayable on client access devices of multiple users of the system who have profiles stored on the system, the system comprising:

at least a first configurable application and a second configurable application, wherein;

each of the first and second configurable applications includes content that is stored on the web server and that is displayable to the users of the system,

one of the configurable applications is a biography application that is managed by the web server and that displays biographical information that is received from and that is about one of the users of the system,

at least one of the configurable applications is generated by the web server at least in part based on inputs received from multiple users of the system, and

the inputs include at least one of text, graphics, sounds, documents, and multi-media content;

an administrator portal through which users of the system are permitted to act in the role of an administrator of certain content, wherein;

a user acting in the role of an administrator may manage business rules that utilize profiles of the users of the system to control interaction of the users with the certain content, and

each user of the system is permitted to act in the role of an administrator at least with respect to a subset of the content returned from the web server;

a first user configurable link on the web site that points to the biography application; and

a second user configurable link, generated by posting content and configuration information to the web server that points to at least one of the configurable applications, wherein;

the computer automatically generates the first user configurable link according to at least one rule that is configurable by a first user acting as an administrator,

the computer automatically generates the second user configurable link according to at least one rule that is configurable by the first user acting as an administrator, and

at least some content is assembled and delivered to at least one user by the web server based at least in part on a profile attributed to at least one user of the system and at least one rule that is configurable by a user acting in the role of an administrator and that applies user profiles to select what content stored on the web server can be viewed by which of the users of the system.

9. A system comprising:

a server hosting a plurality of configurable applications, wherein;

each of the plurality of configurable applications includes content that is stored on the server and that is displayable to users of the system,

one of the plurality of configurable applications is a biography application that is managed by the server,

the biography application displays biographical information that is received from and that is about the users of the system,

at least one of the plurality of configurable applications is generated by the server at least in part based on inputs received from multiple users of the system, and

the inputs include at least one of text, graphics, sounds, documents, and multi-media content;

a portal through which users of the system are permitted to act in a role of content creator of certain content, wherein;

a user acting in the role of content creator may manage business rules to control interaction of the users of the system with the certain content, and

each user of the system is permitted to act in the role of content creator at least with respect to a subset of the content returned from the server;

a first user configurable link that points to the biography application; and

a second user configurable link that points to at least one of the plurality of configurable applications, wherein;

the computer automatically generates the first user configurable link according to at least one business rule that is configurable by a first user acting in the role of content creator,

the computer automatically generates the second user configurable link according to at least one business rule that is configurable by the first user acting in the role of content creator,

at least some content is assembled and delivered to at least one user by the server based at least in part on the application of at least one business rule to at least one user, and

at least one business rule is configurable by a user acting in the role of content creator and applies business rules based on other user attributes to select what content stored on the server can be viewed by which of the users of the system.

10. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions comprising:

hosting a plurality of configurable applications, wherein;

each of the plurality of configurable applications includes content that is displayable to users,

one of the plurality of configurable applications is a biography application, and

the biography application displays biographical information that is received from and that is about the users;

generating at least one of the plurality of configurable applications at least in part based on inputs received from multiple of the users, wherein the inputs include at least one of text, graphics, sounds, documents, and multi-media content;

providing a network-accessible portal through which the users are permitted to act in a role of content creator of certain content, wherein;

a user acting in the role of content creator may manage business rules to control interaction of the users with the certain content, and

each user is permitted to act in the role of content creator at least with respect to a subset of the content returned to the users;

hosting a first user configurable link that points to the biography application;

hosting a second user configurable link that points to at least one of the plurality of configurable applications;

automatically generating the first user configurable link according to at least one business rule that is configurable by a first user acting in the role of content creator;

automatically generating the second user configurable link according to at least one business rule that is configurable by the first user acting in the role of content creator; and

assembling and delivering at least some content to at least one user based at least in part on the application of at least one business rule to at least one user, and

wherein at least one business rule is configurable by a user acting in the role of content creator and applies business rules based on other user attributes to select what content can be viewed by which of the users.