Intelligent backward resource navigation

• US 20050132297A1
• Filed: 05/05/2004
• Published: 06/16/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 12/15/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Jones, Rachel, Milic-Frayling, Natasa, Blackwell, Alan Frank, Smyth, Samuel Gavin, Rodden, Kerry, Sommerer, Ralph
• Granted Patent: US 7,774,721 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/745
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/954 Navigation, e.g. using categorised browsing

Abstract

A system for navigating among resources includes a target detection module detecting whether a first resource has been branched from to two other different resources and a backward navigation module operable to detect selection of a backward navigation button and cause navigation to the first resource. A method includes designating a target resource accessible via a backward navigation button in a first browser session, detecting selection of the backward navigation button in a second browser session, and navigating to the target resource in the second browser session. The method can involve detecting hovering of a pointer icon over the backward navigation button and responsively presenting a thumbnail of a resource associated with the backward navigation button.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

designating a navigation node as a hub node based on an analysis of at least two navigation branches from a visited resource, the navigation node corresponding to a visit to the visited resource;

detecting selection of an intelligent backward navigation button;

in response to detecting selection of the target back button, determining that the navigation node is a hub node;

in response to determining that the navigation node is a hub node, navigating to the visited resource.

2. A method as recited in claim 1 wherein the designating operation comprises determining that two different resources were accessed from the visited resource.

3. A method as recited in claim 1 further comprising storing a resource identifier identifying the hub resource in a memory wherein the resource identifier is available across multiple browser sessions.

4. A method as recited in claim 1 wherein the designating operation comprises:

storing a resource identifier identifying the visited resource in a memory;

marking the resource identifier as a hub resource identifier.

5. A method as recited in claim 4 further comprising unmarking the resource identifier in response to a user notification to unmark the resource as a hub resource.

6. A method as recited in claim 4 further comprising unmarking the resource identifier after a specified amount of time passes in which the resource is not visited.

7. A method as recited in claim 1 further comprising, in response to detecting selection of the intelligent backward navigation button, selecting the hub node from a plurality of backward navigation targets in a navigation history.

8. A method as recited in claim 1 further comprising storing a resource identifier identifying the visited resource among a plurality of backward navigation targets in a navigation history of resource identifiers corresponding to a navigation map, wherein only a most recent visit to the visited resource is stored in the navigation history.

9. A method as recited in claim 1 further comprising presenting a target-specific backward navigation button labeled with a target resource identifier identifying the visited resource.

10. A method as recited in claim 1 wherein the designating operation occurs during a first browser session and the detecting and navigating operations occur during a second browser session.

11. A method as recited in claim 1 further comprising:

presenting a target-specific backward navigation button labeled with a target resource identifier identifying the visited resource;

detecting a pointer icon positioned over the target-specific backward navigation button;

in response to detecting the pointer icon positioned over the target-specific backward navigation button, presenting a thumbnail of the visited resource.

12. A method comprising:

in a first browser session, automatically designating a backward navigation target accessible via a backward navigation button based on user navigation;

in a second browser session, detecting selection of the backward navigation button;

navigating to the target resource in the second browser session.

13. A method as recited in claim 12 further comprising presenting a thumbnail of the target resource in response to detecting hovering of a pointer icon over the backward navigation button.

14. A method as recited in claim 12 further comprising labeling the backward navigation button with a resource identifier identifying the target resource.

15. A method as recited in claim 12 further comprising:

navigating to a second resource from the target resource;

navigating to a third resource from the second resource;

while at the third resource, in response to detecting selection of the backward navigation button, navigating back to the target resource without visiting the second resource.

16. A method as recited in claim 12 further comprising:

capturing multiple visits to the target resource;

storing an instance of a target resource identifier in a navigation history of visited resources, the instance of the target resource identifier corresponding to one of the multiple visits to the target resource.

17. A method as recited in claim 16 wherein the storing operation comprises storing an instance of a target resource identifier in the navigation history, the instance corresponding to the most recent visit to the target resource.

18. A method as recited in claim 12 further comprising:

capturing multiple visits to the target resource;

storing an instance of a target resource identifier at each of multiple locations in a navigation history, each instance of the target resource identifier corresponding to one of the multiple visits to the target resource.

19. A method as recited in claim 12 further comprising selecting the target resource from a plurality of other target resources referenced in a navigation history.

20. A method as recited in claim 12 wherein the target resource is an Internet page.

21. A method as recited in claim 12 wherein the target resource is user designated.

22. A method as recited in claim 12 wherein the designating operation comprises dynamically designating the backward navigation target based on at least two branches from the corresponding target resource.

23. A system for navigating among resources comprising:

a backward navigation target detection module detecting whether a first resource has been branched from to two other different resources;

a backward navigation module operable to detect selection of a backward navigation button and cause navigation to the first resource.

24. A system as recited in claim 23 wherein the backward navigation target detection module is further operable to designate the first resource as a target resource.

25. A system as recited in claim 23 wherein the backward navigation module is further operable to detect whether a pointer icon is being hovered over the backward navigation button and to responsively cause a thumbnail of the first resource to be presented.

26. A system as recited in claim 23 further comprising a presentation module presenting the backward navigation button and labeling the backward navigation button with a resource identifier identifying the first resource.

27. A system as recited in claim 23 further comprising a configuration user interface having a user selectable input selector specifying whether backward navigation can include navigation to resources in a previous browser session.

28. A system as recited in claim 23 further comprising a navigation event capture module storing resource identifiers in a navigation history according to temporal order of navigation.

29. A system as recited in claim 28 wherein the navigation event capture module stores only one resource identifier corresponding to only the most recent visit among multiple visits to a resource.

30. A system as recited in claim 28 wherein the navigation event capture module stores a resource identifier corresponding to each visit among multiple visits to a resource.

31. A computer program product encoding a computer program for executing on a computer system a computer process, the computer process comprising:

detecting a press and release of a backward navigation button during a current browser session, the backward navigation button being associated with a resource identifier identifying a resource that was visited during a previous browser session but not during the current browser session;

responsively navigating to the resource.

32. A computer program product as recited in claim 31 further comprising:

detecting hovering of a pointer icon over the backward navigation button;

responsively presenting a thumbnail of the resource.

33. A computer program product as recited in claim 31 further comprising:

detecting navigation along a first path of resources branching from a first resource;

storing first resource identifiers in a navigation history, the first resource identifiers identifying the resources in the first path of resources;

detecting backward navigation along the first path of resources back to the first resource;

detecting navigation from the first resource along a second path of resources, the second path of resources being different from the first path of resources;

storing second resource identifiers in the navigation history without removing the first resource identifiers from the navigation history, the second resource identifiers identifying resources in the second path of resources.

34. A computer program product as recited in claim 31 further comprising labeling the backward navigation button with the resource identifier.

35. A computer program product as recited in claim 31 further comprising:

presenting a plurality of backward navigation buttons, each of the plurality of backward navigation buttons corresponding to a visited resource;

labeling each of the backward navigation buttons with a resource identifier identifying the corresponding visited resource.

36. A computer program product as recited in claim 31 further comprising presenting a configuration window enabling a user to specify at least one of:

a typed in resource identifier is to be designated a target resource identifier;

a resource identifier selected from a list of resource identifiers is to be designated a target resource identifier;

a number of target resource identifiers to store.

37. A computer program product as recited in claim 31 further comprising maintaining a navigation history of visited resource identifiers, wherein each visited resource identifier is stored at least once.

38. A computer program product encoding a computer program for executing on a computer system a computer process, the computer process comprising:

detecting retracing of a previous navigation path to a previously visited resource;

recording a navigation node corresponding to the previously visited resource;

detecting navigation to another resource that is not on the previous navigation path;

in response to detecting navigation to the other resource that is not on the previous navigation path, designating the navigation node of the previously visited resource as a backward navigation target and the previously visited resource as a target resource.