Technique for modifying presentation of information displayed to end users of a computer system

• US 20060168510A1
• Filed: 05/10/2005
• Published: 07/27/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 01/24/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: A9.com Incorporated (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: A9.com Incorporated (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Inventors: Bryar, Colin, Manber, Udi, Leblang, Jonathan
• Granted Patent: US 8,302,011 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/229
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9577 Optimising the visualization of content, e.g. distillation of HTML documents
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/106 Display of layout of documents; Previewing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/131 Fragmentation of text files, e.g. creating reusable text-blocks; Linking to fragments, e.g. using XInclude; Namespaces
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/143 Markup, e.g. Standard Generalized Markup Language [SGML] or Document Type Definition [DTD]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/197 Version control for software G06F8/71

Abstract

A technique is described for facilitating a display of markup document content retrieved from a host server on a computer network including a client system and a server system. A first portion of content relating to a first markup document may be displayed to a user of the client system, wherein the first markup document has a URL associated therewith. Information relating to the first portion of content is stored at the server system. An action to display a current version of the first markup document on the client system is received. A current version of content for the first markup document is retrieved from the host server. The stored information relating to the first portion of content may be used to identify a third portion of content associated with the first markup document which has not previously been displayed to the user. The display of markup document content associated with the first markup document may then be modified in a manner which facilitates the user in identifying the third portion of content.

Claims

1. A computer implemented method for facilitating a display of markup document content retrieved from a host server on a computer network, the computer network including a client system and a server system, the method comprising:

detecting an action at the client system, the action being initiated by a user of the client system, the action including a request to retrieve content relating to a first markup document associated with a first URL;

retrieving information relating to a first portion of content associated with the first markup document, wherein at least a portion of said first portion of content was previously displayed to the user;

retrieving a second portion of content associated with the first markup document, said second portion of content corresponding to a current version of the markup document content;

comparing the first portion of content with the second portion of content to identify a third portion of content associated with the first markup document which has not previously been displayed to the user;

modifying a display of markup document content associated with the first markup document in a manner which facilitates the user in identifying the third portion of content.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the markup document content includes content selected from a group of:

HTML content and XML content.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the action corresponds to a page turn operation.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the third portion of content includes new or modified content which was not previously displayed to the user.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein said comparing is performed at the server system.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein said comparing is performed at the client system.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the first portion of content is retrieved from the server system.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the first portion of content is retrieved from the client system.

9. The method of claim 1 further comprising storing the first portion of content on the server system.

10. The method of claim 1 further comprising storing the first portion of content on the client system.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein the modifying of the markup document content is performed at the server system.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein the modifying of the markup document content is performed at the client system.

13. The method of claim 1 wherein the first portion of content includes a fingerprint of markup document content which has been previously displayed to the user.

14. The method of claim 1 further comprising displaying the markup document content to the user starting from a location within the markup document which was last displayed to the user.

15. The method of claim 1 wherein said modifying includes highlighting a portion of markup document content displayed to the user, wherein the highlighted portion corresponds to a portion of the markup document content which was previously displayed to the user.

16. The method of claim 1 wherein the second portion of web content is formatted according to a standardized syndication format.

17. The method of claim 15 wherein the standardized syndication format is selected from a group consisting of an RSS syndication standard, an RDF syndication standard, and an ATOM syndication standard.

18. The method of claim 1 wherein the server system includes the host server.

19. The method of claim 1 wherein the first markup document corresponds to a weblog page;

wherein the first portion of content includes information relating to weblog page content which had been previously displayed to the user;

wherein the second portion of content includes information relating to a current version of the weblog page content;

wherein the third portion of content includes information relating to new or modified weblog page content which was not previously displayed to the user.

20. The method of claim 19 further comprising initially displaying the third portion of content to the user in response to the action.

21. The method of claim 19 further comprising:

highlighting a portion of weblog page content to be displayed to the user, wherein the highlighted portion corresponds to a portion of the markup document content which was last displayed to the user a last time that the user viewed the weblog page; and

initially displaying the weblog page to the user, in response to the action, starting from a location corresponding to the highlighted portion of content.

22. A computer implemented method for facilitating a display of markup document content retrieved from a host server on a computer network, the computer network including a client system and a server system, the method comprising:

displaying a first portion of content relating to a first markup document to a user of the client system, wherein the first markup document has a URL associated therewith;

storing information relating to the first portion of content at a first location;

receiving an action at the client system to display a current version of the first markup document on the client system;

retrieving a current version of content for the first markup document from the host server;

using the stored information relating to the first portion of content to identify a third portion of content associated with the first markup document which has not previously been displayed to the user;

modifying a display of markup document content associated with the first markup document in a manner which facilitates the user in identifying the third portion of content.

23. The method of claim 22 wherein the markup document content includes content selected from a group of:

HTML content and XML content.

24. The method of claim 22 wherein the action corresponds to a page turn operation.

25. The method of claim 22 further comprising:

receiving a first request from the user to store information relating to the first portion of content being displayed to the user; and

transmitting to the server system, in response to the first request, information relating to the first portion of content being displayed to the user.

26. A computer implemented method for facilitating a display of markup document content retrieved from a host server on a computer network, the computer network including a client system and a server system, the method comprising:

displaying a first portion of content relating to a first markup document to a user of the client system, the first markup document having a URL associated therewith;

storing information relating to the first portion of content at a first location;

receiving a action at the client system to display a current version of the first markup document on the client system;

retrieving a current version of content for the first markup document from the host server;

using the stored information relating to the first portion of content to identify a first location in the current version of content which includes information relating to the first portion of content; and

initially displaying at least a portion of the current version of content of the first markup document which corresponds to content at said first location.

27. The method of claim 26 wherein the first location corresponds to a location of the first markup document which was last displayed to the user.

28. The method of claim 26 further comprising:

identifying the first portion of content in the current version of firs markup document content;

highlighting the identified first portion of content; and

initially displaying at least a portion of the current version of content of the first markup document which includes the highlighted portion of content.

29. The method of claim 26 further comprising:

receiving a request from the user to create an intra page bookmark for the portion of the first markup document currently being displayed to the user;

determining a first relative location within the first markup document corresponding to the portion of the first markup document currently being displayed to the user; and

associating a first intra page bookmark with the first relative location.

30. A system for facilitating a display of markup document content retrieved from a host server on a computer network, the computer network including a client system and a server system, the system comprising:

at least one processor;

at least one interface configured or designed to provide a communication link to at least one other network device in the data network; and

memory;

the system being configured or designed to;

detect a action at the client system, the action being initiated by a user of the client system, the action including a request to retrieve content relating to a first markup document associated with a first URL;

retrieve information relating to a first portion of content associated with the first markup document, wherein at least a portion of said first portion of content was previously displayed to the user;

retrieve a second portion of content associated with the first markup document, said second portion of content corresponding to a current version of the markup document content;

compare the first portion of content with the second portion of content to identify a third portion of content associated with the first markup document which has not previously been displayed to the user;

modify a display of markup document content associated with the first markup document in a manner which facilitates the user in identifying the third portion of content.

31. The method of claim 30 wherein the markup document content includes content selected from a group of:

HTML content and XML content.

32. The method of claim 30 wherein the action corresponds to a page turn operation.

33. The system of claim 30 wherein the first portion of content includes a fingerprint of markup document content which has been previously displayed to the user.

34. The system of claim 30 being further configured or designed to display the markup document content to the user starting from a location within the markup document which was last displayed to the user.

35. The system of claim 30 being further configured or designed to highlight a portion of markup document content displayed to the user, wherein the highlighted portion corresponds to a portion of the markup document content which was previously displayed to the user.

36. The system of claim 30 wherein the second portion of web content is formatted according to a standardized syndication format.

37. The system of claim 35 wherein the standardized syndication format is selected from a group consisting of an RSS syndication standard, an RDF syndication standard, and an ATOM syndication standard.

38. The system of claim 30 wherein the first markup document corresponds to a weblog page;

wherein the first portion of content includes information relating to weblog page content which had been previously displayed to the user;

wherein the second portion of content includes information relating to a current version of the weblog page content;

wherein the third portion of content includes information relating to new or modified weblog page content which was not previously displayed to the user.

39. The system of claim 38 being further configured or designed to initially displaying the third portion of content to the user in response to the action.

40. The system of claim 38 being further configured or designed to:

highlight a portion of weblog page content to be displayed to the user, wherein the highlighted portion corresponds to a portion of the markup document content which was last displayed to the user a last time that the user viewed the weblog page; and

initially display the weblog page to the user, in response to the action, starting from a location corresponding to the highlighted portion of content.

41. A system for facilitating a display of markup document content retrieved from a host server on a computer network, the computer network including a client system and a server system, the system comprising:

display a first portion of content relating to a first markup document to a user of the client system, wherein the first markup document has a URL associated therewith;

store information relating to the first portion of content at a first location;

receive a action at the client system to display a current version of the first markup document on the client system;

retrieve a current version of content for the first markup document from the host server;

use the stored information relating to the first portion of content to identify a third portion of content associated with the first markup document which has not previously been displayed to the user;

modify a display of markup document content associated with the first markup document in a manner which facilitates the user in identifying the third portion of content.

42. The system of claim 41 being further configured or designed to:

receive a first request from the user to store information relating to the first portion of content being displayed to the user; and

transmit to the server system, in response to the first request, information relating to the first portion of content being displayed to the user.

43. A system for facilitating a display of markup document content retrieved from a host server on a computer network, the computer network including a client system and a server system, the system comprising:

display a first portion of content relating to a first markup document to a user of the client system, the first markup document having a URL associated therewith;

store information relating to the first portion of content at a first location;

receive a action at the client system to display a current version of the first markup document on the client system;

retrieve a current version of content for the first markup document from the host server;

use the stored information relating to the first portion of content to identify a first location in the current version of content which includes information relating to the first portion of content; and

initially display at least a portion of the current version of content of the first markup document which corresponds to content at said first location.

44. The system of claim 43 wherein the first location corresponds to a location of the first markup document which was last displayed to the user.

45. The system of claim 43 being further configured or designed to:

identify the first portion of content in the current version of firs markup document content;

highlighting the identified first portion of content; and

initially displaying at least a portion of the current version of content of the first markup document which includes the highlighted portion of content.

46. The system of claim 43 being further configured or designed to:

receive a request from the user to create an intra page bookmark for the portion of the first markup document currently being displayed to the user;

determine a first relative location within the first markup document corresponding to the portion of the first markup document currently being displayed to the user; and

associate a first intra page bookmark with the first relative location.

47. A computer program product for facilitating a display of markup document content retrieved from a host server on a computer network, the computer network including a client system and a server system, the computer program product comprising:

a computer usable medium having computer readable code embodied therein, the computer readable code comprising;

computer code for detecting a action at the client system, the action being initiated by a user of the client system, the action including a request to retrieve content relating to a first markup document associated with a first URL;

computer code for retrieving information relating to a first portion of content associated with the first markup document, wherein at least a portion of said first portion of content was previously displayed to the user;

computer code for retrieving a second portion of content associated with the first markup document, said second portion of content corresponding to a current version of the markup document content;

computer code for comparing the first portion of content with the second portion of content to identify a third portion of content associated with the first markup document which has not previously been displayed to the user;

computer code for modifying a display of markup document content associated with the first markup document in a manner which facilitates the user in identifying the third portion of content.

48. A system for facilitating a display of markup document content retrieved from a host server on a computer network, the computer network including a client system and a server system, the system comprising:

means for detecting a action at the client system, the action being initiated by a user of the client system, the action including a request to retrieve content relating to a first markup document associated with a first URL;

means for retrieving information relating to a first portion of content associated with the first markup document, wherein at least a portion of said first portion of content was previously displayed to the user;

means for retrieving a second portion of content associated with the first markup document, said second portion of content corresponding to a current version of the markup document content;

means for comparing the first portion of content with the second portion of content to identify a third portion of content associated with the first markup document which has not previously been displayed to the user;

means for modifying a display of markup document content associated with the first markup document in a manner which facilitates the user in identifying the third portion of content.

49. The system of claim 48 wherein the third portion of content includes new or modified content which was not previously displayed to the user.