Sidebar photos

• US 20070157119A1
• Filed: 05/15/2006
• Published: 07/05/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 01/04/2006
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Oath Inc. (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Yahoo! Inc. (Apollo Global Management, Inc.)
• Inventors: Bishop, Marc
• Application Number:
  US11/433,992
• Publication Number:
  US 20070157119A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/810
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04842 Selection of displayed objects or displayed text elements G06F3/0482 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/75 Indicating network or usage conditions on the user display

Abstract

A sidebar can be used to display images stored on a local computer and/or retrived from the Internet. In one embodiment, a slidesheet of a photo application module of a sidebar provides a sidebar user with a search field, so that the user can search an Internet photo sharing website for photos to display in their sidebar. If the user likes the results of the search, the user can select a subscription button to add the photos to their list of photos displayed in the sidebar.

Claims

1. A method of adding photos to a photo application module of a sidebar, the sidebar being associated with a content provider, the method comprising:

receiving a search term from a user of the sidebar, the search term being entered by the user into a search field displayed in a slidesheet, the slidesheet displayed on one side of the photo application module;

transmitting the search term to an Internet photo sharing website;

receiving photos from the Internet photo sharing website, the photos being related to the search term;

displaying the photos in a photo display area of the slidesheet; and

in response to the user selecting a subscription button displayed in the slidesheet, adding photos related to the search term into a list of photos displayed in the photo application module.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein photos shared on the Internet photo sharing website comprise at least one tag that categorizes the photo.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the photos related to the search term comprise tags that are similar to the search term.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the number of photos displayed in the photo display area is limited by the size of the photo display area.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein photos shared on the Internet photo sharing website comprise a popularity rating, and wherein the photos displayed in the photo display area are selected based on the popularity rating.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising selecting one of the photos in the photo display area to display in the photo application module of the sidebar.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the photo displayed in the photo application module is also displayed in the slidesheet, and wherein the photo displayed in the slidesheet is augmented to standout amongst the other photos displayed in the slidesheet.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the augmented photo is highlighted by a border.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the augmented photo comprises a brightness that is greater than the brightness of the other photos displayed in the slidesheet.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising displaying a single photo in a single photo slidesheet in response to the user selecting one of the photos displayed in the photo display area.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the single photo slidesheet further comprises metadata associated with the single photo.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the metadata is a universal resource identifier at which the single photo can be located on the Internet.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the metadata is at least one tag assigned to the single photo.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the metadata is at least one tag related to one of the at least one tags assigned to the single photo.

15. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

transmitting a tag as a search term to the Internet photo sharing website in response to the user selecting a tag displayed in the single photo slidesheet;

receiving photos related to the selected tag; and

display the received photos in the photo display area.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein the list of photos displayed in the photo application module is stored on by the content provider and retrieved from the content provider by the photo application module to determine which photos to display in the photos application module.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein the list of photos displayed in the photo application module is stored on a user computer.

18. A photo application module of a sidebar, the sidebar being associated with a content provider, the photo application module comprising:

search computer code, the search computer code configured to receive a search term from a user of the sidebar, the search term being entered by the user into a search field displayed in a slidesheet, the slidesheet displayed on one side of the photo application module;

transmission computer code, the transmission computer code configured to transmit the search term to an Internet photo sharing website;

photo receiving computer code, the photo receiving computer code configured to receive photos from the Internet photo sharing website, the photos being related to the search term;

photo displaying computer code, the photo displaying computer code configured to display the photos in a photo display area of the slidesheet; and

photo adding computer code, the photo adding computer code being configured to add photos related to the search term into a list of photos displayed in the photo application module in response to the user selecting a subscription button displayed in the slidesheet.

19. The photo application module of claim 18, wherein photos shared on the Internet photo sharing website comprise at least one tag that categorizes the photo.

20. The photo application module of claim 18, further comprising single photo slidesheet computer code, the single photo slidehsheet computer code configured to display a single photo in a single photo slidesheet in response to the user selecting one of the photos displayed in the photo display area.

21. A sidebar user interface, the sidebar being related to a content provider, the user interface comprising:

a search field displayed in a slidesheet, the search field configured to receive a search term from a user of the sidebar, the search term used to find photos in an Internet photo sharing website that are related to the search term;

a photo display area, the photo display area comprising the photos related to the search term, the photos being retrieved from the photo sharing website; and

a subscription button, the subscription button configured to add photos related to the search term into a list of photos displayed in a photo application module of the sidebar.

22. The sidebar user interface of claim 21, wherein photos shared on the Internet photo sharing website comprise at least one tag that categorizes the photo, and wherein the slidesheet further comprises a tag drop down menu, the drop down menu comprising a list of tags recently searched by the user.

23. The sidebar user interface of claim 21, wherein one photo from the photo display area is also displayed in the photo application module, and wherein the one photo in the display area is augmented to stand out amongst the other photos in the display area.

24. The sidebar user interface of claim 21, further comprising a single photo slidesheet, the single photo slidesheet comprising a single photo from the photos displayed in the photo display area.

25. The sidebar user interface of claim 24, wherein the single photo slidesheet further comprises metadata associated with the single photo, the metadata being displayed to the user via the slidesheet.