Mechanism for generating a composite email

• US 20080162651A1
• Filed: 05/23/2007
• Published: 07/03/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 01/03/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Tamiras Per Pte Ltd LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: Rajkumar R. Madnani
• Inventors: Madnani, Rajkumar R.
• Granted Patent: US 7,921,176 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/206
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/107 Computer-aided management of electronic mailing [e-mailing]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/08 Annexed information, e.g. attachments
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/212 using filtering or selective blocking
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/216 Handling conversation history, e.g. grouping of messages in sessions or threads
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/42 Mailbox-related aspects, e.g. synchronisation of mailboxes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/01 Protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]

Abstract

A mechanism is disclosed for generating a composite email for an email conversation. The composite email includes content automatically extracted from a plurality of the emails in the email conversation, and may be generated in response to a user accessing just one of the emails in the email conversation. A mechanism is also disclosed for discovering and recovering lost emails in an email conversation. A mechanism is further disclosed for automatically moving emails from one container to another after an email has been read. These and other advantageous email generating, manipulation, and organization mechanisms are disclosed herein.

Claims

1. A machine implemented method, comprising:

receiving an indication that a user wishes to access a particular electronic mail (email) that is part of an email conversation, wherein the email conversation spans across a plurality of separate emails, and wherein all of the emails that are part of the email conversation have a unique identifier associated therewith that indicates that the emails are part of the email conversation;

in response to receiving an indication that the user wishes to access the particular email;

accessing the particular email;

extracting the unique identifier and content from the particular email;

accessing, based at least partially upon the unique identifier, an email conversation data structure that is associated with the email conversation, the email conversation data structure containing information indicating which emails are part of the email conversation;

selectively accessing one or more of the emails that are indicated by the email conversation data structure as being part of the email conversation;

extracting content from the one or more accessed emails; and

automatically generating a composite email which includes the content extracted from the particular email and the content extracted from the one or more accessed emails.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the composite email is capable of being displayed to the user, so that in response to accessing just the particular email, the user is shown a composite email that includes content extracted from a plurality of emails that are part of the email conversation.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the particular email is an email that has not been previously accessed, and wherein the method further comprises:

updating the email conversation data structure to indicate that the particular email is part of the email conversation.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the particular email has a sub-identifier associated therewith which uniquely identifies the particular email within the email conversation, and wherein updating the email conversation data structure comprises:

updating the email conversation data structure with information obtained from the sub-identifier.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the information obtained from the sub-identifier comprises:

(a) an indication of which participant in the email conversation sent the particular email; and

(b) a sequence indicator indicating an order in which the particular email was sent by that participant relative to other emails sent by that participant in the email conversation.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein the information obtained from the sub-identifier comprises:

(a) an indication of an email type for the particular email;

(b) an indication of which participant in the email conversation sent the particular email; and

(c) a sequence indicator indicating an order in which the particular email was sent by that participant relative to other emails of the same email type sent by that participant in the email conversation.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining whether any previously unaccessed emails have the unique identifier associated therewith; and

in response to a determination that one or more previously unaccessed emails have the unique identifier associated therewith, updating the email conversation data structure to indicate that the one or more previously unaccessed emails are part of the email conversation.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein each of the one or more previously unaccessed emails has a sub-identifier associated therewith which uniquely identifies that email within the email conversation, and wherein updating the email conversation data structure comprises:

updating the email conversation data structure with information obtained from the sub-identifier of each of the one or more previously unaccessed emails.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the information obtained from the sub-identifier of each of the one or more previously unaccessed emails comprises:

(a) an indication of which participant in the email conversation sent that previously unaccessed email; and

(b) a sequence indicator indicating an order in which that previously unaccessed email was sent by that participant relative to other emails sent by that participant in the email conversation.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the information obtained from the sub-identifier of each of the one or more previously unaccessed emails comprises:

(a) an indication of an email type for that previously unaccessed email;

(b) an indication of which participant in the email conversation sent that previously unaccessed email; and

(c) a sequence indicator indicating an order in which that previously unaccessed email was sent by that participant relative to other emails of the same email type sent by that participant in the email conversation.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the email conversation data structure comprises information pertaining to only the emails that are part of the email conversation and does not include information pertaining to any emails that are not part of the email conversation.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the email conversation data structure comprises a set of information for each email that is part of the email conversation, and wherein the set of information for each email comprises:

(a) an indication of which participant in the email conversation sent that email; and

(b) a sequence indicator indicating an order in which that email was sent by that participant relative to other emails sent by that participant in the email conversation.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the email conversation data structure comprises a set of information for each email that is part of the email conversation, and wherein the set of information for each email comprises:

(a) an indication of an email type for that email;

(b) an indication of which participant in the email conversation sent that email; and

(c) a sequence indicator indicating an order in which that email was sent by that participant relative to other emails of the same email type sent by that participant in the email conversation.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the email conversation data structure comprises a set of information for each email that is part of the email conversation, and wherein the set of information for each email comprises information indicating whether that email should be accessed and content extracted therefrom the next time the composite email is generated.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more accessed emails comprises a first email which is a recipient list email, the first email specifying a list of participants, including the user, that are participating in the email conversation, the first email further specifying one or more authorities that have been granted to the user, and wherein the method further comprises:

enforcing the one or more authorities specified in the first email for the user to ensure that the user is not allowed to perform any operation for which the user has not been granted authority.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein enforcing comprises:

deactivating one or more user interface components to prevent the user from performing an operation for which the user has not been granted authority.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more accessed emails comprises a first email which is a recipient list email that specifies a list of participants participating in the email conversation, and wherein the list of participants is extracted from the first email and included in a recipient list portion of the composite email.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the one or more accessed emails further comprises a second email which is a text email containing a text message, and wherein the text message is extracted from the second email and included in a text portion of the composite email.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the one or more accessed emails further comprises a third email which is a subheading email containing a sub topic to be discussed in the email conversation, and wherein the sub topic is extracted from the third email and included in a subheading portion of the composite email.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the one or more accessed emails further comprises a fourth email which is an attachment email comprising attachment information, wherein the attachment information comprises one or more attached files to be associated with the email conversation and information describing the one or more attached files, and wherein at least the information describing the one or more attached files is extracted from the fourth email and included in an attachments portion of the composite email.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the one or more accessed emails further comprises a fifth email which is a header email containing header information for the email conversation, wherein the header information comprises an overall topic to be discussed in the email conversation, and wherein the header information is extracted from the fifth email and included in a header portion of the composite email.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the header information further comprises information indicating which participant in the email conversation initiated the email conversation, and information indicating when the email conversation was initiated.

23. The method of claim 21, wherein the sub topic contained in the third email is a sub topic under the overall topic contained in the fifth email.

24. The method of claim 1, wherein a first email and a second email are part of the email conversation, wherein the first email is a first recipient list email that specifies a first list of participants participating in the email conversation, wherein the second email is a second recipient list email that specifies a revised list of participants participating in the email conversation, wherein the revised list of participants is extracted from the second email, and wherein only the revised list of participants, and not the first list of participants, is included in a recipient list portion of the composite email.

25. The method of claim 1, wherein none of the emails in the email conversation contain repeated content that is copied from any previous email in the email conversation, so that the content that is extracted from the particular email and the one or more accessed emails is inherently non-redundant.

26. The method of claim 1, wherein the email conversation data structure indicates that a certain email is part of the email conversation, wherein the email conversation data structure contains indication information indicating whether the certain email should be accessed when generating the composite email, and wherein selectively accessing one or more of the emails that are indicated by the email conversation data structure as being part of the email conversation comprises:

determining, based upon the indication information in the email conversation data structure,

whether the certain email should be accessed when generating the composite email;

in response to a determination that the certain email should not be accessed, foregoing accessing of the certain email; and

in response to a determination that the certain email should be accessed, accessing the certain email so that the certain email is included as one of the accessed emails.

27. The method of claim 1, wherein the email conversation data structure contains one or more selection criteria which can be used to determine which emails in the email conversation should be accessed when generating a composite email, and wherein selectively accessing one or more of the emails that are indicated by the email conversation data structure as being part of the email conversation comprises:

applying the one or more selection criteria to the emails in the email conversation to determine which emails in the email conversation should be accessed when generating the composite email for the email conversation.

29. The method of claim 1, wherein the email conversation data structure indicates that a certain email is part of the email conversation, wherein the certain email is included as one of the accessed emails so that content is extracted from the certain email, wherein the email conversation data structure contains markup information indicating one or more markings that were previously made to the content of the certain email, and wherein automatically generating the composite email comprises:

applying the one or more markings to the content extracted from the certain email so that the one or more markings are shown to the user.

30. The method of claim 29, wherein the one or more markings include highlighting of one or more portions of the content extracted from the certain email.

31. The method of claim 29, wherein the one or more markings include underlining of one or more portions of the content extracted from the certain email.

32. The method of claim 29, wherein the one or more markings include one or more comments or notations that have been associated with at least a portion of the content extracted from the certain email.

33. The method of claim 29, wherein the one or more markings include one or more reminders that have been associated with at least a portion of the content extracted from the certain email.

34. The method of claim 29, wherein the one or more markings include hiding of one or more portions of the content extracted from the certain email from view.

35. The method of claim 29, wherein the one or more markings include strike through of one or more portions of the content extracted from the certain email.

36. The method of claim 1, wherein the email conversation data structure indicates that a certain email is part of the email conversation, and wherein the method further comprises:

receiving user input indicating that the user does not wish to see content from the certain email in the composite email; and

in response to the user input, storing a set of indication information in the email conversation data structure to indicate that the certain email should not be accessed in the future, the indication information causing the content from the certain email to not be included in the composite email when the composite email is generated in the future.

37. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a set of one or more selection criteria from the user, the set of selection criteria indicating which emails in the email conversation the user wishes to see in the composite email; and

storing the set of selection criteria in the email conversation data structure, wherein the set of selection criteria will be used in the future when generating the composite email to cause only those emails in the email conversation that satisfy the set of selection criteria to be accessed and content extracted therefrom.

38. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a set of one or more user interface preferences from the user indicating how the user wishes content in the composite email to be displayed; and

storing the set of user interface preferences in the email conversation, wherein the user interface preferences will be applied to the content included in the composite email when the composite email is generated in the future.

39. The method of claim 1, wherein the composite email includes content extracted from a certain email, wherein the certain email may be the particular email or one of the accessed emails, and wherein the method further comprises:

receiving user input indicating one or more markings that have been made by the user to the content extracted from the certain email; and

storing markup information in the email conversation in association with the certain email, wherein the markup information may be used to reproduce the one or more markings that have been made to the content extracted from the certain email, and wherein the markup information may be applied to the content extracted from the certain email the next time the composite email is generated.

40. The method of claim 39, wherein the one or more markings include highlighting of one or more portions of the content extracted from the certain email.

41. The method of claim 39, wherein the one or more markings include underlining of one or more portions of the content extracted from the certain email.

42. The method of claim 39, wherein the one or more markings include one or more comments or notations that have been associated with at least a portion of the content extracted from the certain email.

43. The method of claim 39, wherein the one or more markings include one or more reminders that have been associated with at least a portion of the content extracted from the certain email.

44. The method of claim 39, wherein the one or more markings include hiding of one or more portions of the content extracted from the certain email from view.

45. The method of claim 39, wherein the one or more markings include strike through of one or more portions of the content extracted from the certain email.

46. The method of claim 39, wherein a set of participants are participating in the email conversation, and wherein the method further comprises:

receiving an indication that the user wishes to send a markup side mail to a set of side mail participants, wherein the set of side mail participants comprises at least a subset of the participants of the email conversation; and

sending a markup side mail to the set of side mail participants, wherein the markup side mail includes the markup information, and wherein the markup information enables each side mail participant to reproduce the one or more markings on their version of the content extracted from the certain email.

47. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving an indication that the user wishes to perform a certain operation;

determining whether the user has been granted authority to perform the certain operation; and

in response to a determination that the user has not been granted authority to perform the certain operation, preventing the user from performing the certain operation.

48. The method of claim 47, wherein determining whether the user has been granted authority to perform the certain operation comprises:

accessing a recipient list email which is part of the email conversation, the recipient list email containing a set of zero or more authorities that have been granted to the user; and

determining, based upon the set of zero or more authorities, whether the user has authority to perform the certain operation.

49. The method of claim 48, wherein only an administrator or a co-administrator of the email conversation has authority to send the recipient list email.

50. The method of claim 1, wherein a set of participants are participating in the email conversation, and wherein the method further comprises:

receiving an indication that the user wishes to send a new email in the email conversation;

composing the new email, wherein the new email has the unique identifier associated therewith;

sending the new email to the set of participants; and

updating the email conversation data structure with information pertaining to the new email, thereby causing the email conversation data structure to indicate that the new email is part of the email conversation.

51. The method of claim 50, wherein composing the new email comprises:

generating a sub-identifier for the new email, the sub-identifier comprising an indication that the user originated the new email and a sequence indicator, wherein the sequence indicator indicates an order in which the new email was sent by the user relative to other emails sent by the user in the email conversation; and

including the sub-identifier in the new email.

52. The method of claim 51, wherein updating the email conversation data structure comprises:

storing information obtained from the sub-identifier, including the indication that the user originated the new email and the sequence indicator, into the email conversation data structure.

53. The method of claim 50, wherein composing the new email comprises:

generating a sub-identifier for the new email, the sub-identifier comprising an indication that the user originated the new email, an email type for the new email, and a sequence indicator, wherein the sequence indicator indicates an order in which the new email was sent by the user relative to other emails of the same email type sent by the user in the email conversation; and

including the sub-identifier in the new email.

54. The method of claim 53, wherein updating the email conversation data structure comprises:

storing information obtained from the sub-identifier, including the indication that the user originated the new email, the email type for the new email, and the sequence indicator, into the email conversation data structure.

55. The method of claim 1, wherein a set of participants are participating in the email conversation, and wherein the method further comprises:

receiving an indication that the user wishes to send a text side mail to a subset of the set of participants, wherein the text side mail pertains to a certain email that is part of the email conversation, and wherein the certain email may be the particular email or one of the accessed emails;

composing the text side mail, wherein the text side mail comprises an indication that it is associated with the certain email;

sending the text side mail to the subset of the set of participants; and

updating the email conversation data structure with information pertaining to the text side mail, thereby causing the email conversation data structure to indicate that the text side mail is part of the email conversation, wherein the information pertaining to the text side mail includes the indication that the text side mail is associated with the certain email.

56. The method of claim 1, wherein the particular email is a text side mail that is associated with a certain email that is part of the email conversation, wherein the certain email is one of the accessed emails so that content is extracted from the certain email, and wherein generating the composite email comprises:

locating the content extracted from the particular email within close proximity to the content extracted from the certain email so that it is made clear to the user that the text side mail is associated with the certain email.

57. The method of claim 1, wherein the particular email or one of the accessed emails is a markup side mail which includes a set of markup information and an indication that the markup side mail is associated with a certain email that is part of the email conversation, wherein the certain email may be the particular email or one of the accessed emails so that content is extracted from the certain email, and wherein generating the composite email comprises:

applying the markup information in the markup side mail to the content extracted from the certain email to show one or more markings made to the certain email by a participant that sent the markup side mail.

58. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving an indication that the user wishes to access a partial archive email that is part of the email conversation, the partial archive email comprising archiving information indicating which emails in the email conversation should be archived;

accessing the partial archive email;

processing the archiving information to determine a set of emails to be archived; and

updating the email conversation data structure to indicate that the set of emails should not be accessed in the future when the composite email for the email conversation is generated, thereby causing the composite email to no longer include content from the set of emails.

59. The method of claim 58, further comprising:

moving the set of emails to an archive container.

60. The method of claim 1, wherein a set of participants are participating in the email conversation, and wherein the method further comprises:

receiving an indication that the user wishes to access a full archive email that is part of the email conversation, the full archive email indicating that the email conversation should be closed;

accessing the full archive email; and

revoking all authorities granted to all of the participants in the email conversation to prevent all participants from sending or receiving any further emails in the email conversation, thereby closing the email conversation.

61. The method of claim 60, further comprising:

moving all emails in the email conversation to an archive container.

62. The method of claim 60, wherein the full archive email may be sent by only an administrator of the email conversation, wherein the administrator is a participant who initiated the email conversation.

28. The method 1, wherein the email conversation data structure contains user interface information indicating one or more user preferences for displaying content included in the composite email, and wherein automatically generating the composite email comprises:

applying the one or more user preferences in the user interface information to the content extracted from the particular email and the one or more accessed emails to give rise to a customized display for the composite email.

63. A machine implemented method, comprising:

receiving an incoming electronic mail message (email) that is part of a sequential email flow;

receiving an indication that a user wishes to send a new email relating to the sequential email flow;

accessing a set of participant information pertaining to the sequential email flow, wherein the set of participant information specifies a plurality of sets of participants, wherein each set of participants comprises one or more participants, and wherein a sequential ordering is specified for each of the sets of participants for receiving emails relating to the email flow;

determining, based upon the sequential ordering, which set of participants is next in line to receive emails relating to the email flow; and

sending the new email to the set of participants that is next in line to receive emails relating to the email flow and not to any other sets of participants.

64. The method of claim 63, wherein the sequential email flow is initiated by an administrator, and wherein the method further comprises:

sending the new email to the administrator as well so that the administrator can monitor the sequential email flow.

65. The method of claim 63, wherein the sequential email flow may include one or more attachments that are passed from one set of participants to another.

66. The method of claim 65, wherein the one or more attachments may be modified by one or more sets of participants as they are passed from one set of participants to another.

67. The method of claim 63, wherein the sequential email flow is an email conversation, wherein the email conversation spans across a plurality of separate emails, and wherein all of the emails that are part of the email conversation have a unique identifier associated therewith that indicates that the emails are part of the email conversation, and wherein the method further comprises:

accessing the incoming email;

extracting the unique identifier and content from the incoming email;

accessing, based at least partially upon the unique identifier, an email conversation data structure that is associated with the email conversation, the email conversation data structure containing information indicating which emails are part of the email conversation;

accessing one or more other emails that are indicated by the email conversation data structure as being part of the email conversation;

extracting content from the one or more other emails; and

automatically generating a composite email which includes the content extracted from the incoming email and the content extracted from the one or more other emails.

68. The method of claim 67, wherein the email conversation includes a recipient list email which contains the set of participant information, and wherein accessing the set of participant information comprises:

accessing the recipient list email.

69. A machine implemented method, comprising:

receiving input from a user to start a new email conversation, the input comprising an initial text message for initiating the new email conversation, and a recipient list which specifies the participants who will be participating in the new email conversation, wherein the recipient list further comprises authority information indicating which authorities have been granted to which participants, and wherein the authorities dictate what actions can be performed by each participant in the new email conversation;

generating a unique identifier for the new email conversation;

composing a text email, wherein the text email comprises the unique identifier and the initial text message;

composing a recipient list email, wherein the recipient list email comprises the unique identifier and the recipient list;

sending the text email to the participants of the new email conversation;

sending the recipient list email to the participants of the new email conversation; and

updating a new email conversation data structure with information pertaining to the text email and the recipient list email, wherein the new email conversation data structure is associated with the unique identifier and hence, the new email conversation, and wherein the new email conversation data structure stores information pertaining to all emails that are part of the new email conversation.

70. The method of claim 69, wherein the unique identifier comprises information indicating that it was the user who started the new email conversation, and a date and time at which the new email conversation was started.

71. The method of claim 70, wherein the unique identifier further comprises a sequence indicator indicating how many email conversations have been started by the user.

72. The method of claim 69, wherein the input from the user further comprises an overall topic of discussion for the new email conversation, and wherein the method further comprises:

composing a header email, wherein the header email comprises the unique identifier and the overall topic of discussion for the new email conversation; and

sending the header email to the participants of the new email conversation.

73. The method of claim 69, wherein composing the text email comprises:

generating a text sub-identifier for the text email which uniquely identifies the text email within the new email conversation, the text sub-identifier comprising;

(a) indication information indicating that it was the user who sent the text email; and

(b) a sequence indicator indicating an order in which the text email was sent by the user relative to other emails sent by the user in the new email conversation; and

including the text sub-identifier in the text email; and

wherein updating the new email conversation data structure with information pertaining to the text email comprises;

storing at least the indication information and the sequence indicator from the text sub-identifier in the new email conversation data structure.

74. The method of claim 69, wherein composing the text email comprises:

generating a text sub-identifier for the text email which uniquely identifies the text email within the new email conversation, the text sub-identifier comprising;

(a) an email type for the text email;

(b) indication information indicating that it was the user who sent the text email; and

(c) a sequence indicator indicating an order in which the text email was sent by the user relative to other emails of the same email type sent by the user in the new email conversation; and

including the text sub-identifier in the text email; and

wherein updating the new email conversation data structure with information pertaining to the text email comprises;

storing at least the email type, the indication information, and the sequence indicator from the text sub-identifier in the new email conversation data structure.

75. The method of claim 69, wherein composing the recipient list email comprises:

generating a recipient list sub-identifier for the recipient list email which uniquely identifies the recipient list email within the new email conversation, the recipient list sub-identifier comprising;

(a) indication information indicating that it was the user who sent the recipient list email; and

(b) a sequence indicator indicating an order in which the recipient list email was sent by the user relative to other emails sent by the user in the new email conversation; and

including the recipient list sub-identifier in the recipient list email; and

wherein updating the new email conversation data structure with information pertaining to the recipient list email comprises;

storing at least the indication information and the sequence indicator from the recipient list sub-identifier in the new email conversation data structure.

76. The method of claim 69, wherein composing the recipient list email comprises:

generating a recipient list sub-identifier for the recipient list email which uniquely identifies the recipient list email within the new email conversation, the recipient list sub-identifier comprising;

(a) an email type for the recipient list email;

(b) indication information indicating that it was the user who sent the recipient list email; and

(c) a sequence indicator indicating an order in which the recipient list email was sent by the user relative to other emails of the same email type sent by the user in the new email conversation; and

including the recipient list sub-identifier in the recipient list email; and

wherein updating the new email conversation data structure with information pertaining to the recipient list email comprises;

storing at least the email type, the indication information, and the sequence indicator from the recipient list sub-identifier in the new email conversation data structure.

77. The method of claim 69, wherein the input from the user further comprises an overall topic of discussion for the new email conversation and a subheading under the overall topic, and wherein the method further comprises:

composing a subheading email, wherein the subheading email comprises the unique identifier and the subheading under the overall topic;

sending the subheading email to the participants of the new email conversation; and

updating the new email conversation data structure with information pertaining to the subheading email.

78. The method of claim 77, wherein composing the subheading email comprises:

generating a subheading sub-identifier for the subheading email which uniquely identifies the subheading email within the new email conversation, the subheading sub-identifier comprising;

(a) indication information indicating that it was the user who sent the subheading email; and

(b) a sequence indicator indicating an order in which the subheading email was sent by the user relative to other emails sent by the user in the new email conversation; and

including the subheading sub-identifier in the subheading email; and

wherein updating the new email conversation data structure with information pertaining to the subheading email comprises;

storing at least the indication information and the sequence indicator from the subheading sub-identifier in the new email conversation data structure.

79. The method of claim 77, wherein composing the subheading email comprises:

generating a subheading sub-identifier for the subheading email which uniquely identifies the subheading email within the new email conversation, the subheading sub-identifier comprising;

(a) an email type for the subheading email;

(b) indication information indicating that it was the user who sent the subheading email; and

(c) a sequence indicator indicating an order in which the subheading email was sent by the user relative to other emails of the same email type sent by the user in the new email conversation; and

including the subheading sub-identifier in the subheading email; and

wherein updating the new email conversation data structure with information pertaining to the subheading email comprises;

storing at least the email type, the indication information, and the sequence indicator from the subheading sub-identifier in the new email conversation data structure.

80. The method of claim 69, wherein the input from the user further comprises information pertaining to one or more attachments to be attached to the new email conversation, and wherein the method further comprises:

composing an attachment email, wherein the attachment email comprises the unique identifier, the information pertaining to the one or more attachments, and the one or more attachments themselves;

sending the attachment email to the participants of the new email conversation; and

updating the new email conversation data structure with information pertaining to the attachment email.

81. The method of claim 80, wherein composing the attachment email comprises:

generating an attachment sub-identifier for the attachment email which uniquely identifies the attachment email within the new email conversation, the attachment sub-identifier comprising;

(a) indication information indicating that it was the user who sent the attachment email; and

(b) a sequence indicator indicating an order in which the attachment email was sent by the user relative to other emails sent by the user in the new email conversation; and

including the attachment sub-identifier in the attachment email; and

wherein updating the new email conversation data structure with information pertaining to the attachment email comprises;

storing at least the indication information and the sequence indicator from the attachment sub-identifier in the new email conversation data structure.

82. The method of claim 80, wherein composing the attachment email comprises:

generating an attachment sub-identifier for the attachment email which uniquely identifies the attachment email within the new email conversation, the attachment sub-identifier comprising;

(a) an email type for the attachment email;

(b) indication information indicating that it was the user who sent the attachment email; and

(c) a sequence indicator indicating an order in which the attachment email was sent by the user relative to other emails of the same email type sent by the user in the new email conversation; and

including the attachment sub-identifier in the attachment email; and

wherein updating the new email conversation data structure with information pertaining to the attachment email comprises;

storing at least the email type, the indication information, and the sequence indicator from the attachment sub-identifier in the new email conversation data structure.