Evolving interactive dialog box for an internet web page

• US 6,615,238 B1
• Filed: 03/30/2000
• Issued: 09/02/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 03/30/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: PayPal, Inc. (PayPal Holdings, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Kettera Software, Inc.
• Inventors: Melet, Todd B., Melet, Stone J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Barot, Bharat
• Application Number:
  US09/537,569
• Time in Patent Office: 1,251 Days
• Field of Search: 709/200-203, 709/206-207, 709/217-219, 709/227-229, 707/10, 715/501.1, 715/513
• US Class Current: 709/203
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/95 Retrieval from the web

Abstract

A host Web page includes a evolving interactive dialog box wherein an Internet user may enter user data to be processed. When the user completes entering data in a first revolution of the interactive dialog box, the first revolution is replaced with a second revolution of the evolving interactive dialog box without disturbing or affecting any other part of the host Web page being displayed. Thus, the user is not driven or distracted away from the host Web site while providing data to be processed. The evolving interactive dialog box is especially well-suited to operation with an interrogation processing system which receives questions from users via the Internet and forwards the questions, preferably via the Internet, to sponsors selected based on information pertaining to the question.

Claims

1. A method of receiving user data at a user computer, comprising;

communicating to the user computer via the Internet a Web page, the Web page displaying a first dialog box;

displaying the Web page at the user computer, including the first dialog box;

receiving first user data entered into the first dialog box displayed at the user computer;

indicating that the first user data has been completely entered into the first dialog box displayed at the user computer; and

replacing the first dialog box with a second dialog box while display of a remainder of the Web page at the user computer is not changed.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising communicating the user data to an interrogation processing system.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving second user data entered into the second dialog box displayed by the user computer;

indicating that the second user data has been completely entered into the second dialog box displayed at the user computer; and

replacing the second dialog box with a third dialog box while display of a remainder of the Web page at the user computer is not changed.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

indicating a request to enter additional user data; and

replacing the third dialog box with the first dialog box while display of a remainder of the Web page at the user computer is not changed.

5. A method of processing a question, comprising:

communicating via the Internet to a user computer a Web page, the Web page displaying a first dialog box;

displaying the Web page including the first dialog box at the user computer;

receiving the question entered into the first dialog box displayed at the user computer;

replacing the first dialog box with a second dialog box such that the user computer displays the second dialog box while display of a remainder of the Web page at the user computer is not changed;

receiving a destination for receiving an answer to the question, the destination entered into the second dialog box displayed at the user computer; and

communicating the question and the destination via the Internet to an interrogation processing system.

6. The method of processing a question of claim 5, further comprising replacing the second dialog box with a third dialog box while display of a remainder of the Web page at the user computer is not changed.

7. The method of processing a question of claim 6, wherein the third dialog box indicates a confirmation that the question has been received by the interrogation processing system.

8. The method of processing a question of claim 6, further comprising communicating the question from the interrogation processing system to a selected sponsor via the Internet.

9. The method of processing a question of claim 8, further comprising communicating an answer for the question to the user computer.

10. The method of processing a question of claim 9, further comprising communicating the answer from interrogation processing system to the user computer.

11. The method of processing a question of claim 10, further comprising receiving the answer from the selected sponsor to the interrogation processing system prior to communicating the answer from interrogation processing system to the user computer.

12. The method of processing a question of claim 8, further comprising providing in the second dialog box a hyperlink for the selected sponsor Web site.

13. A method of communicating user data from a user computer to a selected sponsor, comprising:

providing a Web page to the user computer including a data entry box for receiving the user data;

receiving the user data entered into the data entry box of the Web;

communicating the user data via the Internet to an information processing system;

determining the selected sponsor based at least in part upon the user data;

forwarding the user data from the information processing system to the selected sponsor; and

replacing the data enter box with another data box while display of a remainder of the Web page at the user computer is not changed.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the user data comprises a question and a question category and wherein the selected sponsor is selected corresponding to the question category.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the user data further comprises a destination address for the user computer where an answer to the question should be delivered.

16. The method of claim 13, wherein the user data is forwarded from the information processing system to the selected sponsor via the Internet.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the user data comprises a destination address for the user computer.

18. A computer-implemented system for processing a question, the system comprising:

a user computer displaying a Web page which includes a dialog box for entering the question, wherein the Web page is not changed when the dialog box is changed;

an interrogation processing system connected to the user computer via a computer network; and

a plurality of sponsors connected with the user computer and the interrogation processing system by the computer network, each of said sponsors being associated with one or more categories of questions,

wherein the interrogation processing system receives the question from the user computer and forwards the question to a selected one of the plurality of sponsors.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the interrogation processing system further receives a question category from the user computer and selects the selected one of the plurality of sponsors based upon the question category.