Method and apparatus for using a browser to configure a software program

• US 7,143,365 B2
• Filed: 06/18/2002
• Issued: 11/28/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 06/18/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Oracle International Corporation (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: WebTrends Incorporated (WebTrends Holding, Inc.)
• Inventors: Gallella, Ron M.
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Cao (Kevin)
• Application Number:
  US10/175,327
• Publication Number:
  US 20030231203A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,624 Days
• Field of Search: 715/765, 715/853, 715/854, 715/851, 715/736, 715/764, 715/763, 709/223, 709/209, 709/203, 709/219
• US Class Current: 715/851
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/957 Browsing optimisation, e.g. caching or content distillation

Abstract

A method for configuring a web site tracking program on a computer coupled over a network to a web server whereby the web page or object to be tracked is displayed on a display device within a browser window in synchronicity with the web site tracking criteria selected for that page or object. The web browser is operated on the computer with a configuration program to retrieve a web page or object from the web site server and display it in a browser window and the tracking criteria within a configuration pane or subwindow. The operator selects within the configuration pane or subwindow the web tracking criterion to be configured and the proper URL, FTP or other identifying link to the criteria is automatically generated for and associated with the web page or object displayed.

Claims

1. A method for configuring a web site traffic tracking program on a computer coupled over a network to a web server, comprising:

operating on a computer a web browser software program and a configuration program to browse over a network to a first web object to be tracked, said first web object to be tracked stored on a web server and having an associated first web object link;

displaying on a display device coupled to the computer a web page browser window associated with the web browser software program;

dividing the web page browser window into a web page preview pane and a configuration pane;

displaying the first web object to be tracked within the web page preview pane; and

responsive to the configuration program, displaying web object tracking criteria for the first web object to be tracked within the configuration pane.

2. The method of claim 1, further including:

browsing over the network to a second web object to be tracked;

displaying the second web object to be tracked within the web page preview pane in place of the first web object to be tracked; and

displaying web object tracking criteria for the second web object to be tracked within the configuration pane.

3. The method of claim 1, further including:

selecting within the configuration pane the web tracking criterion to be configured;

configuring the web tracking criterion selected; and

displaying the newly configured web tracking criterion within the browser window simultaneous with the web object with which the criterion is associated.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein the first web object to be tracked is a web page and the first web object link is a URL, the method further including the steps of:

automatically associating the URL of the first web object displayed within the browser window with the configured tracking criterion; and

generating a regular expression responsive to the configuring step and to the first web object URL.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein the criterion is a web page tracking group, the method further comprising:

selecting a selected tracking group from a global list of tracking groups and, upon selection, automatically associating the selected tracking group with the displayed first web object to be tracked; and

displaying the selected tracking group associated with the displayed first web object to be tracked within the configuration pane.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein simultaneous with the step of automatically associating the selected tracking group with the displayed first web object to be tracked, automatically associating a second web object to be tracked, said second web object having an identical directory level.

7. The method of claim 3, wherein the criterion is a web page tracking group, the method further comprising:

creating a new tracking group and, upon creation, automatically associating the new tracking group with the displayed first web object to be tracked; and

displaying the new tracking group associated with the displayed first web object to be tracked within the configuration pane.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein simultaneous with the step of automatically associating the new tracking group with the displayed first web object to be tracked, automatically associating a second web object to be tracked, said second web object having an identical directory level.

9. The method of claim 4, wherein the criterion is a path analysis, the method further comprising receiving from the computer operator an input specifying a number of levels to track from the displayed first web object to be tracked.

10. The method of claim 4, wherein the criterion is a path analysis, the method further comprising receiving from the computer operator an input specifying a number of levels to track to the displayed first web object to be tracked.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein the first web object to be tracked is a web page and the first web object link is a URL.

12. A method for configuring a web site traffic tracking program on a computer coupled over a network to a web server, comprising:

operating on a computer a web browser software program and a configuration program to browse over a network to a first web object to be tracked, said first web object to be tracked being stored on a web server and having an associated first web object link;

displaying on a display device coupled to the computer a web page browser window associated with the web browser software program and a configuration subwindow;

displaying the first web object to be tracked within the web page browser window;

responsive to the configuration program, displaying web object tracking criteria for the first web object to be tracked within the configuration subwindow;

selecting within the configuration subwindow the web tracking criterion to be configured;

configuring the web tracking criterion selected; and

automatically associating the web object link of the first web page displayed within the browser window with the configured tracking criterion.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein the first web object to be tracked is a web page and the first web object link is a URL.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein the configuration subwindow comprises a pane of the browser window.

15. The method of claim 12, wherein the configuration subwindow comprises a popup window separate from the browser window.

16. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

downloading over the network from a tracking server to the computer the web tracking criteria; and

once the configured tracking criterion is automatically associated with the web object link of the first web object displayed within the browser window, uploading the configured tracking criterion for storage on the tracking server.

17. A method for arranging a plurality of web pages into tracking groups comprising:

displaying a first of the plurality of web pages within a browser window in synchronicity with displaying a configuration subwindow on a display device, said configuration window including a list of tracking groups associated with the displayed first of the plurality of web pages;

either selecting a tracking group from a global list of tracking groups or creating a new tracking group and, upon selection or creation, automatically associating the selected or new tracking group with the displayed first of the plurality of web pages;

displaying the selected or new tracking group associated with the displayed first of the plurality of web pages within the configuration window; and

repeating the above steps for each of the plurality of web pages.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein simultaneous with the step of automatically associating the selected or new tracking group with the displayed first of the plurality of web pages, automatically associating a second of the plurality of web pages, said second web page having an identical directory level.