Techniques for simultaneously displaying a background page and an interactive content page in an application window

• US 7,487,455 B2
• Filed: 04/19/2004
• Issued: 02/03/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 04/19/2004
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: R2 Solutions LLC (Acacia Research Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Yahoo! Inc. (Apollo Global Management, Inc.)
• Inventors: Szeto, Christopher T.
• Primary Examiner(s): Hailu; Tadesse
• Assistant Examiner(s): Ulrich; Nicholas S
• Application Number:
  US10/828,513
• Publication Number:
  US 20050235219A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,751 Days
• Field of Search: 715/719, 715/766, 715/752, 715/777, 715/791, 715/758, 715/792, 715/794, 715/790, 709/206
• US Class Current: 715/752
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0483 Interaction with page-structured environments, e.g. book metaphor

Abstract

Techniques are provided for maintaining the visibility of a priority page in the background of a software application window while simultaneously displaying unrelated content from a content tab. The content displayed in the content tab can be obtained from a web page. A user can resize or minimize the content tab, but the background priority page is always visible in the window. The priority page can be a friends lists displayed in the background of an instant messenger application. Content from a content tab is simultaneously displayed in the instant messenger window with the friends list.

Claims

1. A method for displaying multiple pages in an instant messenger application, the method comprising:

displaying simultaneously a first page and a second page in the instant messenger window;

wherein the first page is a friends list page that displays a set of users that send and receive a plurality of instant messages within an instant messaging community and the second page is a interactive content page with a set of tabs for retrieving content from the internet;

allowing a user in the set of users to change the size of the interactive content page, wherein the interactive content page has a minimum height and a maximum height;

preventing a user in the set of users from hiding all of the friends list page from view in the instant messenger window by maintaining a pre-programmed minimum height for the friends list page within the instant messenger window; and

sending a message from a first instant messenger user to a second instant messenger user in the friends list in response to the first instant messenger user selecting content in the interactive content page, wherein the message relates to the selected content.

2. The method as defined in claim 1 wherein preventing the user in the set of users from hiding all of the friends list page from view further comprises preventing the user in the set of users from shrinking a visible portion of the friends list page to less than the preprogrammed minimum height for the friends list page.

3. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein retrieving content from the internet further comprises automatically refreshing the content.

4. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein displaying simultaneously a first page and a second page in the instant messenger window further comprises displaying within the interactive content page the content of a first tab in the set of tabs when the user in the set of users selects the first tab in the set of tabs.

5. The method as defined in claim 4 further comprising:

displaying within the interactive content page the content of a second tab in the set of tabs when the user in the set of users selects a second tab in the set of tabs, the second tab being displayed at the same time that at least a portion of the friends list page is also displayed in the instant messenger window.

6. The method as defined in claim 5 further comprising:

hiding the content of the first tab when the content of the second tab is displayed within the interactive content page.

7. The method as defined in claim 6, wherein the content of the second tab overlaps the content of the first tab in the interactive content page.

8. The method as defined in claim 1 further comprising:

minimizing the interactive content page in response to a user request so that the content is not visible in the instant messenger window.

9. The method as defined in claim 1 further comprising:

resizing the friends list page when the interactive content page is resized, wherein a size of the friends list page changes inversely proportionate to the size of the interactive content page.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the set of tabs comprises a persistent tab.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the set of tabs comprises a trusted tab.

12. The method of claim 4, wherein the first tab comprises a tab image that is displayed in the instant messenger window.

13. The method of claim 5, wherein the first tab and the second tab are ordered in the set of tabs based on a frequency of usage.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein selecting content in the interactive content page further comprises dragging the content from the interactive content page to the second instant messenger user listed in the friends list page.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein sending a message from a first instant messenger user to a second instant messenger user in response to the first instant messenger user selecting content in the interactive content page further comprises:

including the selected content in the message.

16. A computer program product stored on a computer readable medium that simultaneously displays multiple pages in one window, the computer program product comprising:

code for displaying simultaneously a first page and a second page in the instant messenger window;

wherein the first page is a friends list page that displays a set of users that send and receive a plurality of instant messages within an instant messaging community and the second page is a interactive content page with a set of tabs for retrieving content from the internet;

code for displaying within the interactive content page the content of a first tab when a user in the set of users selects a first tab in the set of tabs;

code for allowing a user in the set of users to change the size of the interactive content page, wherein the interactive content page has a minimum height and a maximum height;

code for preventing a user in the set of users from hiding all of the friends list page from view in the instant messenger window by maintaining a pre-programmed minimum height for the friends list page within the instant messenger window; and

code for sending a message from a first instant messenger user to a second instant messenger user in the friends list in response to the first instant messenger user selecting content in the interactive content page, wherein the message relates to the selected content.

17. The computer program product according to claim 16 wherein the code for preventing the user in the set of users from hiding all of the friends list page from view further comprises code for preventing the user in the set of users from shrinking a visible portion of the friends list page to less than a preprogrammed minimum height for the friends list page.

18. The computer program product according to claim 16, wherein retrieving content from the internet further comprises automatically refreshing the content.

19. The computer program product according to claim 16 further comprising:

code for displaying within the interactive content page the content of a second tab in the set of tabs when the user in the set of users selects a second tab in the set of tabs, the second tab being displayed at the same time that at least a portion of the friends list page is also displayed in the instant messenger window.

20. The computer program product according to claim 19, wherein the content of the second tab overlaps the content of the first tab in the interactive content page.

21. The computer program product according to claim 20 further comprising:

code for hiding the content of the first tab when the content of the second tab is displayed within the interactive content page.

22. The computer program product according to claim 16 further comprising:

code for minimizing the interactive content page in response to a user request so that the content is not visible in the instant messenger window.

23. The method of claim 16, wherein code for sending a message from a first instant messenger user to a second instant messenger user in response to the first instant messenger user selecting content in the interactive content page further comprises:

including the selected content in the message.

24. The method of claim 16, wherein the first tab comprises a tab image that is displayed in the instant messenger window.

25. The method of claim 19, wherein the first tab and the second tab are ordered in the set of tabs based on a frequency of usage.

26. The method of claim 16, wherein selecting content in the interactive content page further comprises dragging the content from the interactive content page to the second instant messenger user listed in the friends list page.