Systems and methods for managing discussion threads based on ratings

• US 7,904,510 B2
• Filed: 02/23/2004
• Issued: 03/08/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 02/23/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Anderson, Stephen, Ostling, Ridge
• Primary Examiner(s): Etienne; Ario
• Assistant Examiner(s): Todd; Gregory G
• Application Number:
  US10/784,691
• Publication Number:
  US 20050198128A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,570 Days
• Field of Search: 709204-207, 707/10, 707/204, 707/206, 707661-663, 707667-670, 715/753, 715/758, 705/10
• US Class Current: 709/204
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/166 Editing, e.g. inserting or deleting

Abstract

System and method for removing threads from discussion groups based on ratings of the individual posts within the thread. If a user takes the time to rate a post positively, then the post (and the thread) is considered to be useful to the entire community and should not be deleted. To rate the post, a window is displayed to the user whenever the post is open and queries the user whether the post is useful. A positive rating resets a delete date associated with the post. If there is not positive rating of a post, the thread may be considered useful if the originator of a post marks the post as being answered, in which case delete clock is reset. If however, none of the posts within the thread are rated positively, then the thread is considered not be useful and deleted.

Claims

1. A method for deleting threads from a discussion group comprising a plurality of posts, the method comprising:

determining whether at least one user has read at least one post within a thread;

providing a message to the at least one user inquiring whether the at least one post was useful to the at least one user, wherein providing the message to the at least one user comprises providing, to the at least one user, a first selection operative to indicate, upon selection, a positive response, and a second selection operative to indicate, upon selection, a negative response;

determining whether the at least one user has rated the at least one post within the thread as useful;

if the at least one user has rated the at least one post as useful, retaining the thread;

if the at least one user has read the at least one post and not rated the at least one post, retaining the thread;

if the at least one user has rated the at least one post as not useful, deleting the thread; and

setting a delete date associated with the thread to a predetermined value wherein setting the delete date to the predetermined value comprises;

determining a type of the thread;

if the thread is a first type then setting the delete date of the thread to a first predefined value; and

if the thread is a second type then setting the delete date of the thread to a second predefined value, wherein the first predefined value is less than the second predefined value.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein retaining the thread comprises resetting the delete date of the thread to the predetermined value.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein retaining the thread comprises leaving the delete date of the post unchanged.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein deleting the thread comprises:

determining whether the delete date of the at least one post is equal to a current date; and

deleting the thread if the delete date is equal to the current date.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein determining whether the at least one user has rated the at least one post within the thread, comprises:

storing a rating value in a field associated with the at least one post; and

determining whether the at least one user has affirmatively rated the at least one post as positive.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising determining whether the rating field has a value indicative of the positive response, wherein determining whether the rating field has the value indicative of the positive response comprises:

determining whether the at least one user opened the at least one post; and

storing a positive value in the rating field associated with the at least one post.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein determining whether the rating field has the value indicative of the positive response further comprises:

determining whether the at least one user provided the positive response in response to the message inquiry whether the at least one post was useful.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the first type of thread comprises at least one of Question/Answer-type threads and Feedback-type threads.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the second type of thread comprises a General Comment-type post.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

displaying each post and a rating for each post on a display device.

11. A computer-readable storage device having computer-executable instructions which when executed perform a method for deleting threads from a discussion group comprising a plurality of posts, the method executed by the computer-executable instructions comprising:

setting a delete date associated with the thread to a predetermined value wherein setting the delete date associated with the thread to the predetermined value comprises;

determining a type of the at least one post,

if the at least one post is a first type, setting the delete date to a first predetermined value, and

if the at least one post is a second type, setting the delete date to a second predetermined value;

determining whether at least one user has read at least one post within the thread;

providing a message to the at least one user inquiring the at least one user for a rating of the at least one post, wherein providing the message to the at least one user comprises providing, to the at least one user, a first selection operative to indicate, upon selection, the at least one user'"'"'s positive feedback, and a second selection operative to indicate, upon selection, the at least one user'"'"'s negative feedback;

updating the delete date of the thread if at least one post is rated positively by at least one user;

extending the delete date if the at least one user has read the at least one post and not rated the at least one post; and

determining whether the delete date of the thread is equal to a current date; and

if the delete date is equal to the current date, deleting the thread from the discussion group.

12. The computer-readable storage device of claim 11, further comprising determining whether the at least one post has received a positive rating, and-updating the delete date of the thread if the at least one post received the positive rating.

13. The computer-readable storage device of claim 11, wherein the first type of post is selected from a list comprising Question type posts and Feedback type posts and the second type of post comprises a General Comment-type post.

14. A system for removing a thread comprising a plurality of posts from a discussion group comprising a plurality of posts, the system comprising:

a server operable to;

receive an input from a client related to at least one post associated with the thread;

return at least one post of the thread to the client;

determine whether the client opened the at least one post of the thread;

update a delete date of the thread if the client opened the at least one post of the thread;

inquire the client for a rating of the at least one post of the thread, wherein the server being operable to inquire the client for the rating of the at least one post of the thread comprises the server being operable to provide a message inquiring the client for the rating of the at least one post of the thread displayed proximate to the at least on post, the message comprising a first selection which, upon selection, is operative to indicate a positive rating from the client, and a second selection which, upon selection, is operative to indicate a negative rating from the client;

receive one of;

the first selection and the second selection indicative of at least one rating associated with the at least one post from the client;

assign the positive rating to the at least one rating associated with the at least one post when neither one of the first selection and the second selection is received from the client; and

determine whether to delete the thread associated with the at least one post from a database depending on the at least one rating received from the client;

determine whether the input received from the client has a value indicative of being useful; and

update the delete date of the thread if the input received from the client had the value indicative of being useful wherein the server being operable to update the delete date of the thread comprises the server being operable to;

determine a type of the thread,

set the delete date to a first predetermined value if the thread is a General Comment-type thread,

set the delete date to a second predetermined value if the thread comprises a Question/Answer-type thread, and

set the delete date to a third predetermined value if the thread comprises a Feedback-type post, wherein the second predefined value is less than the first predefined value; and

a distributed network connecting the client to the server.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the server being operable to determine whether to delete the thread comprises the server being operable to:

determine whether the delete date of the thread is equal to a current date; and

if the delete date is equal to the current date, delete the thread.

16. The system of claim 14, wherein the server is further operable to store the received input from the client in a rating field associated with the at least one post and the delete date associated with the thread.