Online publishing tools

• US 7,917,848 B2
• Filed: 06/14/2006
• Issued: 03/29/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 06/14/2006
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Familylearn LLC
• Original Assignee: Family Learn LLC
• Inventors: Oster, Joseph N., Harmon, Neal S.
• Primary Examiner(s): Tieu; Benny Q
• Assistant Examiner(s): Rust; Eric A
• Application Number:
  US11/424,218
• Publication Number:
  US 20070291297A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,749 Days
• Field of Search: 358/1.15, 358/1.1, 358/1.2, 715/253, 715/769
• US Class Current: 715/253
• CPC Class Codes: B42P 2261/04 Producing books by printing sheets in following order, e.g. for ordering via the Internet
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/106 Display of layout of documents; Previewing

Abstract

Online publishing tools, which provide browser-based publishing services available through the Internet for preparing content for publication, include a preview interface which generates and displays an accurate representation of the client'"'"'s work, with proportionately correct size, font, format and positioning, as well as an edit interface which generates a less precise but editable version of the client'"'"'s work. Preview files used for displaying previews on the preview interface, and which can incorporate edits made on the edit interface, include typesetting information, positioning information, hot zones information, images of text and links to omitted content. Some preview files provide preview information for less than the client'"'"'s entire document that is being worked on. Interfaces are also used to move and modify sections of content contained in the body of the client'"'"'s work, of any size, through simple drag and drop processes implemented on elements of a corresponding table of contents.

Claims

1. A method for submitting content from an online third party source for inclusion in an online publishing document via an online publishing service, the method comprising:

displaying a first table of contents of an online publishing document within a browser or web enabled application, the online publishing document including one or more sections wherein each of the one or more sections includes content and a heading that represents the content of the section, the first table of contents displaying a listing of the headings of the online publishing document but not the content of the online publishing document represented by the headings of the online publishing document;

displaying a second table of contents that represents content available from an online third party source, the content from the online third party source being divided into one or more sections wherein each of the one or more sections includes content and a heading that represents the content of the section, the second table of contents displaying a listing of the headings of the content available from the online third party source but not the content of the online third party source represented by the headings of the online third party source;

receiving input that drags and drops a first heading from the second table of contents to a first location in the first table of contents, the first location representing a second location within the content of the online publishing document;

identifying the section of content available from the online third party source that the first heading represents;

incorporating the identified section of content from the online third party source into the online publishing document by;

inserting the first heading, but not the section of content represented by the first heading, into the first table of contents at the first location; and

inserting the section of content represented by the first heading into the online publishing document at the second location.

2. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the method further includes modifying the formatting of the first heading after it is inserted so that it has consistent formatting with other headings in the first table of contents having a similar hierarchal level in the first table of contents.

3. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein insertion of the first heading also causes any other headings in the second table of contents that are hierarchically dependent upon the first heading to also move to the first location in the first table of contents.

4. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein inserting the section of content further comprises modifying the formatting of the inserted section of content so that it has consistent formatting with other sections of content in the online publishing document, including modifying the formatting of a heading of the inserted section of content to be consistent with the headings of other sections of content with the same hierarchical position in the online publishing document.

5. A method as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

in response to receiving an input that selects a heading in the first table of contents, displaying the corresponding section of content represented by the selected heading in a preview interface that is displayed in conjunction with the online publishing document.

6. One or more non-transitory computer storage media storing computer executable instructions which when executed by a processor perform the method of any of claim 1-4 or 5.

7. A method for automatically modifying content contained in an online publishing document responsive to changes made to a corresponding table of contents of the online publishing document, comprising:

displaying a table of contents of an online publishing document within a browser or web enabled application, the online publishing document including one or more sections wherein each of the one or more sections includes content and a heading that represents the content of the section, the table of contents displaying a listing of the headings of the online publishing document but not the content of the online publishing document represented by the headings of the online publishing document;

receiving input that drags and drops a first heading in the table of contents from a first location to a second location within the table of contents;

identifying the section of content within the online publishing document that the first heading represents;

rearranging the online publishing document by;

moving the first heading, but not the section of content represented by the first heading, to the second location in the table of contents; and

moving the section of content represented by the first heading within the content of the online publishing document to a third location represented by the second location where the first heading was dropped within the table of contents; and

displaying a second table of contents that represents content available from an online third party source, the content from the online third party source being divided into one or more sections wherein each of the one or more sections includes content and a heading that represents the content of the section, the second table of contents displaying a listing of the headings of the content available from the online third party source but not the content of the online third party source represented by the headings of the online third party source;

receiving input that drags and drops a second heading from the second table of contents to a fourth location in the first table of contents, the fourth location representing a fifth location within the content of the online publishing document;

identifying the section of content available from the online third party source that the second heading represents;

incorporating the identified section of content from the online third party source into the online publishing document by;

inserting the second heading, but not the section of content represented by the second heading, into the first table of contents at the fourth location; and

inserting the section of content represented by the second heading into the online publishing document at the fifth location.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the method further includes modifying the formatting of the first heading after it is moved so that it has consistent formatting with other headings in the table of contents having a similar hierarchal level in the table of contents.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein movement of the first heading also causes any other headings in the table of contents that are hierarchically dependent upon the first heading to also move from the first location to the second location.

10. The method of claim 7, wherein moving the section of content within the online publishing document further comprises modifying the formatting of the moved section of content so that it has consistent formatting with other sections of content in the online publishing document, including modifying the formatting of a heading within the section of content in the online publishing document to be consistent with headings within other sections of content with the same hierarchical position in the online publishing document.

11. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

in response to receiving an input that selects a heading in the table of contents, displaying the corresponding section of content represented by the selected heading in a preview interface that is displayed in conjunction with the online publishing document.

12. One or more non-transitory computer storage media storing computer executable instructions which when executed by a processor perform the method of any of claim 7-10 or 11.