Systems and methods for editing a web page

• US 8,719,703 B2
• Filed: 12/08/2000
• Issued: 05/06/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 12/08/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Xerox Corporation (Xerox Holdings Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Xerox Corporation (Xerox Holdings Corp.)
• Inventors: Bier, Eric Allan
• Primary Examiner(s): NGUYEN, CHAU T
• Application Number:
  US09/731,912
• Publication Number:
  US 20020073125A1
• Time in Patent Office: 4,897 Days
• Field of Search: 715/513, 715/501.1, 715/511, 715/552, 715/530, 715/200, 715/203, 715/208, 715/221, 715/223, 715/229, 715/234, 715/237, 715/243, 715/246, 715/253, 715255-256, 715/272, 715212-220, 715/271, 715/273, 345/733, 705/2, 705/10, 707/9, 707/10, 707/102, 707/200, 707/201, 707/203, 709/217, 709/218, 709/224, 709/225, 709/227, 709/219, 713/202
• US Class Current: 715/255
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/166 Editing, e.g. inserting or deleting

Abstract

By analyzing a web page, the web page can be divided into component parts. Specifically, the web page can be divided into items, templates and the remaining HTML. Then, using dedicated user interfaces, each component part can be separately edited. To facilitate editing, the component parts not being edited can optionally be suppressed or presented in abbreviated form, and all parts can optionally be shown in the same order in which they occur in the web page. The live version of the web page is then updated with the edited version of the component parts, taking into consideration any contributions from other users made during the editing process.

Claims

1. A group-editable web page editing system, comprising:

a set of user interfaces to query a user as to items to be suppressed for editing formatting characteristics of a web page comprising a control panel that lists names of all templates currently in use on the web page and for each template displaying a number of items associated with that template;

an element selection device adapted to parse the web page, to receive a selection of suppressed items from the user, and to replace each of the suppressed items with a placeholder identification in a temporary web page;

an editing hardware device adapted to identify items not suppressed in the web page, wherein each non-suppressed item is associated with an edit area in a further temporary web page, and to receive edits from the user in one or more of the edit areas in the further temporary web page;

a format edit device to receive a selection of one of the templates in the control panel from the user, to provide a further web page to the user comprising a dialog box for editing the selected template, and to receive edits to the selected template; and

a template edit merging device that merges the edits of the temporary web page, the further temporary web page, and the further web page into the web page.

2. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

an updating device to account for one or more edits by other users.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the one or more edits by other users are stored in a queue.

4. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

an updating device to update the non-suppressed items dependent on the edit areas.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the formatting characteristics comprise at least one of text, images, and formatting codes editable by one or more authorized users, and wherein the formatting characteristics are distinct from editable content items of the web page.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the placeholders representing the suppressed items of the temporary web page are displayed in the same order as corresponding portions of the web page.

7. A method for editing a group-editable web page, comprising:

providing to a user, a web page having a control panel that lists names of all templates currently in use on the web page and for each template displaying a number of items associated with that template;

parsing the web page;

receiving a selection of suppressed items from the user and replacing each of the suppressed items with a placeholder identification in a temporary web page;

identifying items not suppressed in the web page, wherein each of the non-suppressed items is associated with an edit area in a further temporary web page;

receiving edits from the user in one or more of the edit areas in the further temporary web page;

receiving a selection of one of the templates in the control panel from the user and providing a further web page to the user comprising a dialog box for editing the selected template;

receiving edits to the selected template; and

merging the edits of the temporary web page, the further temporary web page, and the further web page into the web page.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the replacing accounts for one or more edits by other users.

9. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

editing formatting characteristics of the web page, wherein the formatting characteristics comprise at least one of text, images, and formatting codes editable by one or more authorized users, and wherein the formatting characteristics are distinct from editable content items of the web page.

10. The method of claim 7, wherein the placeholders representing the suppressed items of the temporary web page are displayed in the same order as corresponding portions of the web page.

11. A non-transitory computer readable medium including one or more computer-readable instructions embedded therein, which when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform the steps of:

providing to a user, a web page having a control panel that lists names of all templates currently in use on the web page and for each template, displaying a number of items associated with that template;

parsing the web page;

receiving a selection of suppressed items from the user and replacing each of the suppressed items with a placeholder identification in a temporary web page;

identifying items not suppressed in the web page, wherein each of the non-suppressed items is associated with an edit area in a further temporary web page;

receiving edits from the user in one or more of the edit areas in the further temporary web page;

receiving a selection of one of the templates in the control panel from the user and providing a further web page to the user comprising a dialog box for editing the selected template;

receiving edits to the selected template; and

merging the edits of the temporary web page, the further temporary web page, and the further web page into the web page.

12. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 11, wherein the replacing accounts for one or more edits by other users.

13. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 11, further comprising instructions for updating another portion of the web page.

14. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 11, further comprising:

instructions for unlocking the web page; and

instructions for processing any user contributions stored in a queue.

15. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 11, further comprising instructions for replacing one or more of the suppressed items with the placeholders.

16. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 11, wherein the formatting characteristics comprise at least one of text, images, and formatting codes editable by one or more authorized users, and wherein the formatting characteristics are distinct from editable content items of the web page.

17. A method for editing a web page, comprising:

receiving a request from a user to edit formatting of a web page having a control panel that lists names of all templates currently in use on the web page and for each template, displaying a number of items associated with that template;

prompting the user to select at least one of an item and template content in the web page to be suppressed and receiving a selection of one or more of the items or template content to be suppressed;

parsing the web page and replacing each of the selected items or template content to be suppressed with a placeholder in a temporary web page;

defining an edit area for each portion of the web page that is not represented by the placeholders in a further temporary web page;

receiving edits from the user in at least one of the edit areas of the further temporary web page;

receiving a selection of one of the templates in the control panel from the user and providing a further web page to the user comprising a dialog box for editing the selected template;

receiving edits to the selected template;

determining that the web page is unlocked and locating old edit areas corresponding to the edit areas of the temporary web page, the further temporary web page, or the further web page that received edits; and

replacing content in the old edit areas with the received edits and entering the edits.