Method and system for managing information in an on-line community

• US 9,400,846 B2
• Filed: 11/14/2006
• Issued: 07/26/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 11/14/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Oracle OTC Subsidiary LLC (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Oracle OTC Subsidiary LLC (Oracle Corporation)
• Inventors: Kembel, John Albert, Kembel, Geoff, Rodriguez, Carlos, Kembel, Jeremy
• Primary Examiner(s): Nawaz, Asad
• Assistant Examiner(s): HARLEY, JASON A
• Application Number:
  US11/559,743
• Publication Number:
  US 20070130164A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,542 Days
• Field of Search: 709/203, 705/9
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/958 Organisation or management of web site content, e.g. publishing, maintaining pages or automatic linking

Abstract

A method and system for managing information in an on-line community is described. One embodiment assigns, in an information management system, a distinct domain to each member of the on-line community, each member of the on-line community being associated with a client computer that is connected with the information management system over a network, each distinct domain being capable of hosting at least one on-line information archive associated with the member assigned to that distinct domain; associates with each on-line information archive at least one member-configurable data entry form, each member-configurable data entry form associated with a given on-line information archive defining a format of a specific type of information item that may be posted to that on-line information archive, each member-configurable data entry form associated with the given on-line information archive including a name and at least one form field, the name being specifiable by the member of the on-line community associated with the given on-line information archive, the at least one form field being definable and configurable by the member of the on-line community associated with the given on-line information archive; and sets access permissions for each on-line information archive in accordance with preferences of the member associated with that on-line information archive, the access permissions specifying which members of the on-line community are permitted to access that on-line information archive and to what extent each of those members is permitted to access that on-line information archive.

Claims

1. A method for managing information in an on-line community of a plurality of members, the method comprising:

assigning, in an information management system to each member of the on-line community, a distinct domain within the on-line community, each distinct domain hosting at least one on-line information archive associated with the member assigned to that distinct domain;

associating with each on-line information archive a plurality of different dynamic member-configurable data entry forms, each member-configurable data entry form associated with a given on-line information archive associated with the member and comprising a reusable template defining a format and content of a different, specific type of information item that may be posted to that on-line information archive by the member associated with the given on-line information archive, each reusable template including a name and at least one form field, the name being specifiable by the member of the on-line community associated with the given on-line information archive, a number of the the at least one form field being selected by the member of the on-line community associated with the given on-line information archive and each form field definable and configurable by the member of the on-line community associated with the given on-line information archive and independent of other members of the plurality of members of the on-line community; and

setting access permissions for each on-line information archive in accordance with preferences of the member associated with that on-line information archive, the access permissions specifying which members of the on-line community are permitted to access that on-line information archive and to what extent each of those members is permitted to access that on-line information archive.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

searching at least one on-line information archive in the information management system in response to a search query from a particular member of the on-line community; and

returning search results to the particular member.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one form field included in a given member-configurable data entry form is configurable through the selection of a field type from a set of predetermined field types.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

creating a new on-line information archive in response to a request from a member of the on-line community.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

creating a new member-configurable data entry form in response to a request from a member of the on-line community.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

collecting a fee from a first member of the on-line community on behalf of a second member of the on-line community as a condition on granting the first member access to an on-line information archive associated with the second member.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein each form field is configured and defined with a name and a type of data for the form field, the type of data for the form field comprising one of a note, a blog, a collaborative Web document, a contact, a recipe, a review, an image, an audio file, a video file, an electronic drop box, an e-mail message, a Webzine, and a newsletter.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one field of at least one of the reusable templates comprises a plurality of fields.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the plurality of fields comprise two or more different types of data.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein at least one of the plurality of fields comprises content editable by a member of the on-line community other than the member associated with the given on-line information archive.

11. A system comprising:

a processor; and

a memory coupled with and readable by the processor and storing therein a set of instructions which, when executed by the processor, causes the processor to manage information in an on-line community of a plurality of members by;

assigning to each member of the on-line community, a distinct domain within the on-line community, each distinct domain hosting at least one on-line information archive associated with the member assigned to that distinct domain;

associating with each on-line information archive a plurality of different dynamic member-configurable data entry forms, each member-configurable data entry form associated with a given on-line information archive associated with the member and comprising a reusable template defining a format and content of a different, specific type of information item that may be posted to that on-line information archive by the member associated with the given on-line information archive, each reusable template including a name and at least one form field, the name being specifiable by the member of the on-line community associated with the given on-line information archive, a number of the the at least one form field being selected by the member of the on-line community associated with the given on-line information archive and each form field definable and configurable by the member of the on-line community associated with the given on-line information archive and independent of other members of the plurality of members of the on-line community; and

setting access permissions for each on-line information archive in accordance with preferences of the member associated with that on-line information archive, the access permissions specifying which members of the on-line community are permitted to access that on-line information archive and to what extent each of those members is permitted to access that on-line information archive.

12. The system of claim 11, further comprising:

searching at least one on-line information archive in response to a search query from a particular member of the on-line community; and

returning search results to the particular member.

13. The system of claim 11, wherein the at least one form field included in a given member-configurable data entry form is configurable through the selection of a field type from a set of predetermined field types.

14. The system of claim 11, further comprising:

creating a new on-line information archive in response to a request from a member of the on-line community.

15. The system of claim 11, further comprising:

creating a new member-configurable data entry form in response to a request from a member of the on-line community.

16. The system of claim 11, further comprising:

collecting a fee from a first member of the on-line community on behalf of a second member of the on-line community as a condition on granting the first member access to an on-line information archive associated with the second member.

17. The system of claim 11, wherein each form field is configured and defined with a name and a type of data for the form field, the type of data for the form field comprising one of a note, a blog, a collaborative Web document, a contact, a recipe, a review, an image, an audio file, a video file, an electronic drop box, an e-mail message, a Webzine, and a newsletter.

18. A computer-readable non-transitory memory comprising a set of instructions stored therein which, when executed by a processor, causes the processor to manage information in an on-line community of a plurality of members by:

assigning to each member of the on-line community, a distinct domain within the on-line community, each distinct domain hosting at least one on-line information archive associated with the member assigned to that distinct domain;

associating with each on-line information archive a plurality of different dynamic member-configurable data entry forms, each member-configurable data entry form associated with a given on-line information archive associated with the member and comprising a reusable template defining a format and content of a different, specific type of information item that may be posted to that on-line information archive by the member associated with the given on-line information archive, each reusable template including a name and at least one form field, the name being specifiable by the member of the on-line community associated with the given on-line information archive, a number of the at least one form field being selected by the member of the on-line community associated with the given on-line information archive and each form field definable and configurable by the member of the on-line community associated with the given on-line information archive and independent of other members of the plurality of members of the on-line community; and

setting access permissions for each on-line information archive in accordance with preferences of the member associated with that on-line information archive, the access permissions specifying which members of the on-line community are permitted to access that on-line information archive and to what extent each of those members is permitted to access that on-line information archive.

19. The computer-readable non-transitory memory of claim 18, further comprising:

searching at least one on-line information archive in response to a search query from a particular member of the on-line community; and

returning search results to the particular member.

20. The computer-readable non-transitory memory of claim 18, wherein the at least one form field included in a given member-configurable data entry form is configurable through the selection of a field type from a set of predetermined field types.

21. The computer-readable non-transitory memory of claim 18, further comprising:

creating a new on-line information archive in response to a request from a member of the on-line community.

22. The computer-readable non-transitory memory of claim 18, further comprising:

creating a new member-configurable data entry form in response to a request from a member of the on-line community.

23. The computer-readable non-transitory memory of claim 18, further comprising:

collecting a fee from a first member of the on-line community on behalf of a second member of the on-line community as a condition on granting the first member access to an on-line information archive associated with the second member.

24. The computer-readable non-transitory memory of claim 18, wherein each form field is configured and defined with a name and a type of data for the form field, the type of data for the form field comprising one of a note, a blog, a collaborative Web document, a contact, a recipe, a review, an image, an audio file, a video file, an electronic drop box, an e-mail message, a Webzine, and a newsletter.