Method for adding a user-selectable function to a hyperlink

• US 9,569,555 B2
• Filed: 01/21/2005
• Issued: 02/14/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 05/04/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Mansfield, Steve, Hanna, Patrick
• Primary Examiner(s): PHAM, KHANH B
• Application Number:
  US11/040,390
• Publication Number:
  US 20050259120A1
• Time in Patent Office: 4,407 Days
• Field of Search: 707100-102, 715206-208
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/957 Browsing optimisation, e.g. caching or content distillation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04812 Interaction techniques based on cursor appearance or behaviour, e.g. being affected by the presence of displayed objects
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99933 Query processing, i.e. searching

Abstract

A multifunction hyperlink and method for providing an multifunction hyperlink are provided. This invention permits the user to interact with a hyperlink in a variety of ways without necessarily having to open and/or follow the hyperlink. This is accomplished by detecting the presence of a cursor near a hyperlink. After detecting the hyperlink, a toolbar is displayed containing one or more link functions that the user may select. In response to the users'"'"' selection of a particular link function, that link function would be performed without requiring any further action by the user.

Claims

1. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing executable instructions for execution by a computer having a display and memory, the medium storing instructions for:

providing a user-selectable option for a toolbar on the computer, the toolbar being viewable on the display in a first window of an application in response to a user selection of a selected hyperlink contained in the first window, wherein the selected hyperlink is associated with a uniform resource locator (URL) and a page, wherein the user-selectable option is adapted to display on the display a link snapshot based on the hyperlink;

receiving an indication on the computer of a second user selection of the user-selectable option; and

as a result of the second user selection,

storing in the memory of the computer a displayable element and the URL associated with the selected hyperlink on the computer;

displaying a link snapshot on the display, wherein the link snapshot comprises the stored displayable element and is associated with the stored URL.

2. The computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the medium comprises one of:

a hard drive;

a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM);

a digital versatile disk (DVD);

or random access memory (RAM).

3. The computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the user selection is provided by at least one of:

a mouse right-click;

a mouse;

a keyboard;

a touchpad;

a trackball;

or

a pointing device.

4. The computer readable medium of claim 1, further comprising:

displaying on the computer, the page in response to a third user selection of the link snapshot, the page displayed using the stored URL.

5. The computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein storing the displayable element further comprises:

reducing the size of the stored displayable element.

6. The computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the link snapshot is displayed at an edge of a display displaying the first window.

7. The computer readable medium of claim 1, further comprising:

displaying the page in a second window upon the third user selection of the link snapshot.

8. The computer readable medium of claim 1, further comprising:

retaining the link snapshot when the first window is closed.

9. The computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the storing and the displaying the link snapshot are performed by a second application.

10. The computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the displayable element comprises a graphic element.

11. The computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the displayable element comprises a text element.

12. A computer for hyperlink enhancement, comprising:

a central processing unit (CPU) having memory storing CPU-executable instructions for hyperlink enhancement;

a pointing device coupled to the CPU to receive a first user selection and a second user selection;

a display coupled to the CPU to display a first-window of an application, wherein the first window contains a selected hyperlink associated with a uniform resource locator (URL) and a page;

wherein the CPU displays a user-selectable toolbar option in the first-window on the display in response to the first user selection of the selected hyperlink received by the pointing device according to the CPU-executable instructions for hyperlink enhancement, wherein the user-selectable toolbar option is adapted to display on the display a link snapshot based on the selected hyperlink;

wherein the CPU performs the following in response to the second user selection received by the pointing device according to the CPU-executable instructions for hyperlink enhancement;

storing in the memory a displayable element and the URL associated with the selected hyperlink, and

displaying a link snapshot on the display, wherein the link snapshot comprises the stored displayable element and is associated with the stored URL.

13. A method for hyperlink enhancement, comprising:

providing a user-selectable option for a toolbar on a computer having a display and memory, the toolbar being viewable on the display in a first window of an application in response to a user selection of a selected hyperlink contained in the first window, wherein the selected hyperlink is associated with a uniform resource locator (URL) and a page, wherein the user-selectable option is adapted to display on the display a link snapshot based on the selected hyperlink;

receiving an indication on the computer of a second user selection of the user-selectable option; and

as a result of the second user selection,

storing in the memory of the computer a displayable element and the URL associated with the selected hyperlink on the computer;

displaying a link snapshot on the display, wherein the link snapshot comprises the stored displayable element and is associated with the stored URL.

14. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing executable instructions for execution by a computer having a display and memory, the medium storing instructions for:

providing a user-selectable option for a toolbar on the computer, the toolbar being viewable on the display in a first page in a first window of an application in response to a user selection of a selected hyperlink in the first page, wherein the first page is associated with a first uniform resource locator (URL), wherein the selected hyperlink is associated with a second URL and a second page, wherein the user-selectable option is adapted to display on the display an icon based on the first URL;

receiving an indication on the computer of a second user selection of the user-selectable option;

as a result of the second user selection,

storing in the memory of the computer the first URL associated with the first page on the computer; and

displaying an icon on the display, the icon associated with the stored first URL.

15. The computer readable medium of claim 14, wherein the medium comprises one of:

a hard drive;

a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM);

a digital versatile disk (DVD);

or random access memory (RAM).

16. The computer readable medium of claim 14, wherein the user selection is provided by at least one of:

a mouse right-click;

a mouse;

a keyboard;

a touchpad;

a trackball;

or

a pointing device.

17. The computer readable medium of claim 14, further comprising:

displaying the first page in response to a third user selection of the icon, the page displayed using the stored URL.

18. The computer readable medium of claim 14, wherein the icon is displayed at an edge of a display displaying the first window.

19. The computer readable medium of claim 14, wherein the icon is displayed as a button in the toolbar.

20. The computer readable medium of claim 14, wherein the storing and displaying are performed by a second application.

21. The computer readable medium of claim 14, further comprising:

displaying the first page in a second window upon the second user selection of the icon.

22. A computer for hyperlink enhancement, comprising:

a central processing unit (CPU) having memory storing CPU-executable instructions for hyperlink enhancement;

a pointing device coupled to the CPU to receive a user selection of a selected hyperlink and a second user selection;

a display coupled to the CPU to display a first page in a first window of an application, wherein the first page is associated with a first uniform resource locator (URL) and the first page contains the selected hyperlink, wherein the selected hyperlink is associated with a second URL and a second page;

wherein the CPU displays a user-selectable toolbar option in the first window on the display in response to the user selection of a selected hyperlink received by the pointing device according to the CPU-executable instructions for hyperlink enhancement, wherein the user-selectable option is adapted to display on the display an icon based on the first URL;

wherein the CPU performs the following in response to the second user selection received by the pointing device according to the CPU-executable instructions for hyperlink enhancement;

storing in the memory the first URL associated with the first page, and

displaying an icon on the display, wherein the icon associated with the stored first URL.

23. A method for hyperlink enhancement, comprising:

providing a user-selectable option for a toolbar on a computer having a display and memory, the toolbar being viewable on the display in a first page in a first window of an application in response to a user selection of a selected hyperlink in the first page, wherein the first page is associated with a first uniform resource locator (URL), wherein the selected hyperlink is associated with a second URL and a second page, wherein the user-selectable option is adapted to display on the display an icon based on the first URL;

receiving an indication on the computer of a second user selection of the user-selectable option;

as a result of the second user selection,

storing in the memory of the computer the first URL associated with the first page on the computer; and

displaying an icon on the display, the icon associated with the stored first URL.

24. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing executable instructions for execution by a computer having a display and memory, the medium storing instructions for:

providing a user-selectable option for a toolbar on the computer, the toolbar being viewable on the display in a first page in a first window of an application in response to a user selection of a selected hyperlink in the first page, wherein the first page is associated with a first uniform resource locator (URL), wherein the selected hyperlink is associated with a second URL and a second page, wherein the user-selectable option is adapted to display on the display a graphical element based on the first URL;

receiving an indication on the computer of a second user selection of the user-selectable option; and

as a result of the second user selection,

storing in the memory of the computer the first URL associated with the first page on the computer; and

displaying a graphical element on the display, the graphical element associated with the stored first URL.

25. The computer readable medium of claim 24, wherein the medium comprises one of:

a hard drive;

a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM);

a digital versatile disk (DVD);

or random access memory (RAM).

26. The computer readable medium of claim 24, wherein the user selection is provided by at least one of:

a mouse right-click;

a mouse;

a keyboard;

a touchpad;

a trackball;

or a pointing device.

27. The computer readable medium of claim 24, further comprising:

displaying the first page in response to a third user selection of the graphical element, the first page displayed using the stored first URL.

28. The computer readable medium of claim 24, wherein the graphical element is displayed at an edge of a display displaying the first window.

29. The computer readable medium of claim 24, wherein the graphical element is displayed as a button in the toolbar.

30. The computer readable medium of claim 24, wherein the storing and the displaying the graphical element are performed by a second application.

31. The computer readable medium of claim 24, further comprising:

displaying the first page in a second window upon the second user selection of the graphical element.

32. A computer for hyperlink enhancement, comprising:

a central processing unit (CPU) having memory storing CPU-executable instructions for hyperlink enhancement;

a pointing device coupled to the CPU to receive a first user selection and a second user selection;

a display coupled to the CPU to display a first page in a first window of an application in response to a user selection of a selected hyperlink, wherein the first page is associated with a first uniform resource locator (URL), wherein the selected hyperlink is associated with a second URL and a second page;

wherein the CPU displays a user-selectable toolbar option in the first-window on the display in response to receiving the user selection of the selected hyperlink by the pointing device according to the CPU-executable instructions for hyperlink enhancement, wherein the user-selectable toolbar option is adapted to display on the display a graphical element based on the first URL;

wherein the CPU performs the following in response to the second user selection received by the pointing device according to the CPU-executable instructions for hyperlink enhancement;

storing in the memory the first URL associated with the first page on the computer, and

displaying a graphical element on the display, the graphical element associated with the stored first URL.

33. A method for hyperlink enhancement, comprising:

providing a user-selectable option for a toolbar on a computer having a display and memory, the toolbar being viewable on the display in a first page in a first window of an application in response to a user selection of a selected hyperlink in the first page, wherein the first page is associated with a first uniform resource locator (URL), wherein the selected hyperlink is associated with a second URL and a second page, wherein the user-selectable option is adapted to display on the display a graphical element based on the first URL;

receiving an indication on the computer of a second user selection of the user-selectable option; and

as a result of the second user selection,

storing in the memory of the computer the first URL associated with the first page on the computer; and

displaying a graphical element on the display, the graphical element associated with the stored first URL.

34. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing executable instructions for execution by a computer having a display and memory, the medium storing instructions for:

providing a right mouse click menu option on the computer, the right mouse click menu option viewable on the display in a hypertext page in a first window of a browser in response to a user issuing a right mouse click on a first selected hyperlink in the hypertext page, wherein the hypertext page is associated with a first uniform resource locator (URL), wherein the first selected hyperlink links to a second URL;

receiving a user selection on the computer of the right mouse click menu option;

as a result of the user selection,

storing in the memory of the computer an address associated with the hypertext page address;

enabling the computer to display a second hyperlink on the display, wherein a label of the second hyperlink is associated with the hypertext page and the second hyperlink links to the first URL associated with the hypertext page; and

enabling the computer to display the first hyperlink on the display.

35. A computer for hyperlink display, comprising:

a central processing unit (CPU) having memory storing CPU-executable instructions for hyperlink display;

a pointing device coupled to the CPU to receive a user selection of a selected hyperlink and a second user selection;

a display coupled to the CPU to display a hypertext page in a first window of a browser, wherein the hypertext page is associated with a first uniform resource locator (URL), wherein the hypertext page contains the selected hyperlink, the selected hyperlink links to a second URL;

wherein the CPU displays a right mouse click menu option in the first window on the display in response to receiving the user selection of the selected hyperlink by the pointing device according to the CPU-executable instructions for hyperlink display;

wherein the CPU performs the following in response to the second user selection received by the pointing device according to the CPU-executable instructions for hyperlink display;

storing in the memory an address associated with the hypertext page;

enabling the computer to display a second hyperlink on the display, wherein a label of the second hyperlink is associated with the hypertext page and the second hyperlink links to the first URL associated with the hypertext page; and

enabling the computer to display the first hyperlink on the display.

36. A method for hyperlink display, comprising:

providing a right mouse click menu option on a computer having a display and memory, the right mouse click menu option viewable on the display in a hypertext page in a first window of a browser in response to a user issuing a right mouse click on a selected hyperlink in the hypertext page, wherein the hypertext page is associated with a first uniform resource locator (URL), wherein the selected hyperlink links to a second URL;

receiving a user selection on the computer of the right mouse click menu option;

as a result of the user selection,

storing in the memory of the computer an address associated with the hypertext page;

enabling the computer to display a second hyperlink on the display, wherein a label of the second hyperlink is associated with the hypertext page and the second hyperlink links to the first URL associated with the hypertext page; and

enabling the computer to display the selected hyperlink on the display.

37. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing executable instructions for execution by a computer having a display and memory, the medium storing instructions for:

providing a right mouse click menu option on the computer, the right mouse click menu option viewable on the display in a hypertext page in a first window of a browser in response to a user issuing a right mouse click on a selected graphical hyperlink in the hypertext page, wherein the hypertext page is associated with a first uniform resource locator (URL);

receiving a user selection on the computer of the right mouse click menu option;

as a result of the user selection,

storing in the memory of the computer an address associated with the hypertext page;

enabling the computer to display a second hyperlink on the display,

wherein the second hyperlink links to the first URL associated with the hypertext page and a label of the second hyperlink is the first URL; and

enabling the computer to display the selected graphical hyperlink on the display.

38. A computer for hyperlink display, comprising:

a central processing unit (CPU) having memory storing CPU-executable instructions for hyperlink display;

a pointing device coupled to the CPU to receive a first user selection and a second user selection;

a display coupled to the CPU to display a hypertext page in a first window of a browser, wherein the hypertext page is associated with a first uniform resource locator (URL), wherein the hypertext page contains a selected graphical hyperlink;

wherein the CPU displays right mouse click menu option in the first window of the display in response to receiving the first user selection on the selected graphical hyperlink by the pointing device according to the CPU-executable instructions for hyperlink display;

wherein the CPU performs the following in response to receiving the second user selection received by the pointing device according to the CPU-executable instructions for hyperlink display;

storing in the memory an address associated with the hypertext page;

enabling the computer to display a second hyperlink on the display, wherein the second hyperlink links to the first URL associated with the hypertext page and a label of the second hyperlink is the first URL; and

enabling the computer to display the graphic on the display.

39. A method for hyperlink display, comprising:

providing a right mouse click menu option on a computer having a display and memory, the right mouse click menu option viewable on the display in a hypertext page in a first window of a browser in response to a user issuing a right mouse click on a selected graphical hyperlink in the hypertext page, wherein the hypertext page is associated with a first uniform resource locator (URL);

receiving a user selection on the computer of the right mouse click menu option;

as a result of the user selection,

storing in the memory of the computer an address associated with the hypertext page;

enabling the computer to display a second hyperlink on the display,

wherein the second hyperlink links to the first URL associated with the hypertext page and a label of the second hyperlink is the first URL; and

enabling the computer to display the selected graphical hyperlink on the display.

40. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing executable instructions for execution by a computer having a display and memory, the medium storing instructions for:

providing a right mouse click menu option on the computer, the right mouse click menu option viewable on the display in a hypertext page in a first window of a browser in response to a user issuing a right mouse click, wherein the hypertext page is associated with a first uniform resource locator (URL), wherein the hypertext page contains a first hyperlink, the first hyperlink links to a second URL;

receiving a user selection on the computer of the right mouse click menu option;

as a result of the user selection,

storing in the memory of the computer an address associated with the hypertext page;

enabling the computer to display the first hyperlink on the display in a second window of an application;

enabling the computer to display a second hyperlink on the display in the second window, wherein the second hyperlink links to the first URL associated with the hypertext page; and

enabling the computer to display a graphical element on the display, the graphical element representing the hypertext page, wherein the graphical element is displayed in the second window, and the graphical element is a hyperlink that links to the first URL associated with the hypertext page.

41. A computer for hyperlink display, comprising:

a central processing unit (CPU) having memory storing CPU-executable instructions for hyperlink display;

a pointing device coupled to the CPU to receive a first user selection and a second user selection;

a display coupled to the CPU to display a hypertext page in a first window of a browser, wherein the hypertext page is associated with a first uniform resource locator (URL), wherein the hypertext page contains a first hyperlink, the first hyperlink links to a second URL;

wherein the CPU displays a right mouse click menu option in the first window on the display in response to receiving the first user selection by the pointing device according to the CPU-executable instructions for hyperlink display;

wherein the CPU performs the following in response to receiving the second user selection by the pointing device according to the CPU-executable instructions for hyperlink display;

storing in the memory an address associated with the hypertext page;

enabling the computer to display the first hyperlink on the display in a second window of an application;

enabling the computer to display a second hyperlink on the display in the second window, wherein the second hyperlink links to the first URL associated with the hypertext page; and

enabling the computer to display a graphical element on the display, the graphical element representing the hypertext page, wherein the graphical element is displayed in the second window, and the graphical element is a hyperlink that links to the first URL associated with the hypertext page.

42. A computer for hyperlink display, comprising:

providing a right mouse click menu option on a computer having a display and memory, the right mouse click menu option viewable on the display in a hypertext page in a first window of a browser in response to a user issuing a right mouse click, wherein the hypertext page is associated with a first uniform resource locator (URL), wherein the hypertext page is associated with a first uniform resource locator (URL), wherein the hypertext page contains a first hyperlink, the first hyperlink links to a second URL;

receiving a user selection on the computer of the right mouse click menu option;

as a result of the user selection,

storing in the memory of the computer an address associated with the hypertext page;

enabling the computer to display the first hyperlink on the display in the second window, wherein the second hyperlink links to the first URL associated with the hypertext page; and

enabling the computer to display a graphical element on the display, the graphical element representing the hypertext page, wherein the graphical element is displayed on the display in the second window, and the graphical element is a hyperlink that links to the first URL associated with the hypertext page.