Searching and browsing URLs and URL history

• US 20070016543A1
• Filed: 07/12/2005
• Published: 01/18/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 07/12/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Huang, Li-Hsin, Davis, Jeffrey, Van Dok, Cornelis, Epling, Jeremiah
• Granted Patent: US 7,831,547 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9562 Bookmark management
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0481 based on specific properties of the displayed interaction object or a metaphor-based environment, e.g. interaction with desktop elements like windows or icons, or assisted by a cursor's changing behaviour or appearance
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04842 Selection of displayed objects or displayed text elements G06F3/0482 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04847 Interaction techniques to control parameter settings, e.g. interaction with sliders or dials
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/451 Execution arrangements for user interfaces

Abstract

System(s) and/or method(s) (“tools”) are described that present indicia for implicitly and explicitly user-associated web pages of a network browser application. The tools can present these indicia in a single graphic user interface, in response to a user'"'"'s selection of a single unified access point, or in response to a search of the browser'"'"'s user-associated web pages.

Claims

1. One or more computer-readable media embodying computer-readable instructions that, when executed, implement a method comprising:

receiving a selection to present indicia for implicitly and explicitly user-associated web pages of a network browser application; and

presenting the indicia.

2. The media of claim 1, further comprising presenting a single unified access point and wherein the act of receiving the selection comprises receiving selection of the single unified access point with a single user action.

3. The media of claim 1, wherein the act of presenting the indicia comprises presenting the indicia in a single navigable window.

4. The media of claim 3, wherein the single navigable window is docked within a graphic user interface of the network browser application.

5. The media of claim 1, further comprising:

enabling selection of two or more of the indicia with a single user action;

receiving selection of two or more of the indicia to provide selected indicia; and

opening web pages associated with the selected indicia without further user action.

6. The media of claim 1, wherein the act of presenting the indicia comprises presenting the indicia arranged in two or more groups, each of the groups having a group indicia, and further comprising:

enabling selection of one of the group indicia with a single user action;

receiving selection of one of the group indicia to provide selected web pages associated with the group indicia; and

associating the selected web pages with a user.

7. One or more computer-readable media embodying computer-readable instructions that, when executed, implement a browser application configured to implement a single graphic user interface presenting indicia of explicitly and implicitly user-associated web pages.

8. The media of claim 7, wherein the single graphic user interface is a single navigable window.

9. The media of claim 8, wherein the indicia of the explicitly and implicitly user-associated web pages are presented in a single region of the single navigable window.

10. The media of claim 8, wherein the indicia of the implicitly user-associated web pages are presented in a first region of the single navigable window and the indicia of the explicitly user-associated web pages are presented in a second region of the single navigable window.

11. The media of claim 7, wherein the single graphic user interface is a floating entity.

12. The media of claim 7, wherein one or more of the indicia of the explicitly and implicitly user-associated web pages comprise a truncated universal resource locator.

13. The media of claim 7, wherein the indicia of the explicitly and implicitly user-associated web pages are presented in a single hierarchy.

14. The media of claim 7, wherein the indicia of the implicitly user-associated web pages are presented in an order reflecting a number of times that the implicitly user-associated web pages have been viewed by a user within a period of time.

15. A method comprising:

receiving textual user input;

searching metadata or content of implicitly and explicitly user-associated web pages of a network browser application for the textual user input to provide found implicitly and explicitly user-associated web pages; and

presenting indicia for the found implicitly and explicitly user-associated web pages.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the act of presenting is performed without additional user input.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein:

the act of searching comprises multiple acts of searching, each act of searching comprising searching for each character and predecessor characters of the textual user input as the characters are input; and

the act of presenting is performed responsive to each of the multiple acts of searching.

18. The method of claim 15, wherein the act of searching comprises searching universal resource locators, metatag keywords, metatag descriptions, user-defined keywords, and content of the user-associated web pages and further comprising ordering the found implicitly and explicitly user-associated web pages by weighing in which and to what quantity the textual user input is found in the universal resource locators, metatag keywords, metatag descriptions, user-defined keywords, and content of the found implicitly and explicitly user-associated web pages to provide ordered search results, and wherein the act of presenting comprises presenting the indicia for the found implicitly and explicitly user-associated web pages according to the ordered search results.

19. The method of claim 15, further comprising ordering the found implicitly and explicitly user-associated web pages into groups having the same domain name, and wherein the act of presenting comprising presenting the found implicitly and explicitly user-associated web pages in the groups.

20. The method of claim 15, wherein the act of presenting comprises presenting indicia for the found implicitly and explicitly user-associated web pages in a single region of a graphic user interface.