KR20080071558A - Indirect subscriptions to user-selected content feeds and top n lists of content feeds - Google Patents

Abstract

A user may subscribe to a content feed group that includes a set of content feeds. The content feed group includes a first set of content items from the set of included content feeds. The content items are presented in response to a subscription to the content feed group. After a change to a content feed group, such as an addition or a removal of a content feed from the set, a second set of content items, reflecting the changed set of content feeds, are presented. In addition, a label may be applied to one or more content items by a user or in accordance with predefined criteria, rules, or filters. The labeled content items are associated with a secondary feed associated with the label. Other users may subscribe to the secondary feed and be presented with the labeled content items. The label may be system-defined or user defined.

Description

INDIRECT SUBSCRIPTIONS TO USER-SELECTED CONTENT FEEDS AND TOP N LISTS OF CONTENT FEEDS}

The disclosed embodiments generally relate to content syndication, and more particularly to providing indirect subscriptions to feed content.

Content syndication is a popular and growing method for distributing information that is updated periodically, such as news and blog postings, on the Internet. Using content syndication formats such as Really Simple Syndication (RSS), content providers can include links to content and / or content by content feeds. A user can register with these content feeds using an application known as a reader or aggregator. When the content feed is updated with new content items, the new content items are reflected in the user's leader.

The passive user may not want to manage her content feed subscriptions. One way is to adopt another user's content feed registration as her, giving the other user the responsibility to select the content feeds to register. The second user can propagate his list of content feed registrations to a file. The first user can import the file into her collector application and register with the content feeds contained in the file. However, this method also requires some registration management on the first user side, since she is still responsible for unsubscribing content feeds that she no longer wants to register.

Thus, there is a need for a more efficient way to register for feed content.

According to some embodiments, a method for registering to content includes registering a user with a content feed group that includes a set of content feeds; Displaying the first plurality of content items to a user according to a content feed group; And after the content feed group has changed, presenting the second plurality of content items to the user in accordance with the changed content feed group.

According to some embodiments, the above-described operations may be performed by a system having a memory, one or more processors, and one or more modules stored in the memory and configured to be executed by the processor.

According to some embodiments, the instructions for the above-described operations may be included in a computer program product for use in combination with a computer system.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a content feed collection system in accordance with some embodiments.

2 is a flowchart illustrating a process for displaying content selected by another user to a user, in accordance with some embodiments.

3A-3B are flow diagrams illustrating a process for displaying content feeds selected by another user to a user, in accordance with some embodiments.

4 is a flowchart illustrating a process for presenting selected content feeds to a user according to predetermined criteria, in accordance with some embodiments.

5 is a block diagram illustrating a client computer in accordance with some embodiments.

6 is a block diagram illustrating a server computer in accordance with some embodiments.

7 is a diagram illustrating a feed reader user interface in accordance with some embodiments.

8 is a diagram illustrating labels pages according to some embodiments.

9 is a diagram illustrating an active subscriptions page, according to some embodiments.

10 is a diagram illustrating available subscriptions pages in accordance with some embodiments.

11 is a diagram illustrating a data structure for feed content items, in accordance with some embodiments.

Like numbers refer to corresponding parts throughout the figures.

The content feed aggregation system may provide indirect registration. Rather than directly registering content feeds, a user may register with a group of content items, or with a group of content feeds selected by another user or according to predetermined criteria. The selected items or feeds are "repackaging" into a "secondary" content feed and can register a user with them. The content items included in the secondary feed may change as the selection of content items or content feeds changes, and the content items displayed by the user as part of the secondary feed registration change with the changed selection.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a content feed collection system in accordance with some embodiments. The content feed collection system 100 includes a server system 104. Server system 104 is connected via network 106 to one or more client systems 102 and one or more hosts 102 (or “feed sources”). It may be a wireless network, and may include a local are network (LAN), a wide are network (WAN), the Internet, and the like.

Server system 104 accesses content feeds from piece sources 120. Server system 104 includes a server 108 and a database 110. Server 108 functions as the front-end of server system 104. Server 108 retrieves content feeds from feed sources 120 and provides an interface between server system 104 and client system 102. In some embodiments, the functions of server 108 may be divided between or allocated between two or more servers.

Server system 104 stores content items in content feeds of database 110. In some embodiments, database 110 stores both the metadata of each content item (eg, title, description, URL, date / time, and other possible metadata) and content. . However, in some other embodiments, database 110 stores only metadata, not the content of each content item. The database 110 also stores user feed information 112 for multiple users. The user feed information of a particular user identifies the content feed registration as well as the source, filter and read state of that particular user. That is, user feed information associated with a user may include content feeds that the user has registered, filters that the user has defined feeds, any labels that the user has associated with individual feed items, and whether each feed item has been "read" by the user. Identifies an indication of "."

It should be understood that server system 104, including server 108 and database 110, may be implemented as a distributed system of multiple computers. However, for ease of explanation, the server system 104 is described below as being implemented on one computer, which can be considered as a logical system.

The content feed (or channel) is a resource or service that provides a list of content items that are present in, recently added to, or recently updated in the feed source 120. The content item in the content feed is the content associated with the item itself (the actual content that the content item specifies), the title and / or content of the content, a locator (e.g., a URL) of the content, or any thereof. Combinations. For example, if a content item identifies a text article, the content item may include the article itself inline with the title and locator. Alternatively, the content item may include the title, content, and locator except for the article content. Thus, some content items may include content associated with the items, while others include links to related content except the entire content of the items. The content item may also include additional metadata that provides additional information about the content. The full version of the content can be any machine-readable data, including but not limited to web pages, images, digital audio, digital video, Portable Document Format (PDF) documents, and the like.

In some embodiments, the content feed is specified using a content syndication format such as RSS. RSS is an acronym meaning "rich site summary", "RDF site summary", or "Really Simple Syndication". "RSS" may be referred to as any of a group of formats based on an Extensible Markup Language (XML) for specifying a content feed and content items contained within the feed. In some other embodiments, other content syndication formats, such as the Atom syndication format or the VCALENDAR calendar format, can be used to specify content feeds.

Further information regarding the RSS syndication format known as "Really Simple Syndication" is disclosed in D. Winer's "RSS 2.0 Specification", the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. M. Nottingham et al. Disclose additional information regarding the Atom Syndication Format in “The Atom Syndication Format”, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

The user interfaces with the server system 104 and lists the content items in the client system or device 102 (hereinafter referred to as client system for ease of reference). The client system 102 includes a computer 118 or computer control device, such as a PDA (personal digital assistant), a cell phone, or the like (hereinafter referred to as a client system for easy reference). Computer 118 typically includes one or more processors (not shown); Memory, which may include non-volatile memory, such as volatile memory (not shown), and hard disk drive 119; And a display 114. The computer 118 may also include input devices such as a keyboard and a mouse (not shown).

In some embodiments, a user may interact with server system 104 via a feed reader user interface 116, which may be displayed on display 114. The user can generate a list of feed registrations via the feed reader user interface 116. In some embodiments, using feed reader user interface 116, a user can create filters or labels to be applied to content feeds and / or content items, and change the read state of the content feeds and / or content items. Can be. The feed reader user interface transmits a change to the list of content feed registrations, or a list of content feed registrations, to the server system 104 for storage in the database 110. The feed reader user interface 116 displays the content items stored in the database 110 to the user based on the user list of content feed registrations. That is, the feed reader user interface 116 displays to the user the content items specified in the content feeds that the user has registered. The user can list the full version of the content item's content in the feed reader user interface 16 by making a selection (click with the mouse pointer). In some embodiments, a copy of the user list of content feed registrations and copies of the displayed content items may be cached locally at client system 102.

In some embodiments, feed reader user interface 116 may be a web-based user interface. That is, the feed reader user interface 116 includes a number of web pages. Web pages may be written in Hypertext Markup Language (HTML), Extensible Markup Language (XML), or any other suitable language for creating web pages, and may include one or more scripts to interface with server system 104. It may include. A user may register with content feeds, view content items, and, alternatively, interact with server system 104 by interacting with web pages of feed reader user interface 116. In other words, server system 104 including feed reader user interface 116 provides a web-based content collection service. Server system 104 collects and stores content items in accordance with user content feed registrations. In some embodiments, server system 104 may also apply filters or labels, or change the read state of content items in accordance with user actions or instructions. When the user accesses the feed reader user interface 116, the content items are displayed to the user via the feed reader user interface 116.

In some other embodiments, the feed reader user interface 116 may be part of a standalone application running on the client system 102. The independent application may interface with the server system 104 through an application programming interface (API).

2 is a flowchart illustrating a process 200 for displaying content selected by another user to a user, in accordance with some embodiments. At the first client (hereinafter referred to as "client A" for convenience), the first user (hereinafter referred to as "user A" for convenience) may tag one or more content items in the feed reader user interface 116 (FIG. 1). tag (or "label") is applied (202). The content items need not all come from the same content feed, and the content items may come from any number of content feeds that User A has registered. The tag may be a default tag predefined by the system, or may be a tag created and defined by user A. In some embodiments, a user can define a filter or rule for automatically tagging (or "labeling") items for her. For example, a user may set a rule to apply a "sports" tag to all content items with at least one of the keywords such as "baseball", "football", "basketball", "hockey" and "football". have.

For the purposes of this specification, the words "tag" and "label", which can be used as nouns or verbs, are interchangeable.

At the server, tags are applied to one or more content items, which are stored 204 in database 110 (FIG. 1) as user A applies the tag to content items. In some embodiments, the tag is applied at the server by associating content items with the tag in the database (110). Tagged content items are associated with a content feed that includes tagged content items (hereinafter referred to as "secondary feeds") (206). In other words, the secondary feed is a content feed generated from tagged content items. In some embodiments, tagged content items are collected and listed in a content feed document created according to a content syndication format such as RSS or Atom. The content feed document is a secondary feed. In some embodiments, the secondary feed is not only associated with the tag, but also with the user who applied the tag (User A in this case).

The secondary feed is made 208 to be available for registration of other users. In some embodiments, the secondary feed is added to the list of available content feed registrations, which list can be accessed by other users. Other users can browse the list and select a secondary feed for registration. In some embodiments, the availability of supplemental feeds is limited to users selected or approved by Client A. In some embodiments, the set of users who can use the secondary feed may be limited to users having mutual presence subscriptions by Client A and an instant messaging application or service, by selection of Client A. .

At the second client (hereinafter referred to as "client B" for convenience), the second user (hereinafter referred to as "user B" for convenience) registers with the secondary feed (210). Content items in the secondary feed (ie, content items tagged by user A) are displayed 212 to the user. In some embodiments, items that have already been listed by user B in the past may be hidden from the user, and thus the actual displayed content items may be a subset of the items in the secondary feed.

After user B's secondary feed registration, user A may choose to apply the tag to additional content items or to remove the tag from one or more content items to which the tag has been applied. Content items in the secondary feed may change as the user changes the tag. That is, additional items tagged by user A are added to the secondary feed, and the content items that have been removed are removed from the secondary feed. In some embodiments, changes to the secondary feed are also reflected in the presentation of the content items to user B.

3A-3B are flow diagrams illustrating a process for displaying content feeds selected by another user to a user, in accordance with some embodiments. The process 300 of FIG. 3 is now described similar to the process 200 of FIG. 2. At client A, user A applies 302 a tag (or “label”) to one or more content feeds that were registered with user A with feed reader user interface 116 (FIG. 1). The tag may be a base tag predetermined by the system or may be a tag generated and defined by user A. Applying a tag to content feeds creates, at least conceptually, a content feed group that includes a set of one or more content feeds. The content feed group is referred to herein as a secondary feed.

At the server, as user A applies the tag to the content feeds, the tag is applied to the content items in the set of content feeds tagged by the user (304). In some embodiments, the tag is applied at the server by associating content items with the tag in the database 110. The tagged content items are associated 306 with the secondary feed, similar to operation 206 (FIG. 2). In some embodiments, tagged content items are collected and listed in a content feed document created according to a content syndication format such as RSS or Atom. The content feed document is a secondary feed. The secondary feed represents a content feed group, and the secondary feed includes content items included in the content feeds belonging to the content feed group. In some embodiments, the secondary feed is not only associated with the tag, but also with the user who applied the tag (User A in this case).

The secondary feed is made 308 to be available for registration of other users. In some embodiments, the secondary feed is added to the list of available content feed registrations, which list can be accessed by other users. Other users can browse the list and select a secondary feed for registration. In some embodiments, as in processor 200 (FIG. 2), the availability of supplemental feeds is limited to users selected or approved by Client A. In some embodiments, the set of users who can use the secondary feed may be limited to users having mutual presence registration by Client A and an instant messaging application or service, by selection of Client A.

At Client B, User B registers with the secondary feed (310). By registering with the secondary feed, user B registers with the content feed group represented by the secondary feed. Content items in the secondary feed (ie, content items in content feeds belonging to a content feed group and tagged by user A) are displayed 312 to the user. In some embodiments, items that have already been listed by user B in the past may be omitted, and thus the actual displayed content items may be a subset of the items in the tagged content feed.

3B, which illustrates a process 320 for presenting a user with a changed selection of content feeds. After process 300, user A may apply the same tag to additional content feeds, or may remove a tag from one or more content feeds to which the tag was applied. Content items displayed to user B may be changed according to a tag change by user A.

User A changes the tag for the content feeds (322). User A applies the same tag to additional content feeds, or removes the tag from one or more content feeds to which the tag was applied. Change the content feed group by adding content feeds to or removing content feeds from the set of content feeds that were included in the content feed group.

At the server, the tag of the content items is changed 324 according to the tag change made by user A. The tagged content items are associated 326 with the secondary feed, as in operation 306 (FIG. 3A). The tag is applied to the content items of the additional content feeds newly tagged by user A. In some embodiments, the tag applies only to content items in additional content feeds after application of the tag to additional content feeds. In other words, only content items from additional content feeds after the secondary feed update are added to the secondary feed. In some other embodiments, the tag is applied to all content items in additional content feeds. That is, all content items in the newly tagged content feeds are added to the secondary feed.

For content feeds that have been tagged, in some embodiments, content items after tag removal from the content feeds are not tagged. In other words, the tag does not apply to content items in the content feed from which the tag was removed at the time the tag was removed from the content feed. Thus, content items after the content feed has been removed from the content feed group are not included in the secondary feed, and the items before the removal may remain in the secondary feed. In some other embodiments, the tag is removed from all content items in the content feed from which the tag was removed. As a result, all content items in the removed content feed are removed from the secondary feed.

After the process 300, under the assumption that the registration of the tagged content feed is still valid, the content items in the secondary feed are displayed to user B (328). The displayed content items include content items added to the secondary feed as a result of adding the content feed to the content feed group, and may exclude content items removed from the secondary feed as a result of removing the content feed from the content feed group. As described above, content items read by the user may be excluded from the presentation.

Although processes 200, 300, and 320 have been disclosed to include two users on separate clients, they use a multi-user computer with a user account and profile for each user of the computer, but collect content at different times. By using a service, it should be understood that the processes described above can include more than one user.

4 is a flowchart illustrating a process for displaying to a user content feeds selected according to predetermined criteria in accordance with some embodiments. In some embodiments, rules, filters or criteria for tagging content feeds may be predetermined. These rules, filters or criteria can be used to automatically generate secondary feeds that a user can register. For example, the rule may be to tag the five most registered content feeds. This rule will generate a secondary feed containing content items from the top five content feeds for the entire registrations. As the number of registrations changes, the content feeds of the top five content feeds may change. The list of content items in the tagged content feed changes to reflect changes in the list of the top five content feeds.

Tag criteria, rules or filters are identified (402). The tag is applied 404 to content items of content feeds that meet the tag criteria / rules / filters. For example, using the above example of a rule to tag the top five registration feeds, content items of the five most registered content feeds are tagged. The tag criteria / rules / filters define a content feed group containing content feeds that satisfy the criteria / rules / filters. Tagged content items are associated 406 with a secondary feed representing a group of content feeds defined by criteria / rules / filters, similar to operations 206 (FIG. 2) and operations 306 (FIG. 3). The secondary feed is made 408 to be available for registration of the user, as in operations 208 (FIG. 2) and operations 308 (FIG. 3). The user of the client registers with the secondary feed (410). It should be noted that the registration operation 410 may occur before or after the operations 402-408. Content items in the secondary feed are displayed to the user (412). As described above, content items already listed to the user may be excluded from the display.

The same can be done by predetermined tag criteria, rules or filters, such as the user can add or remove tags from content feeds. Recalling an example of a rule that tags the five most registered content feeds, the list of the top five registered content feeds may change over time. As this list changes, content feeds are automatically removed or added from the content feed group. As a result, the content items may be removed from or added to the secondary feed, similar to removing and adding content items from the secondary feed in process 320.

In addition, a tag criterion or rule or filter for tagging individual content items from any number of content feeds allows a user to tag content items from any number of content feeds (as disclosed in connection with process 200). Can be generated similarly. For example, a rule may be created for tagging content items with a particular keyword. Such rules may be particularly useful for collecting content items related to the person, place, or event that is the story.

As described above, the secondary feed and content items contained within the secondary feed may be associated with the tag and the user to whom the tag is applied. More precisely, the secondary feed can be associated with a user-tag pair. In some embodiments, the content collection service may include privacy options, the privacy options freeing other users (eg, with a list of available registrations) such that these supplemental feeds can be used for registration of other users. Controls whether it can be visible to users or only to users associated with secondary feeds. In some embodiments, other privacy settings limit the view of the secondary feed to only a set of users selected or approved by the user who created the secondary feed. By setting privacy options, a user can control sharing her tagged content items or content feeds with other users. In some embodiments, privacy options are set on a per-tag basis. In some embodiments, the default privacy setting for each tag is a maximum privacy setting. As a result, the secondary feed associated with the tag applied by the first user is made available to other users only if the first user has chosen a privacy setting that is less stringent than the default privacy setting.

In some embodiments, the predetermined criteria or rule or filter for tagging content feeds or content items is logically at the server, as if a "virtual user" tagging content items or content feeds is a real user of the service. Can be implemented. That is, a virtual user meaning a criterion / rule / filter is created, and related data is stored in the server. In some embodiments, privacy options for a virtual user are always set to freely share a secondary feed with other users. Secondary feeds generated as a result of tag criteria / rules / filters are associated with a virtual user. By implementing tag criteria / rules / filters as virtual users, the data of the content collection service can share the same structure, making the data storage more effective.

By tagging content items and content feeds and allowing generating secondary feeds from them, the content collection service enables indirect registration. The user can tag content items or content feeds of interest to her.

A user may register with a secondary feed created by another user or by a predetermined rule that tags items or feeds, thereby delegating responsibility for content registration to another user or group, and / or ( For example, you can get interesting or noteworthy content from reasons such as popular ones with many registrants, and topics about the person you are talking to.

5 is a block diagram illustrating a client computer in accordance with some embodiments. Client computer 500 typically includes one or more processing units (CPUs) 502, one or more network or other communication interfaces 506, memory 504, and one or more buses 514 for interconnecting these components. Include. The client computer 500 may also include a display device 510 and a user interface 508 that includes a keyboard and / or mouse 512. Memory 504 may include fast random access memory, such as DRAM, SRAM, DDR RAM, or other random access solid state memory device, and may include one or more magnetic disk storage devices, optical disk storage devices, Non-volatile memory, such as flash memory devices, or other non-volatile solid state storage devices. Memory 504 may optionally include one or more storage devices remotely located from CPU (s) 502. In some embodiments, memory 504 stores the following programs, modules, and data structures, or a subset thereof:

An operating system 516 that includes procedures for handling various basic system services and for performing hardware dependent tasks;

Client system 500 through one or more communication network interfaces 506 and through one or more communication networks such as the Internet, other wide area networks (WANs), local area networks (LANs), metropolitan area networks (MANs), and the like. A network communication module 518 used to connect) to other computers;

A feed reader module 520 for handling content items from content feeds; And

Client application 530, such as a web browser.

The feed reader module 520 includes a content tagging module 522 for tagging content items and content feeds in response to user input.

In some embodiments, feed reader module 520 may be a script-based module included in a web page provided from server system 104 (FIG. 1). The web page may be reproduced by a client application 530 such as a web browser on the client computer 500. When the web page is reproduced, the feed reader module 520 is executed and provides a web-based interface with the server system. The script-based feed lead module may be written in JavaScript, ECMAScript or any other suitable scripting language.

In some other embodiments, the feed reader module 520 may be a standalone application stored in the memory 504 of the client computer 500. Standalone applications may include, but are not limited to, feed collection applications. In yet other embodiments, the feed reader module 520 may be an add-on or plug-in of another application. For example, the feed reader module 520 may be a plug-in of a web browser application or an email application.

In some embodiments, received content items may be cached locally in memory 504. Similarly, a user list of content feed registrations may also be cached locally in memory 504.

Each of the identified elements may be stored in one or more of the aforementioned memory devices. Each of the identified modules corresponds to a set of instructions for performing the function described above. The identified modules or programs (ie, a set of instructions) do not have to be implemented as individual software programs, procedures or modules, so subsets of these modules may be combined in various embodiments, or rearranged. Can be. In some embodiments, memory 504 may store a subset of the data structures and modules identified above. In addition, memory 504 may store additional modules and data structures not disclosed above.

6 is a block diagram illustrating a server computer in accordance with some embodiments. Server computer 600 typically includes one or more processing units (CPUs) 602, one or more network or other communication interfaces 606, memory 604, and one or more buses 610 for interconnecting these components. Include. Server computer 600 may optionally include a display device (not shown) and a user interface 608 that may include a keyboard and / or a mouse (not shown). Memory 604 may include fast random access memory, such as DRAM, SRAM, DDR RAM, or other random access solid state memory device, and may include one or more magnetic disk storage devices, optical disk storage devices, flash memory devices, or other nonvolatile memory. Non-volatile memory, such as a solid state storage device. Memory 604 may optionally include one or more storage devices remotely located from CPU (s) 602. In some embodiments, memory 604 stores the following programs, modules, and data structures, or a subset thereof:

An operating system 612 including procedures for handling various basic system services and for performing hardware dependent tasks;

The server system 600 is connected to another computer through one or more communication network interfaces 606 and one or more communication networks such as the Internet, other wide area networks (WANs), local area networks (LANs), metropolitan area networks (MANs), and the like. Network communication module 614 used to connect to the devices;

A feed tracker module 616 for retrieving content items from storage periodically and / or when the content feed is updated;

A feed content provisioning module 617 for identifying content items from feeds to which the users have registered and sending them to the user;

User data 618 including data for each user of the service;

Feed content items 620 including content items from content feeds;

A content item tag module 624 for tagging content items; And

* Tag criteria 626 including criteria, rules or filters for automatically tagging content items.

Feed content items 620 include content items 622 associated with one or more tags. The content item may be associated with one or more tags. In some embodiments feed content items 620 may be stored as a database of content items and tags.

User data 618 includes data for users of the service, such as login information and user preferences. User data 618 may include registration lists (not shown) that include a list of user feed registrations. Each user has a list of corresponding content feed registrations.

Feed content supply module 617 identifies the content item in accordance with user feed registrations and sends it to the user. The feed content supply module 617 may update the user data 618 to identify content items listed by the user, thereby preventing the same items from being repeatedly sent to the user. Optionally, according to, for example, a service feature selected by the user, the feed content supply module 617 may bookmark the content item selected by the user or bookmarked by the user. User data 618 may be updated to record other information, such as identifying information.

Each of the identified elements may be stored in one or more of the aforementioned memory devices. Each of the identified modules corresponds to a set of instructions for performing the function described above. The identified modules or programs (ie, a set of instructions) do not have to be implemented as individual software programs, procedures or modules, so subsets of these modules may be combined in various embodiments, or rearranged. Can be. In some embodiments, memory 604 may store a subset of the data structures and modules identified above. In addition, memory 604 may store additional modules and data structures not disclosed above.

Although FIG. 6 illustrates a “server computer,” FIG. 6 is intended to be a functional description of the various features that may be in a set of servers rather than the structural schematic of the embodiments disclosed above. In practice, and as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the individually illustrated items may be combined and some items may be separated. For example, some items shown separately in FIG. 6 may be implemented in a single server, and single items may also be implemented in one or more servers.

7 illustrates a feed reader user interface in accordance with some embodiments. The feed reader user interface 116 allows a user to specifically list content items from her registered content feeds. Feed reader user interface 116 (hereinafter referred to as “UI”) includes one or more buttons, menus, links, etc. 710 for activating and deactivating various functions and features.

The user can list the content items in the "universal view". The universal view includes a list 702 of content items from all user registration feeds with new content items not yet listed by the user. The list 702 may be generated by the feed content supply module 617 of the server computer 600, for example. In some embodiments, various criteria, such as the publication date and time, and the number of items published from the same source but not yet viewed by the user, limit the items to be included in the list 702 (in the feed content supply module 617). Can be used). For example, items issued more than X days ago (eg, 7 days) may be excluded. In another example, if there are more than Y (eg 10) unlisted items from the same source, only the most recent Y unlisted items from the source may be included in the list 702.

The content items 704 shown in the list 702 may be interleaved regardless of the source. In some embodiments, the list is sorted by date of issue and time, for example by reverse date. Also, in some embodiments, the list may only show content items that the user did not list. The list represents identification information for the content items, such that the user can identify the content item that she wants to view and select. The UI 116 can have a finite size, and the list can be suitable for the UI. As it can include more items, the UI 116 can display a subset of the content items in a given period, and the user can scroll the list to find other content items. The list may also include an indicator 706 that indicates in total how many content items are in the list. Alternatively, indicator 706 may indicate the number of content items not yet listed.

From the list, the user can select a content item. When the user selects an item from the list in the universal view, the UI 116 can display the full version of the content in the viewer region 708. For example, if the selected content item (indicated by a thick bordered box) includes a link to an article on a news website or a link to a blog post, the article or blog post may be displayed in the viewer area 708 respectively. Can be.

The UI 116 also provides a user selectable label button to open a labels page that allows the user to create, view, edit and remove tags (hereinafter referred to as "labels"). labels button 712). The UI 116 can include a pull-down menu 714. The user can use the pull-down menu 714 to apply a label to the currently selected content item.

8 illustrates a label page in accordance with some embodiments. The label page 800 includes a list of labels (or “tags”) 802. The list of labels 802 may include one or more basic, system-defined labels, such as an asterisk (or “favorite” label) 802-A. The list of labels 802 may also include one or more labels generated by the user, such as a "Tech" label 802 -B. Links to the label editing functions 804 are provided for the user-defined label. The user can select a link 804 corresponding to a label defined by a particular user to edit or delete the label. The link 804 to the label editing function is not provided for labels defined by the system, since these labels cannot be edited or deleted by the user. The label page 800 may also include a link 806 for viewing content feeds associated with the label (ie, content feeds within the content feed group indicated by the label), and content items associated with the label (ie, associated with the label). Link 808 for listing content items in the secondary feed. It also includes a button 810 that the user can select to create a new label, and a cancel button 812 to cancel out of the label page 800. In some embodiments, the label may be a character string or an icon (or symbol) corresponding to the string.

9 is a diagram illustrating an active subscriptions page, according to some embodiments. Current registration page 900 includes a list 904 of a user's current registrations. Current registrations 904 include content feeds that a user is registering, in particular content feeds (basic feeds) provided by feed sources 120 (FIG. 1), such as content feed 904 -A. ), And secondary feeds such as secondary feed 904 -B. In some embodiments, the name of the secondary feed 904 -B associated with the label applied by the real user (as opposed to the virtual user described above) is (by labeling one or more content feeds and / or content items). It contains the name of the user who created the secondary feed, and the string of the label itself. The registration page 900 also includes labels 902 associated with the registered content feeds 904, if present. Each registered content feed 904 may have zero or more labels. In some embodiments, even registered secondary feeds may have zero or more labels.

The registration page includes links 906 for listing content items associated with the corresponding registered content feed 904, pull-down menus 908 for adding labels to the registered content feeds 904, and It may further include links 910 for unregistering some of the registered content feeds 904. The cancel button 912 may be selected by the user to cancel out of the registration page 900.

10 is a diagram illustrating an available registration page, in accordance with some embodiments. The available registration page 100 lists the content feeds that the user has not registered but can register. The available registration page 100 includes a list of available content feeds 100 and links 1004 from which the user can select to register with the corresponding content feed. The available content feeds in list 1002 may include any number of content feeds from feed sources 120 (FIG. 1), and any number of auxiliary feeds. A cancel button 1006 may be included to cancel out of the available registration page 100. In some embodiments, search box 1008 and search button 1010 may be included. The user may enter one or more keywords or other parameters into the search box 1008 and select the search button 1010 to search for content feeds that match the entered keywords and / or parameters.

11 is a diagram illustrating a data structure for feed content items, in accordance with some embodiments. As discussed above, server computer 600 (FIG. 6) may store multiple feed content items 620. Feed content items may be stored in a data structure, such as table data structure 960. Feed content items 620 include tagged content items 622 (content items each associated with one or more tags), as well as content items not associated with any tag. Feed content table 960 includes a row 970 for each content item from each feed source. Each row includes one or more fields 971 and 972 that identify a content item, such as content ID 971 and feed ID 972 (identifying a feed source of the content item). In some embodiments, the content ID may include information that uniquely identifies the feed source, in which case the feed ID 972 may be omitted. Each row 970 may further include content 973 of the content item. The content 973 may include metadata of the content item (eg, such as title, content, URL, date / date, and other possible metadata), and may further include the actual item of the content item. In addition, each row 970 includes columns 975 or fields for each registered user of the system. The user data in this column may include a viewed flag 976, which indicates whether the user corresponding to this column has viewed the content item associated with the row 970 containing the user data, and one or more users. It may optionally include additional user information, such as the specified labels or flags 978. The user can tag or label the content items as well as the content feeds, and a record of the tag or label that the user associated with each labeled content item is stored in the user data 975. In some embodiments, the system allows users to tag or label individual content items using predetermined tags or labels (e.g., stars, red, blue, etc.), and in some embodiments, additional user defined labels. Allow users to tag or label individual content items. In addition, the content item indicated by row 970 can be tagged by any number of users.

As mentioned above, a user can set privacy options to control her tagged content items and free disclosure (or availability of registration) to other users. In some embodiments, the content collection service may be integrated with a user address book or contact list. As part of the integration, better privacy options can be made available to the user. The user can use better privacy options to control the free disclosure of tagged content items or feeds to other users, as well as to specific contacts or groups of contacts in the user's address book or contact list. have. This provides a wider range of disclosures, scope to full disclosure, limited disclosure to authorized contacts, or no disclosure. In some other embodiments, the content collection service may be further integrated with a social networking service that includes, among other things, profiles relating to the interests and affiliations of the user. Privacy control may be adapted to control the release of tagged content items or feeds to other users who may share common interests, affiliation, and the like.

The foregoing description has been described with reference to specific embodiments. However, the illustrative discussions above are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed. Many variations and modifications are possible from the above teachings. The present embodiments have been selected and disclosed in order to best explain the principles of the present invention and its practical application, and thus those skilled in the art will, through consideration, various modifications of the present invention and various embodiments to suit particular uses. Can be used best together.

Claims (36)

As a method of registering in content, Registering the user with a content feed group, wherein the content feed group includes a set of content feeds; Displaying a first plurality of content items to the user according to the content feed group; And After the change of the content feed group, displaying a second plurality of content items to the user according to the changed content group. Including, content registration method. The method of claim 1, And displaying the first plurality of content items comprises displaying a plurality of individual content items included in the set of content feeds of the content feed group. The method of claim 1, And displaying the second plurality of content items comprises displaying a plurality of individual content items included in the modified set of content feeds of the modified content feed group. The method of claim 1, And wherein said change in said content feed group is made by another user. The method of claim 1, And said change of said content feed group is made automatically according to a rule. As a system for registering to the content, Memory; One or more processors; And One or more modules stored in the memory and configured to be executed by the one or more processors Including, the modules, Instructions for registering a user to a content feed group, wherein the content feed group includes a set of content feeds; Instructions for displaying a first plurality of content items to the user in accordance with the content feed group; And After the change of the content feed group, instructions for displaying a second plurality of content items to the user according to the changed content group. The method of claim 6, Instructions for displaying a plurality of individual content items included in the set of content feeds of the content feed group. The method of claim 6, Instructions for displaying a plurality of individual content items included in the modified set of content feeds of the modified content feed group. The method of claim 6, Wherein the change in the content feed group is made by another user. The method of claim 6, Wherein said change in said content feed group is made automatically according to a rule. A computer program product for use in combination with a computer system, comprising a computer readable storage medium and a computer program mechanism recorded thereon, The computer program mechanism, Registering the user with a content feed group, wherein the content feed group includes a set of content feeds; Displaying a first plurality of content items to the user according to the content feed group; And After the change of the content feed group, displaying a second plurality of content items to the user according to the changed content group. A computer program product comprising instructions for use. The method of claim 11, And displaying the first plurality of content items comprises displaying a plurality of individual content items included in the set of content feeds of the content feed group. The method of claim 11, And displaying the second plurality of content items comprises displaying a plurality of individual content items included in the modified set of the content feeds of the modified content feed group. The method of claim 11, And said alteration of said content feed group is made by another user. The method of claim 11, And said alteration of said content feed group is made automatically according to a rule. As a system for registering to the content, Means for registering a user to a content feed group, wherein the content feed group includes a set of content feeds; Means for displaying a first plurality of content items to the user in accordance with the content feed group; And Means for displaying a second plurality of content items to the user in accordance with the changed content group after the change of the content feed group. Including, the content registration system. As a way of providing content, Applying a tag to one or more content items; Associating the content items with the applied tag with a secondary feed; And Providing the content items associated with the secondary feed in response to registration of the secondary feed Including a content providing method. The method of claim 17, The tag includes a tag associated with the user, And the secondary feed comprises a secondary feed associated with the user. The method of claim 18, And the content items comprise content items included in one or more content feeds that the user has registered. The method of claim 18, And the tag comprises a tag defined by a user. The method of claim 18, And applying the tag includes applying the tag to the content items in response to instructions from the user. The method of claim 17, Applying the tag to the content items, Applying the tag to a content feed; And Applying the tag to each content item included in the content feed having the applied tag. The method of claim 17, The applying of the tag includes applying the tag to one or more content items that meet a predetermined criterion. The method of claim 17, Associating the content items with the applied tag with the secondary feed includes collecting the content items with the applied tag into the secondary feed. As a way of providing content, Registering a user with a secondary feed, wherein the secondary feed includes one or more content items associated with a tag; And Displaying the content items to the user Including a content providing method. A system for providing content, Memory; One or more processors; And One or more modules stored in the memory and configured to be executed by the one or more processors Including, the modules, Instructions for applying a tag to one or more content items; Instructions for associating the content items with the applied tag with a secondary feed; And Instructions for providing the content items associated with the supplemental feed in response to registration of the supplemental feed. A computer program product for use in combination with a computer system, comprising a computer readable storage medium and a computer program mechanism recorded thereon, The computer program mechanism, Applying a tag to one or more content items; Associating the content items with the applied tag with a secondary feed; And Providing the content items associated with the secondary feed in response to registration of the secondary feed A computer program product comprising instructions for. The method of claim 27, The tag includes a tag associated with the user, And the supplementary feed comprises a supplementary feed associated with the user. The method of claim 28, And the content items comprise content items included in one or more content feeds the user has registered. The method of claim 28, Wherein the tag comprises a tag defined by a user. The method of claim 28, Instructions for applying the tag include instructions for applying the tag to the content items in response to instructions from the user. The method of claim 27, Instructions for applying the tag to the content items include: Applying the tag to a content feed; And And instructions for applying the tag to each content item included in the content feed having the applied tag. The method of claim 27, The instructions for applying the tag include instructions for applying the tag to one or more content items that meet a predetermined criterion. The method of claim 27, Instructions for associating the content items with the applied tag with the supplemental feed include instructions for collecting the content items with the applied tag into the supplemental feed. A computer program product for use in combination with a computer system, comprising a computer readable storage medium and a computer program mechanism recorded thereon, The computer program mechanism, Registering a user with a secondary feed, wherein the secondary feed includes one or more content items associated with a tag; And Displaying the content items to the user A computer program product comprising instructions for. A system for providing content, Means for applying a tag to one or more content items; Means for associating the content items with the applied tag with a secondary feed; And Means for providing the content items associated with the secondary feed in response to registration of the secondary feed Including, the content providing system.

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