WO2006000053A1

WO2006000053A1 - Method of webpage structuring

Info

Publication number: WO2006000053A1
Application number: PCT/AU2005/000939
Authority: WO
Inventors: Wayne Connolly; Bevan Sly; Bren Norris
Original assignee: Widestream Pty Ltd
Priority date: 2004-06-25
Filing date: 2005-06-27
Publication date: 2006-01-05

Abstract

A method of webpage structuring including displaying a menu tree and by a single click on a menu item in the menu tree a webpage is selected and can have its name amended; by double clicking instead the page becomes available for editing; by the single click the page as shown by the menu item in the menu tree can be dragged over the visual display of the menu tree into a new position connectable to a new part of the tree. Therefore a break occurs in the menu tree and a single or dual reconnection occurs to ensure all menu items are reconnected into the newly configured tree.

Description

Method of webpage structuring

FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to organisation of web pages and in particular to a method of webpage structuring.

BACKGROUND Web pages are usually static structures that are not readily recreated without the assistance of a web programmer.

Generally all known systems have the file management component and the menu organisation component into two separate operations which are even undertaken by two separate groups of programmers.

In file management, it is known to allow some drag and drop operation of files in file management systems such as Windows Explorer. However such systems have a rigid hierarchy and only allow the reconnection of a branch as an end of another branch. There can be no breakage and rearrangement of the branches into a different hierarchical system. Such limitations are primarily due to the fundamental nature of storing data on computer memory where there are digital addresses pointing to particular data locations and if any address is broken (or corrupted) the data might still be on the data storage, but is no longer readily accessible as there is no directional instruction to that stored location.

In webpage organisation it is known to have a set of web pages which are identified by their own particular URLs and arranged into a particular configuration or hierarchy. The arrangement is generally shown by a sitemap of the web address. The usual structure is a home page followed by a set of main pages each with their own sub-pages such that a multibranch tree structure is formed.

The same complications occur in webpage organisation as in file management systems in that addresses pointing to particular web pages and if any address is broken (or corrupted) the webpage might still exist, but is no longer readily accessible as there is no directional instruction to that address.

It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a system which allows manoeuvrability of files and web pages.

It is also an object of the invention to provide a method of webpage structuring which overcomes or at least ameliorates the problems of the prior art.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with the invention there is provided a dynamic hierarchy system for web pages where the creation and location of a menu title in an interactive sitemap simultaneously creates and structures a hierarchy, the recordal of correct addressing of relative location of web pages and (additionally) the required supporting code to render the web pages in the correct fashion. This allows for authentication and correlated content addition.

The system can use Flash technology

The dynamic hierarchy system is for unified file management, menu organisation and navigation.

The invention also provides a system of creating webpages by providing a block of operative code for use in webpage construction, in which a webpage has a predetermined active template of a plurality of blocks in which data of various forms can be selectively created and the active template providing an active visual placement of the blocks depending on the number or type or size of blocks selected and automatically format the selected blocks with the created data on a webpage and block of operative code instigates a set of functions for providing an operative programmed change to the webpage.

The functions include one or more of the following: • Automatic allocation of filename • Automatic web address of page based on filename • Automatic primary menu item creation on top or side of web site • Automatic position in a hierarchy of web pages • Automatic presentation of blocks of defined data • Automatic finalisation of webpage • Automatic alteration of front end of website

The system also provides a method of providing structuring web pages by use of a block of operative code in webpage hierarchy construction or management, where the visual placement of an menu item image, representing content including text and forms, relative to one or more other menu item images instigates a set of functions for providing an operative programmed change to the webpage structure.

The functions include one or more of the following: • Breaking of linkages of one or more webpage menu items • Automatic relinking of all webpage menu items according to visual arrangement • Automatic rearrangement of menu items in site map • Automatic rearrangement of primary and secondary menu of web pages • Automatic finalisation of webpage hierarchy structure • Automatic alteration of front end of website

The changes to the structure include menu tree as well as web page addressing, and web page indexing for file management.

The multiple operations have been uniquely integrated into an improved combination with a seamless operation that provides an added bonus of allowing a non- programmer to undertake a number of program steps to arrive at the result that is required. That is the user who would usually define the required result of webpage hierarchy and request a programmer to provide the required structure can themselves define the result and automatically have the structure created as they require. The dynamic hierarchy system can allow drag and drop menu items from one menu position to another. It can further allow creation of new menu items and files in one seamless operation and delete menu items and files uniformly without resultant broken links in the menu tree hierarchy. The system still further can generate a unique filename for created or redirected files transparently to the user such that the user can automatically allow the system to define the file address without any required interaction.

The invention further provides a method of creating a changeable hierarchy where the current hierarchy is presented in a visual manner by visually presented elements and, through a rearrangement of the visually presented elements of this hierarchy, a new hierarchy can be created with connections between files reconfigured in accordance with the visual rearrangement.

The method provides an automatic recreation of the hierarchy and the related pages and presentations by having a block of code which is automatically instigated by the rearrangement of the present visual hierarchy.

At any point during the editing of the menu in the visual GUI you can press a preview button which sets off the following series of events: 1 - It will send the names of any new menu items created to the scripting language, which will create a new page on the filesystem, copied from a blank template PHP file. 2 - It will send the current state of the menu to the scripting language, which in turn will update the Database with the menu hierarchy. 3 - It will launch a browser window with the new menu hierarchy displayed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS hi order that the invention is more readily understood an example will be described by way of illustration only with reference to the drawings wherein: Figure 1 is a flow diagram of the action of the method of web page structuring in accordance with one embodiment of the invention; Diagrams 1 to 12 are display page examples of steps undertaken in the method of web page structuring in accordance with one embodiment of the invention as detailed in Figure 1.

EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION Referring to the flow diagram it shows a particular embodiment of the method of the invention. Details of the functional programming steps that make this method different including the following: a menu tree is displayed; by a single click on a menu item in the menu tree a webpage is selected and can have its name amended; by double clicking instead the page becomes available for editing; by the single click the page as shown by the menu item in the menu tree can be dragged over the visual display of the menu tree into a new position connectable to a new part of the tree .

This can be by being a different final branch connected at a different position or can be in the middle of a trunk or branch so as to reconfigure the style of the menu tree. Therefore a break occurs in the menu tree and a single or dual reconnection occurs to ensure all menu items are reconnected into the newly configured tree. That is no webpage is left disconnected. Releasing of the click after the drag of the visual display menu item will begin the reconnection process.

The reconfigured menu tree does not only provide a new menu but provides a change in the real page orientation and the display of page contents and other related content.

The method of reconstruction is by having a coded package behind the operation step such that when the visual menu step is located at the desired location a series of programmed steps occur to reconfigure the menu tree as well as reconfigure the addresses of the web pages and reconfigure the navigation to the web pages such as index lists. The method also includes add on construction by having a coded package behind the operation step such that when the visual menu step is created at the desired location a series of programmed steps occur to reconfigure the menu tree as well as reconfigure the addresses of the web pages and reconfigure the navigation to the web pages such as index lists.

Some examples the operations that occur due to the physical movement of a menu item or creation of a menu item on a visual display of a menu tree are as follows:

The operation is by the automatic instigation of a coded package behind the operation of adding "New Page" the following program steps occur: 1. Add new page with single button click. 2. Automatic allocation of file name to page 3. allow amendment of file name to page 4. preview of page to finalise page creation 5. automatic web address of page based on filename 6. automatic primary menu item creation on top or side of web site 7. double click to enter edit mode 8. provide html template with plurality of defined blocks for data of various forms 9. provide selection window and creation window such that various content can be cut and pasted or created and then add content into a defined block with draggable items (including functionality) 10. alter order of blocks in creation window by dragging 11. preview to finalise created blocks of data of various forms in predefined formatted blocks of html template thereby presenting blocks in relative positions and sizes and styles as defined in template to provide final webpage 12. Place webpage in hierarchy with single movement by grabbing menu item of crated filename presented in visual hierarchy and dragging to new position of hierarchy 13. Automatically breaking address links of grabbed menu item including parent and child link if required 14. Maintaining control of all menu items regardless of broken links due to visual representation of broken hierarchy of menu items 15. Relinking all menu items when grabbed menu item is released to reconnect all menu items into hierarchy defined by visual display of menu items 16. Submitting to finalise web pages for display at web address 17. Automatically altering menu item displays in site map of web pages 18. Automatically altering primary menu and secondary menu of web pages 19. Website is then re-recreated for the next individual that views the front end.

By the automatic instigation of the coded package behind the operation of adding "Alter Site/Page" the following program steps occur: 1. Any of above steps 1 - 18 2. Submit 3. Website is then re-created for the next individual that views the front end.

This is different in action to, for example, a dynamic hierarchy of Windows Explorer where you can drag a file anywhere or the standard operation of a computer when you create a filename. Primarily the creation of a file is not the issue, as many applications have this ability. However this method differs in that this is not a file as such but the combination of a web page(file) and database procedure. In particular after completion of this web page the file already has: -content -menu placement and integration -context -version control -application functionality such as 'access privileges', 'image gallery', 'forms' etc

The user has the ability to create all of this before the web page file is actually created. Once satisfied that the page is publishable the user simply hits 'submit' and the entire website is re-created for the next individual that views the front end. If unsatisfied that the placement of the web page is correct, the user can then 'drag and drop' the corresponding sitemap entry into another position. The entire website is then re-created for the next individual that views the front end.

It can in particular be seen that this method is different and inventive to known methods as no coding is required at any time, in fact coding impedes the productivity of the webpage creation.

When the menu is first loaded from the database a number of menu items are shown organised in a vertical tree-like formation. This formation determines the menu structure of the web site. The menu items sitting in the left-most position of this formation make up the initial menu for the web site. The children of these menu items will make up the sub-menus when traversing the web site. When the menu is larger than the available screen space, a scrollbar is present to scroll the menu tree up and down accordingly. However the system is not limit to just a scroll bar for this but other means can be used which provide the ability to focus in and out of hierarchical fragments.

The menu specialises in ease-of-use and this can be especially seen in the manipulation of the menu tree. If a menu item is clicked on and dragged with the mouse, it can be placed anywhere in the menu tree and all the other menu items will adjust accordingly. As the item is dragged the other menu items will make space to allow for easy placement. If the menu tree is larger than the available screen space, the dragged item can be moved above or below the menu space to allow for movement/re-location to other areas of the menu tree. When the mouse button is released the item is dropped into the closest available space.

When an item is clicked on or dragged its name appears in a panel above the menu tree, where it can be edited easily. The name is an important part of the menu item because this makes up the filename of the page and is also what appears in the web menu. Double-clicking on a menu item will open up content manipulation for the page of that item. Adding a new menu item is just as easy as manipulating the menu tree. An 'Add New Item' button, when clicked, produces a new menu item that will appear and be dragged by the mouse, and can then be placed as if manipulating the menu tree. This new item can then be named and the new file for this page will take this name also.

A 'Save' button allows a function to traverse the menu tree and collect all the information that has changed since the last save and update the database and rename any files that need changing. Also any new items added since the last save will be inserted into the database and a new page will be created from a set template.

The communication from Flash to the web server and to the database is achieved through the use of an open-source project called PHPObject. It allows Flash to create, within itself, an instance of a PHP class, where it has access to all of the classes variables and functions.

It should be understood that the disclosed embodiment is an example of the invention. Clearly differences which are readily understood by a person skilled in the art without any inventive input are included within the scope of the invention as defined in the following claims.

Claims

CLAIMS 1. A dynamic hierarchy system for web pages wherein the creation and location of a menu title in an interactive sitemap simultaneously creates and structures a hierarchy, including the recordal of correct addressing of relative location of web pages and the required supporting code to render the web pages in the correct fashion allowing for authentication and correlated content addition.

2. The dynamic hierarchy system of claim 1 using a graphical user interface GUI.

3. The dynamic hierarchy system of claim 1 using Flash technology.

4. The dynamic hierarchy system of claim 1 wherein an editing step of a website hierarchy comprising manipulation of a visual display of the hierarchy of the menu in the visual GUI and selection of a preview request sets off the following series of events: a. sending the names of any new menu items created to the scripting language, which creates a new page on the filesystem, copied from a blank template PHP file; b. sending the current state of the menu to the scripting language, which in turn updates the Database with the new menu hierarchy; and c. launching a browser window with the new menu hierarchy displayed.

5. The dynamic hierarchy system of claim 1 or 2 for unified file management, menu organisation and navigation.

6. A system of creating webpages by providing a block of operative code for use in webpage construction, in which a webpage has a predetermined active template of a plurality of blocks in which data of various forms can be selectively created and the active template providing an active visual placement of the blocks depending on the number or type or size of blocks selected and automatically formats the selected blocks with the created data on a webpage and block of operative code instigates a set of functions for providing an operative programmed change to the webpage.

7. A system of creating webpages according to claim 6 wherein the functions include one or more of the following: a. Automatic allocation of filename b. Automatic web address of page based on filename c. Automatic primary menu item creation on top or side of web site d. Automatic position in a hierarchy of web pages e. Automatic presentation of blocks of defined data f. Automatic finalisation of webpage g. Automatic alteration of front end of website

8. A system of creating webpages according to claim 6 or 7 also providing a method of providing structuring web pages by use of a block of operative code in webpage hierarchy construction or management, where the visual placement of an menu item image, representing content including text and forms, relative to one or more other menu item images instigates a set of functions for providing an operative programmed change to the webpage structure.

9. A system of creating webpages according to claim 8 wherein the set of functions include one or more of the following: a. Breaking of linkages of one or more webpage menu items b. Automatic relinking of all webpage menu items according to visual arrangement c. Automatic rearrangement of menu items in site map d. Automatic rearrangement of primary and secondary menu of web pages e. Automatic finalisation of webpage hierarchy structure f. Automatic alteration of front end of website

10. A system of creating webpages according to claim 8 or 9 wherein the changes to the structure include menu tree as well as web page addressing, and web page indexing for file management.

11. A system of creating webpages according to any one of claims 6 to 10 wherein multiple programming operations are integrated into a visual manipulation that allows a non-programmer to undertake a number of program steps to arrive at the result that is required.

12. A system of creating webpages according to claim 11 wherein the user can visually define the required final structure and the system automatically activates programming to have the structure created as required.

13. The dynamic hierarchy system according to claim 1 allowing drag and drop menu items from one menu position to another.

14. The dynamic hierarchy system according to claim 1 further allowing creation of new menu items and files in one seamless operation and delete menu items and files uniformly without resultant broken links in the menu tree hierarchy.

15. The dynamic hierarchy system according to claim 14 wherein the system still further can generate a unique filename for created or redirected files transparently to the user such that the user can automatically allow the system to define the file address without any required interaction.

16. A method of creating a changeable hierarchy where the current hierarchy is presented in a visual manner by visually presented elements and, through a rearrangement of the visually presented elements of this hierarchy, a new hierarchy can be created with connections between files reconfigured in accordance with the visual rearrangement.

17. The method of claim 16 provides an automatic recreation of the hierarchy and the related pages and presentations by having a block of code which is automatically instigated by the rearrangement of the present visual hierarchy.

18. A method of webpage structuring including displaying a menu tree and by a single click on a menu item in the menu tree a webpage is selected and can have its name amended; by double clicking instead the page becomes available for editing; by the single click the page as shown by the menu item in the menu tree can be dragged over the visual display of the menu tree into a new position connectable to a new part of the tree. Therefore a break occurs in the menu tree and a single or dual reconnection occurs to ensure all menu items are reconnected into the newly configured tree.

19. A method of creating a changeable hierarchy substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the drawings.