JP2007228243A - Community management system and member managing method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve the problem that, in management of community such as mailing list, burdens such as adding or deleting of a member concentrates on a mailing list manager, and also the problem that automatic addition or deletion of a member, as a counter measure for it, allows participation of such user as not appropriate as a member of the community. <P>SOLUTION: A mailing list management information 80 is added with an authenticator decision information at enrollment or resignation, and an invitation-related information 90 indicating who invites whom to the mailing list is held. A mailing list managing means 40, upon request for addition of a member, decides a member having an authentication right as required from the invitation-related information based on the authenticator decision information for requesting authentication. Only the authenticated user is added to the mailing list. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a community management system, a member management method thereof, and a program for executing the method, and in particular, a community management system managed using a member list listing members, a management method of the member list, and the It relates to a program for carrying out the method.

  As a community (a group having a specific purpose) managed using a list of members, there are mailing lists in Internet service providers and companies. In addition, member management is performed also in peer-to-peer type and server type file sharing systems, and it can also be said that these are communities managed using a list of members.

  In the former mailing list, software such as “majoromo” and “fml” and other paid software are provided, and member management using these is widely performed.

  FIG. 26 shows a basic configuration of a community management system in which software for managing and operating the mailing list is introduced. This conventional community management system includes a mail server, mailing list management means for managing mailing list management information for holding member handle names, mail addresses, etc., and mailing list processing means for transferring mail sent from members to other members. And a client terminal used by the user and a mail server.

  The conventional community management system having such a configuration generally operates as follows. First, the mailing list management information is managed by a mailing list manager or a server manager. In response to requests from users who wish to open a mailing list or users who wish to add members, these administrators can send new mailing list names and members to existing mailing lists to the mailing list management information via the client terminal. Register.

  If the community management system has an automatic mailing list registration function, a user who wishes to subscribe to the mailing list sends a subscription request email including his / her own email address to the mailing list subscription email address from the client terminal. Send. The mail server that has received the subscription request mail sends the user's registration request mail to the mailing list management means. The mailing list management means adds the user's mail address to the mailing list management information in accordance with the contents of the registration request mail. Similarly, withdrawal from the mailing list can be automatically processed.

  On the other hand, the mail sent from the member to the mailing list is sent from the mail server to the mailing list processing means. The mailing list processing means converts the mailing list name into the mail address of the mailing list member based on the mailing list management information, and transmits the mail to the mailing list member via the mail server.

  As described above, in the conventional community management system, especially in the mailing list, the burden of member management such as member registration (addition) / deletion is excessive on the administrator, and when the administrator is absent, the member cannot be registered / deleted. There is a problem.

  In addition, when the automatic registration function is used, the burden on the administrator is eliminated, and members can be immediately registered and withdrawn, but a large number of unspecified users who are not willing to participate can be registered. There is a problem that. It has also been pointed out that the addition of an automatic withdrawal function makes it impossible to restrict the withdrawal of central members of the community, and the community itself is transformed.

  The above points are the same for the file sharing system, and it can be used by an unspecified number of users without any monitoring function, and this is also the background that file exchange deviates from its original purpose. ing.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and the purpose of the present invention is to prevent the management load of the member list in a community composed of members registered in the member list from being concentrated on the administrator. Another object of the present invention is to provide a community management system in which certain changes are applied to community transformation.

  According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a community management system for managing a community composed of members registered in a member list, each time a member registration application is made for the member list. Member list management information including approver determination information for determining a member having approval authority for each time, and approval from a member determined by the approver determination information for a registration application for the member list A community management system characterized by comprising member list management means for performing registration processing on the member list after confirming whether or not the information has been obtained, a new member registration method, and a method for implementing the method A program is provided.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a community management system for managing a community composed of members registered in a member list, and each time a member deletion application is made for the member list, Member list management information including approver determination information for determining each member having approval authority for deletion application is held, and a member determined by the approver determination information for deletion application from the member list A community management system characterized by comprising a member list management means for performing deletion processing from the member list after confirming whether or not approval has been obtained from the member, and implementing the method and method for deleting the existing member A program for doing this is provided.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to appropriately transfer a load related to management of a member list that manages community members to other members, and it is possible to suppress community transformation due to open member registration. The reason is that an arbitrary member can be designated by the approver decision information that can be set for each member list, and the authorization to approve membership can be granted.

[First Embodiment]
Next, the best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a community management system according to the first embodiment of the present invention in which the present invention is applied to a mailing list.

  Referring to FIG. 1, a plurality of client terminals 10a to 10c, a plurality of mail servers 20a to 20d, a Web server 30, a mailing list management means 40 for performing member registration, member deletion, and approval processing on the mailing list, and a mailing list A mailing list processing means 50 that distributes and distributes received mails to members of the mailing list, a billing server 60 that charges for the use of the mailing list, mailing list management information 80 that manages member information belonging to the mailing list, and who is in the mailing list Invitation relationship information 90 (member relationship information) that holds an invitation / invite relationship between members indicating whether they have been invited is shown.

  The client terminals 10a to 10c perform personal mailing list-related processing (mailing list creation, mailing list member addition application (application), mailing list member addition approval, mailing list member withdrawal application (application), mailing list member withdrawal approval) via the Web server 30. An information processing apparatus such as a computer or a portable terminal. The client terminals 10a to 10c also serve as terminals for receiving e-mails transmitted from the mailing list processing means 50 via the mail servers 20a to 20c having their own accounts.

  In FIG. 1, three client terminals 10a to 10c and three mail servers 20a to 20c are shown, but only three are described for the sake of explanation, and actually, there are n and m respectively. .

  The mail servers 20a to 20c receive the mail delivered from the mail server 20d, and hold the delivered mail until a mail reception instruction is received from the client terminals 10a to 10c. When there is a mail reception instruction from the client terminals 10a to 10c, the held mail is transmitted to the client. Normally, the mail server can hold mails addressed to a plurality of users. However, in order to simplify the explanation, mails addressed to users who use the client terminal 10a are held by the mail server 20a and users who use the client terminal 10b. The mail addressed to the mail server 20b is held, and the mail addressed to the user using the client terminal 10c is held by the mail server 20c.

  When the mail server 20d receives a mail addressed to the mailing list from another mail server, the mail server 20d passes the mail to the mailing list processing means 50. In addition, it receives a mail transmission instruction from the mailing list processing means 50 and the mailing list management means 40, and distributes the mail to the corresponding mail server.

  The Web server 30 is a server that constitutes a portal site that provides menus such as opening a mailing list, changing settings, approving various applications, introducing new participants, and browsing emails, and responds to requests from the client terminals 10a to 10c. In response, an input screen for performing each of the above processes is transmitted, and a user interface with the mailing list management means is provided.

  The client, mail server, and Web server described so far can be realized using commercially available hardware and software.

  The mailing list management means 40 generates a web page for performing processing such as opening a mailing list, changing settings, approving various applications, introducing new participants, and viewing mail (hereinafter also referred to as mailing list related processing). Receives information entered on the Web page and performs mailing list related processing.

  Further, in the mailing list related process, the mailing list management unit 40 generates a mail for requesting the approval of the corresponding member when the member needs the approval, and transmits the generated mail to the mail server 20d. Further, the mailing list management means 40 updates the mailing list management information 80 when a mailing list is newly established or when a member is deleted from the mailing list, and when a member is added to the mailing list, the mailing list management information 80 and the invitation. The related information 90 is updated.

  Further, the mailing list management means 40 holds a billing flag for each mailing list, and when the billing flag is ON, the billing amount to be transmitted to the billing server 60 to bill each time a member is added / deleted. When the account is counted up and the charging flag is OFF, it is possible to execute a detailed charging process such as not charging for member addition / deletion.

  The mailing list processing means 50 receives the mail addressed to the mailing list from the mail server 20d when receiving the mail addressed to the mailing list, and converts the mailing list mail address to the mail address of each member of the mailing list using the mailing list management information 80. The process of returning to the mail server 20d is performed, and the remarks of an arbitrary member are transmitted to other members.

  The billing server 60 receives billing information appropriately transmitted from the mailing list management means 40, and bills for the use of the mailing list.

  The mailing list management information 80 is an approver determination information for determining an approver for a mailing list mail address (mail list name), mail addresses (administrators and members) of members belonging to the mailing list, and mailing list member addition / deletion applications. And confirmation range information.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the contents of the mailing list management information 80. In the example of FIG. 2, to determine the mailing list mail address (mailing list name), the mail address of the administrator who created the mailing list (administrator address), the mail address of the mailing list member (member address), and the approver And a confirmation range set by the numerical value.

  For example, the member A (parent) invites (adds) the member B (child), the member B (child) invites (adds) the member C (grandchild), and (A → B) → C) When the parent-child relationship is established, when the member C (grandchild) invites the member D (great-grandchild), the above-mentioned parent-child is determined in order to determine the member to be approved for the participation application of the member D (great-grandchild). This represents the number of stages that follow the relationship (invite / invite relationship). For example, if the confirmation range is “2”, it means that it is necessary to approve the member B that has followed the added member D in two stages. Similarly, if the confirmation range is 2 or 1, this indicates that approval of member C is required after approval of member B.

  For example, in the mailing list specified by the mail address “aaa@xxx.jp” in FIG. 2, the administrator (parent) having the mail address “a1@xxx.jp” and the “a2@sss.jp” ”And“ a3@ttt.jp ”belong to two members (children and grandchildren), and“ 2 ”is set as the confirmation range. For example, a user (administrator) who has followed the invitation / invite relationship in two stages has approval authority for a participation application of a person who has been introduced by a member having an email address of “a3@ttt.jp” It will be. As the confirmation range information, a plurality of confirmation ranges can be set using predetermined delimiters and hyphens such as “2, 3” and “1-3”.

  The invitation relation information 90 holds relation information between members such as who invited and who approved the mailing list.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of the contents of the invitation relationship information 90. In the example of FIG. 3, the invitation relation information 90 is a mailing list name that is a mailing list address, an inviter address that invited the user, an invited address of the invited user, and an address of the user who is approved when adding to the mailing list. It consists of a certain approver address.

  For example, in the first row 301 of FIG. 3, “a1@xxx.jp” invites “a2@sss.jp” to the mailing list “aaa@xxx.jp”, and “a1@xxx.jp” Can read that approval has been made. In the second row 302 of FIG. 3, “a2@sss.jp” invites “a3@ttt.jp” to the mailing list “aaa@xxx.jp”, and “a1@xxx.jp” approves it. You can read what you have done.

  Next, the operation of the present embodiment will be described in detail using a flowchart, an image diagram of an input screen, and the like.

[Open mailing list]
FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a flow until the mailing list is opened. Referring to FIG. 4, a user who wishes to open a mailing list accesses the Web server 30 using a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) obtained in advance using a client terminal, and requests the opening (creation) of the mailing list ( Step S401). Although detailed description is omitted below, it is assumed that when accessing the Web server 30, user authentication is appropriately performed by a known method such as a combination of an email address or ID and a password.

  FIG. 5 is a screen image diagram for explaining input items required when the mail server 30 opens (creates) the web server 30. In the example of FIG. 5, the mailing list creation screen includes an email address (administrator address) of the user who creates the mailing list, a mailing list name, whether approval is required when adding a member, input fields for a confirmation range, and a creation button. It is configured.

  When the user inputs necessary items on the mailing list creation screen of FIG. 5 (step S402) and presses the creation button (step S403), the Web server 30 passes the contents input on the mailing list creation screen to the mailing list management means 40. (Step S404).

  The mailing list management means 40 transmits information necessary for charging to the charging server 60 in order to charge for the creation of the mailing list (step S405). For example, an ID for identifying a user to be charged, a charge amount, a payment service name, and the like are transmitted to the charge server 60.

  Subsequently, the mailing list management means 40 additionally updates the mailing list management information 80 with the mailing list name, administrator address, confirmation range, etc. received from the Web server 30 (step S406).

  FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the state of the mailing list management information after the mailing list “ddd@xxx.jp” is opened from the state of FIG. 2 with each input content of FIG.

[Add Member]
FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a process of adding members to the mailing list. Referring to FIG. 7, first, a member (inviting member) who wants an arbitrary user to participate in the mailing list accesses the Web server 30 to access the mailing list name, his / her e-mail address, and the invited user (invitee). Is input and transmitted (step S701). Hereinafter, it is assumed that the invited member uses the client terminal 10a, the invitee uses the client terminal 10b, and the member who approves the participation uses the client terminal 10c. The client terminal 10a is sent from the mail server 20a to the client terminal. 10b is received from the mail server 20b, and the client terminal 10c is described as receiving mail from the mail server 20c.

  FIG. 8 is a screen image diagram for explaining input items requested from the Web server 30 when inviting to the mailing list. In the example of FIG. 8, the mailing list member invitation screen is invited to the mailing list name, the email address of the user to be invited (your email address), the email address of the user newly invited to the mailing list (user of the client terminal 10b). This includes a message input field for a user and an invitation request button.

  As shown in FIG. 8, when each item is input and the invitation request button is pressed, the input content is transmitted from the Web server 30 to the mailing list management means 40.

  Subsequently, the mailing list management unit 40 creates a mailing list invitation confirmation screen based on the mailing list received from the Web server 30 and information on the invited user and passes it to the Web server 30 (step S702). At this time, the mailing list management means 40 also acquires a URL for accessing the mailing list invitation confirmation screen.

  Subsequently, the mailing list management means 40 creates an invitation mail for the inviting user (invitee) input in step S701 and transmits it to the mail server 20d (step S703). The invitation mail is transmitted to the client terminal 10b via the mail server 20d and the mail server 20b.

  FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of the invitation mail. It is assumed that the invitation mail is composed of a header and a body text, and the body text always includes the message input on the mailing list member invitation screen and the URL of the mailing list invitation confirmation screen. Other contents of the text may be prepared in advance as a template. In addition, the sender of the email at this time may use the email address of the inviting user, or may use the address for sending the invitation email.

  FIG. 10 is an example of a mailing list invitation confirmation screen displayed when the Web server 30 is accessed with the URL included in the invitation mail of FIG. Referring to FIG. 10, the mailing list invitation confirmation screen includes a mailing list name, input fields for a user's mail address newly invited to the mailing list, and a button for making a decision on participation / non-participation. . It is also possible to change to a different mail address from the presented mail address, and it is possible to participate in the mailing list with the different mail address.

  When the user presses the “participation” or “non-participation” button on the mailing list participation confirmation screen in step S704, the Web server 30 transmits the participation information to the mailing list management means 40 and transmits whether the user has been invited or not. To do. The participation information includes a mailing list name, an email address of an inviting user, an email address of a user who receives an invitation, a participation flag for the mailing list, and the like. This participation flag is set to ON when the participation button is pressed, and is OFF when the non-participation button is pressed.

  When the participation flag of the participation information received from the Web server 30 is ON (Y in step S705), the mailing list management unit 40 determines an approved member for the participation by a method described later (step S706).

  If an approved member can be determined in step S706 (there is an approved member) (Y in step S706), the mailing list management means 40 turns on a charging flag, which is an internal processing flag (step S707). Further, the mailing list management means 40 creates an approval request mail for the approval member determined in step S706 and transmits it to the mail server 20d. The mail server 20d transmits the received approval request mail to the mail server 20c of the approval member (client terminal 10c) (step S708).

  FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of an approval request mail. It is assumed that the body of the approval request mail always includes information on the introducer and the introduced person and the URL of the mailing list participation approval screen described later.

  The approval member operates the client terminal 10c, refers to the approval request mail received from the mail server 20c, accesses the URL of the mailing list participation approval screen described in the mail, and inputs approval approval / disapproval (step S709). ).

  FIG. 12 is an example of a mailing list participation approval screen displayed when the Web server 30 is accessed with the URL included in the approval request mail of FIG. Referring to FIG. 12, the mailing list participation approval screen includes a mailing list name, a mail address of a user newly invited to the mailing list, an input field for an approval member's mail address, and an approval / rejection button.

  In step S709, when the approval member presses the approval / rejection button on the mailing list participation approval screen, the Web server 30 sends the mailing list name, invited user email address, approved user email address, and mailing list entered on the mailing list participation approval screen. Each information such as an approval flag is sent to the mailing list management means 40. Here, it is assumed that the approval flag is turned on when the approval button is pressed, and the approval flag is turned off when the reject button is pressed.

  If the approval flag is ON (Y in step S710), but there are other approval members (Y in step S711), the mailing list management unit 40 repeats the processing from step S708. On the other hand, if there is no other approved member (N in step S711), the mailing list management means 40 refers to the charge flag held, and if the charge flag is ON (Y in step S712), the charge server The billing information is transmitted to 60 and a billing process for the approval service is requested (step S713).

  After requesting the billing process in step S713, or when approval is obtained from all the authorized members and the billing flag is OFF (N in step S712), the mailing list management unit 40 selects the corresponding mailing list in the mailing list management information 80. The e-mail address of the invited user is added to the member address (step S714). Furthermore, the mailing list management means 40 adds the mailing list name, the invitation address to the mailing list, the invitee address, and the approved member address to the invitation related information 90 (step S715).

  FIGS. 13 and 14 show that the user (invitee) who has the mail address “a4@uuu.jp” in the input contents of FIGS. 8, 9 and 12 from the state of FIGS. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing mailing list management information 80 and invitation related information 90 registered as members of the mailing list “aaa@xxx.jp”.

  Finally, the mailing list management means 40 creates a participation approval mail for notifying the invited members and the invited users (invitees) that the participation has been approved, and transmits the participation approval mail to the mail server 20d (step). S716). The participation approval mail is transmitted to the client terminals 10a and 10b via the mail server 20d and the mail servers 20a and 20b. FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating an example of a participation approval mail addressed to a user (invitee) who has received an invitation.

  On the other hand, when the user (invitee) who received the invitation presses the “non-participation” button on the invitation confirmation screen (see FIG. 10) in step S705, the Web server 30 indicates that the user does not participate in the mailing list. This is transmitted to the management means 40 (N in step S705). In this case, the mailing list management means 40 creates and transmits a non-participation notification mail that informs the invited member that the invited user did not intend to participate (step S718).

  In step S710, if the approval flag is OFF, that is, if the approval member rejects the participation approval request (N in step S710), the mailing list management means 40 sends the invitation member and the invited user to the invitation member. Create an approval rejection email and send it. FIG. 16 is a diagram showing an example of the approval rejection notification mail addressed to the invited member (step S717).

[Determining Approval Members]
Here, the determination method of the approved member in steps S706 and S711 of the member addition flow will be described in detail with reference to the flowchart of FIG. In the following description, it is assumed that the “participation” button in FIG. 10 is pressed and participation information corresponding to each input item in FIG. 8 is transmitted to the mailing list management means 40 via the Web server 30.

  First, the mailing list management means 40 extracts a line that matches the mailing list name (see FIG. 8) of the participation information from the mailing list management information 80 (see FIG. 2) (step S1701).

  Here, when the confirmation range information of the row extracted in step S1701 is 0 (Y in step S1702; see the mailing list “ccc@xxx.jp” in FIG. 2), the mailing list management means 40 recognizes the approval member. The mailing list is set as unnecessary, and it is determined that there is no approval member (step S1713).

  On the other hand, when the confirmation range information of the row extracted in step S1701 is 1 (Y in step S1703; see the mailing list “bbb@xxx.jp” in FIG. 2), the mailing list management unit 40 determines that the approval member = inviting user. Determination is made (step S1714).

  Furthermore, if the confirmation range information of the row extracted in step S1701 is 2 or more (N in step S1703; see the mailing list “aaa@xxx.jp” in FIG. 2), the mailing list management means 40 uses the invitation relation information 90 ( A line that matches the mailing list name of the participation information is extracted from (see FIG. 3), and the extraction result is set to α (step S1704). For example, when the mailing list name “aaa@xxx.jp” is searched for the invitation relation information 90 in FIG. 3, the extraction results α are rows 301 and 302.

  In step S1704, if there is no matching line and the extracted line is 0 (Y in step S1705), the mailing list management means 40 determines that the approval member = mailing list manager (step S1715). For example, this is the case when the participation information is sent to the mail ring list “ddd@xxx.jp” in FIG. 6 where the confirmation range information is 2 but no member exists.

  On the other hand, if the extraction result α can be extracted in step S1704 (N in step S1705), the mailing list management means 40 matches the invited member name (your email address in FIG. 8) of the participation information with the invitee address. The row to be extracted is extracted from the extraction result α to obtain the extraction result β (step S1706).

  If the extraction result β cannot be extracted (Y in step S1707), the mailing list management means 40 determines that the approved member is the mailing list manager (step S1715).

  On the other hand, if the extraction result β can be extracted in step S1706 (N in step S1707), the mailing list management means 40 substitutes 2 for the internal variable i (step S1708). For example, when a line with the mailing list name “aaa@xxx.jp” and the invitee address “a3@ttt.jp” is searched for the invitation relation information 90 in FIG. This is the case.

  Subsequently, the mailing list management means 40 determines whether or not the internal variable i is equal to the confirmation range information. If the internal variable i = confirmation range information (Y in step S1709), the approval member = the extraction result β. It judges with an inviter address (step S1716). For example, when the row 302 is obtained as the extraction result β, the approved member is “a2@sss.jp” which is the invitee when the invited member “a3@ttt.jp” joins the mailing list.

  On the other hand, if the internal variable i is not equal to the confirmation range information (N in step S1709), the mailing list management means 40 searches the extraction result α for a line including the invitee address of the extraction result β as the invitee address. Then, the extraction result γ is obtained (step S1710).

  If the extraction result γ cannot be extracted (Y in step S1711), the mailing list management unit 40 determines that the approved member is the mailing list administrator (step S1715).

  On the other hand, if the extraction result γ can be extracted, the internal variable i is incremented by 1, and the content of the extraction result β is replaced with the extraction result γ (step S1712), and the process proceeds to step S1709. As a result, it is possible to follow the parent / child relationship of the invitation / invitation in the invitation relationship information 90 by the level established by the confirmation range information, and determine the approved member.

  Here, a case is described in which there is only one confirmation range information described in the mailing list management information 80, but when two or more pieces of confirmation range information are set, it is determined that there are other approved members ( In the case of step S711 in FIG. 7), this processing is repeated. For example, if “2, 3” is described in the confirmation range information, the approval member is determined based on the confirmation range information “2” in the first approval member determination (corresponding to step S706 in FIG. 7). In the next approval member determination (corresponding to step S711 in FIG. 7), the approval member is determined based on the confirmation range information “3”.

[Delete member]
FIG. 18 is a flowchart showing a process of deleting a member from the mailing list. Referring to FIG. 18, first, a member who wants to remove (unsubscribe) an arbitrary member from the mailing list accesses the Web server 30 and wants to leave the mailing list name, his / her mail address, and so on. The member's (leaving member) e-mail address or the like is input and transmitted (step S1801).

  FIG. 19 is a screen image diagram for explaining input items requested by the Web server 30 when making a withdrawal request from the mailing list. In the example of FIG. 19, the mailing list member withdrawal request screen includes the mailing list name, your email address (leaving request member email address), the email address of the user to leave the mailing list (leaving member email address), and the message to the user. And a request button with an exit confirmation and an immediate exit request button.

  As shown in FIG. 19, after each item is input, depending on whether or not a later-described withdrawal confirmation is required, the withdrawal request member presses the request button or the immediate withdrawal request button with the departure confirmation. The input content is transmitted from the Web server 30 to the mailing list management means 40 as withdrawal information. The leaving information transmitted at this time is composed of the contents of each item entered on the mailing list leaving request screen and the leaving confirmation flag. Specifically, the mailing list name, the leaving request member email address, the leaving member email address, and the leaving member It consists of a message and a leaving confirmation flag. This leave confirmation flag is turned ON when the request button is pressed with a leave confirmation, and is turned OFF when the immediate leave request button is pressed.

  When the mailing list management means 40 receives the leave information from the Web server 30, the mailing list management means 40 confirms the leave confirmation flag, and if the leave flag is ON (Y in step S1802), determines the approved member (step S1803). The approval member is identified from the invitation-related information 90 by the approver address in the row where the mailing list name of the withdrawal information matches and the withdrawal member mail address of the withdrawal information matches the invitee address of the invitation relation information 90. It is determined to be a member, that is, a person who has approved the member.

  The mailing list management means 40 creates and transmits a mailing list withdrawal approval request mail to the approved member determined in step S1803 (step S1804).

  FIG. 20 is a diagram illustrating an example of a leave approval request mail. It is assumed that the body of the leave approval request mail always includes information on the leave request member and the leave member, and a mailing list leave approval screen URL described later.

  The approval member operates the client terminal, refers to the withdrawal approval request mail received from the mail server, accesses the URL of the mailing list withdrawal approval screen described in the mail, and inputs approval approval / disapproval (step S1805). .

  FIG. 21 is an example of a mailing list leave approval screen displayed when the Web server 30 is accessed with the URL included in the leave approval request mail of FIG. Referring to FIG. 20, the mailing list withdrawal approval screen includes a mailing list name, a mail address of the member to be removed from the mailing list, an input field for the mail address of the approved member, and an approval / rejection button.

  In step S1805, when the approval member presses the approval / rejection button on the mailing list withdrawal approval screen, the Web server 30 receives the mailing list name, the withdrawal request member email address, the withdrawal member email address, and the approval entered on the mailing list withdrawal approval screen. The withdrawal approval information composed of the member's mail address and the approval flag for the mailing list is transmitted to the mailing list management means 40. Here, it is assumed that the approval flag is turned on when the approval button is pressed, and the approval flag is turned off when the reject button is pressed.

  If the approval flag of the leave approval information received from the Web server 30 is ON (Y in step S1806), the mailing list management unit 40 checks whether there are other approved members, and there are other approved members. In this case (Y in step S1807), the process returns to step S1804, and an approval request mail for the other approval member is generated and transmitted.

  On the other hand, if there is no other approved member (N in step S1807), or if the leaving information leaving confirmation flag is set to OFF in step S1802, the mailing list management means 40 stores the mailing list management information 80. The mail address of the leaving member is deleted from the member address of the corresponding mailing list (step S1808).

  FIG. 22 shows the mailing list management information in which the member having the mail address “a3@ttt.jp” in the input content of FIG. 19 is deleted from the mailing list “aaa@xxx.jp” from the state of FIG. FIG.

  Finally, the mailing list management means 40 creates a leave approval mail that notifies the leave request member and the leave member that participation has been approved, and transmits it to the mail server 20d (step S1809). FIG. 23 is a diagram showing an example of the withdrawal approval mail.

  On the other hand, if the approval flag is OFF in step S1806, that is, if the approval member rejects the withdrawal approval request (N in step S1806), the mailing list management means 40 determines the withdrawal request member and the withdrawal member. A departure approval rejection notification mail is created and transmitted (step S1810). FIG. 24 is a diagram illustrating an example of a leave approval rejection notification mail addressed to a leave request member.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, it is possible to determine the person who has the authorization authority to add a member to the mailing list by following the relative invitation invite relationship based on the inviter as confirmation range information. The burden on the administrator is reduced.

  Further, in this embodiment, it is possible to flexibly set the member addition criteria according to the property of the mailing list by increasing or decreasing the numerical value designated by the confirmation range information or setting a plurality of values.

  In addition, since the present embodiment is configured so as to charge for the use of the examination processing function at the time of adding a member, a mailing list that requires strict examination at the time of adding a member is charged, and no examination is required or examination is required. It is possible to collect compensation according to the reduction amount of management burden, such as freeing a small mailing list.

  In the above-described embodiment, it has been described that the confirmation range information is used only when a member is added. However, depending on the nature of the mailing list, an approved member is determined using the confirmation range information even when a member is deleted. It is good. For example, when a member who has been approved at the time of participation is leaving when a certain member leaves, strict member management that requires approval of a higher-order (parent) member is possible.

[Second Embodiment]
Next, a second best mode of the present invention that can be realized with the same configuration as that of the first embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings. In the first embodiment, a mailing list member can join by inviting an arbitrary user, but in this embodiment, a user who has not joined the mailing list joins the mailing list member. It is a form to apply for.

  FIG. 25 is a flowchart showing portions that differ in operation from the first embodiment, and can be replaced with steps S701 to S704 in FIG. Referring to FIG. 25, first, a user who wishes to participate in the mailing list accesses the Web server 30, and on the mailing list participation application screen, the mailing list name, his / her e-mail address, a member who is a participation application destination (optional), A message addressed to the member is input / transmitted (step S2501).

  When the Web server 30 transmits the input content to the mailing list management means 40, the mailing list management means 40 creates a mailing list participation application screen based on the information received from the Web server 30 and passes it to the Web server 30 (step S2502). . At this time, the mailing list management means 40 also acquires a URL for accessing the mailing list participation application screen.

  Subsequently, the mailing list management means 40 joins a member appropriately selected from the mailing list input in step S2501 or a member specified by the user in step S2501 including the URL to the mailing list participation application screen. An application mail is created and transmitted to the mail server 20d (step S2503).

  The member who has received the participation application mail accesses the Web server 30 at the URL described in the participation application mail, and inputs whether or not to accept the participation application from the mailing list participation application screen (step S2504).

  Thereafter, it is possible to replace the invited member and the invited member in FIG. 7 with the participation application destination member and the participation application user, respectively, and proceed in the same procedure as in the first embodiment.

  In the present embodiment, members can be added not in the form of invitation to the mailing list but in the form of application for participation, so there is no need for soliciting members by members of the mailing list.

  As described above, the first and second embodiments in which the present invention is applied to the mailing list have been described. However, the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments. It goes without saying that various modifications and replacements can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention in which approval authority is given to members determined each time based on the determination information. The present invention can be applied to a mailing list management system in an Internet service provider or a company, and can also be applied to uses such as member management in a peer-to-peer type or server type file sharing system.

  In the above-described embodiment, it has been described that the member having the authorization authority is determined by tracing the invitation relation information based on the invitation member or the participation application destination member, but the authorization authority is based on the latest registered member or the like. The member may be determined. For example, when “3” is set as the confirmation range information (approver decision information), the third newly registered member and the third inviting / inviting member are traced from the latest registered member. Further, it is possible to perform a modification such as giving an approval authority.

  Although omitted in the above-described embodiment, for the convenience of the user, a community search function and a function for displaying a list of community attribute information such as an overview of each community and whether or not to accept a participation application from outside are provided. It is also possible.

It is a block diagram showing the structure of the community management system which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the mailing list management information hold | maintained at the community management system which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the invitation relation information hold | maintained with the community management system which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart showing the flow until a mailing list is opened in the community management system which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a screen image figure for demonstrating the input item at the time of the mailing list establishment in the community management system which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the mailing list management information of the state by which the mailing list was newly opened and updated from the state of FIG. It is a flowchart showing the process in which a member is added to a mailing list in the community management system which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a screen image figure for demonstrating the input item at the time of mailing list introduction in the community management system which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure showing an example of the invitation mail produced | generated in the community management system which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is an image figure of the mailing list invitation confirmation screen displayed on a client terminal by URL contained in the invitation mail of FIG. It is a figure showing an example of the approval request mail produced | generated in the community management system which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is an image figure of the mailing list participation approval screen displayed on a client terminal by URL contained in the approval request mail of FIG. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing mailing list management information updated from the state of FIG. 2 with each input content of FIGS. 8, 9, and 12. It is the figure showing the invitation relation information updated with each input content of FIG.8, FIG.9, FIG.12 from the state of FIG. It is a figure showing an example of the participation approval mail transmitted to the user (invitee) who received the invitation in the community management system which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure showing an example of the approval refusal notification mail addressed to the invited member in the community management system which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart showing the process in which an approval member is determined in the community management system which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart showing the process in which a member is deleted from a mailing list in the community management system which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a screen image figure for demonstrating the input item at the time of the mailing list leaving request | requirement in the community management system concerning the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure showing an example of the leaving approval request mail produced | generated in the community management system which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. FIG. 21 is an image diagram of a mailing list leave approval screen displayed on the client terminal at a URL included in the leave approval request mail in FIG. 20. It is the figure showing the mailing list management information updated with the input content of FIG. 19 from the state of FIG. It is a figure showing an example of the participation approval mail produced | generated in the community management system which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure showing an example of the leaving approval refusal notification mail produced | generated in the community management system which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart showing a different part from 1st Embodiment in the community management system which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the conventional mailing list management system.

Explanation of symbols

10a, 10b, 10c Client terminals 20a, 20b, 20c, 20d Mail server 30 Web server 40 Mailing list management means 50 Mailing list processing means 60 Billing server 80 Mailing list management information 90 Invite related information

Claims (14)

A community management system for managing a community composed of members registered in a member list,
Each time a member registration application is made for the member list, member list management information including approver determination information for determining a member who has an approval authority for the registration application each time is held,
A member list management means for performing registration processing on the member list after confirming whether or not approval has been obtained from the member determined by the approver determination information for the registration application for the member list ,
A community management system characterized by A community management system for managing a community composed of members registered in a member list,
Each time a member deletion application is made for the member list, member list management information including approver determination information for determining a member having an approval authority for the deletion application each time is held,
A member list management unit is provided for performing deletion processing from the member list after confirming whether or not approval has been obtained from the member determined by the approver determination information for the deletion application from the member list. thing,
A community management system characterized by The member list management means is configured to perform registration processing on the member list or the member list on the condition that approval is obtained from a predetermined number of members or more among the plurality of members determined by the approver determination information. Performing the removal process from
The community management system according to claim 1 or 2, characterized by the above-mentioned. The member list management means accepts an application for registration to the member list on the condition that the invitation or participation acceptance from a member of the community has been received,
Furthermore, at the time of registration to the member list, while holding member relationship information indicating the parent-child relationship between the member and the inviter or participation acceptor,
A member to whom approval authority is given for registration application or deletion application for an arbitrary member list is determined by tracing the member relation information to the parent side by the number determined in the approver determination information;
The community management system according to any one of claims 1 to 3. A web server constituting a line use site of the authorization authority,
An approval request is made to the member using an approval request email containing the address to the approval authorization line use site,
The member list management means executes registration processing to the member list or deletion processing from the member list based on an approval result input via the Web server;
The community management system according to claim 1, wherein: Including a web server that constitutes a site for confirming participation in order to confirm the intention to participate in an arbitrary community;
Invitation to non-participating members is performed using an invitation email containing the address to the participation intention confirmation site,
The member list management means accepts a registration application to the member list based on a result of the intention to participate input via the Web server;
The community management system according to claim 1, wherein: A billing server that performs billing processing based on billing information from the member list management means;
A community management system according to any one of claims 1 to 6. The amount of billing by the billing information increases according to the number of registration processes in the member list using the approver decision information;
The community management system according to claim 7. The member list management means issuing billing information to the billing server when a new community is established;
The community management system according to claim 7 or 8, wherein The member list is a mailing list;
The community management system according to any one of claims 1 to 9. A method for registering a new member of a community in a community management system for managing a community composed of members registered in a member list,
The community management system accepting a setting of approver determination information for determining each time a member having an approval authority for the registration application every time a member registration application is made for an arbitrary member list;
For the registration application for the member list, the community management system confirms whether or not the approval is obtained from the member determined by the approver determination information, and then performs a registration process to the member list. Including,
The registration method of the new member of the community characterized by this. A method for deleting an existing member from a community in a community management system for managing a community composed of members registered in a member list,
The community management system accepting a setting of approver determination information for determining each time a member having approval authority for the deletion application every time a member deletion application is made for an arbitrary member list;
In response to the deletion application from the member list, the community management system confirms whether or not the approval is obtained from the member determined by the approver determination information, and then performs a deletion process from the member list. Including,
To delete an existing member from a community characterized by. A member list management program to be executed by a computer constituting a community management system for managing a community composed of members registered in a member list,
A process of accepting setting of approver determination information for determining each time a member having an approval authority for the registration application every time a member registration application is made for an arbitrary member list;
Processing for confirming whether or not approval has been obtained from the member determined by the approver determination information for the registration application for the member list;
A program for causing the computer to execute a process of registering the registered applicant in the member list when approval from a member having the approval authority is obtained as a result of the confirmation. A member list management program to be executed by a computer constituting a community management system for managing a community composed of members registered in a member list,
A process of accepting setting of approver determination information for determining each time a member having approval authority for the deletion application every time a member deletion application is made for an arbitrary member list;
Processing for confirming whether or not approval has been obtained from the member determined by the approver determination information for the deletion application for the member list;
A program for causing the computer to execute a process of deleting the deletion applicant from the member list when approval from a member having the approval authority is obtained as a result of the confirmation.

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