JP2014078092A - Community server, control method for community server and program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a mechanism for enabling a mail user to post a message to a network community (electronic bulletin board) by using mail as an application to achieve communication with the user of the network community.SOLUTION: In a network community managed by a community server, when a mail address corresponding to a forum is designated, a message can be posted by the mail address from the outside of the network community. When ID for specifying the message of the forum is applied to a predetermined position such as the header of mail transmitted to the mail address, information related to the mail is posted as the sub-message of a message corresponding to the ID. Otherwise, the information related to the mail is posted as a route message. In either case, new ID is issued to the message.

Description

  The present invention relates to a technology of a community server that allows a user who does not have the authority to use a net community (electronic bulletin board) to post by mail and communicate with a user of the net community.

  Applications that can communicate on a network include electronic mail (hereinafter simply referred to as mail), network community (electronic bulletin board, SNS (social network system)), and the like. A net community (electronic bulletin board) is an application that allows communication between users having an account of the net community, but cannot communicate with an external user, for example, the user of the mail.

  On the other hand, in Patent Document 1, a person in charge of a company that provides services such as sales stores emails transmitted and received with a customer, and if the customer satisfies a certain condition, the stored email data Provides a technology that makes it possible for customers to view as a bulletin board.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-220219

  However, Patent Document 1 only accumulates data sent and received by a company person in charge and a customer by e-mail, and if a certain condition is satisfied (automatically or by human judgment), whether the accumulated e-mail data is a bulletin board It just looks like this. Accordingly, the information exchange between the person in charge of the company and the customer is performed only by e-mail, and the result is viewed as a history on the electronic bulletin board. That is, the person in charge of the company and the user (customer) need to use both mail and an electronic bulletin board as applications.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a mechanism in which a mail user can post to a net community (electronic bulletin board) using mail as an application and can communicate with a user of the net community.

The present invention is a community server that manages a message posted to a net community that can be connected to a client terminal via a network, and includes information related to a forum that divides and manages the message posted to the net community; Further, when a mail address corresponding to the forum is specified, a forum registration means for associating and storing the mail address in the forum storage means, and an ID for identifying the message is issued to the message Message issuing means for associating and storing the ID issuing means, the message, and the ID issued by the ID issuing means in the message storage means, and mail receiving means for accepting mail sent to the mail address When,
First ID assignment determination means for determining whether or not the ID is assigned to a designated position of the header in the received mail; and ID determination means for determining whether or not the ID already exists. If the ID is not assigned to the mail by the first ID assignment determination means, it is determined that the information relating to the mail is the new message and that the ID is assigned. When the ID determination means determines that the ID already exists, information related to the mail is stored in the message storage means by the message registration means as a sub-message of the other message corresponding to the ID. First posting means for registration.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a mechanism in which a mail user can post to a net community (electronic bulletin board) using mail as an application and can communicate with a user of the net community.

It is a figure which shows an example of the system configuration | structure concerning embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows an example of the hardware constitutions of the community server concerning embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the software structure of the community server concerning embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of GUI (graphical user interface) which displays the list of the forum and message in the community concerning embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the data structure of the forum and message concerning embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of GUI which posts the sub message with respect to the posted message concerning embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the state transition to which a message is added according to contribution in the message list concerning embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of GUI which posts the comment with respect to the posted message concerning the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of GUI which posts the sub comment with respect to the posted comment concerning the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of GUI which displays the list of the message concerning the 2nd Embodiment of this invention, a comment, and a subcomment. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the posting process from the mail concerning embodiment of this invention. It ’s It is a flowchart which shows an example of the posting process from the SNS user interface concerning embodiment of this invention.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

<First Embodiment>
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a system configuration according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  In the system configuration in the embodiment of the present invention, the community server 101 is connected via a client terminal 102 (for example, an in-house SNS (social network system) client, an outside mail client), a mail server 103, a web mail server 104, and a network 105. It is connected. In FIG. 1, the SNS client is illustrated as being in-house and the mail client is illustrated as outside, but the user authority of the community is given to the net community (electronic bulletin board, SNS, etc.) to the last, or posting from the SNS client or mail It indicates whether the client posts or not, and does not limit these configurations. In the following, an online community may be abbreviated as a community.

  The community server 101 receives posts from the client terminal 102 and displays them in the community. Further, the information processing apparatus transmits a post as a mail to the client terminal 102 which is a mail client according to a condition.

  The client terminal 102 is an information processing apparatus that allows a user to use an SNS user interface or mail software and posts to the community server 101. Moreover, in the client terminal 102 which is an SNS client, the user can browse a community forum, a message, etc. according to each user's authority.

  The mail server 103 receives mail and mail transmission / reception instructions from the community server 101 or the web mail server 104, transmits mail according to the instructions, or passes received mail to each server.

  Next, the Web mail server 104 will be described. The mail system configured based on the Web mail server 104 in the present invention refers to an electronic mail system that can be used by the Web browser of the client terminal 102. Browsing received mail and creating / sending new messages can be performed only by a Web browser. Unlike e-mail systems that install e-mail software on the client terminal 102 to manage e-mail transmission / reception, all e-mail transmission / reception is managed on the server side, so users can create e-mails anywhere using a web browser , Receiving and browsing.

  In the embodiment of this system, either the mail server 103 or the Web mail server 104 may be used. Further, the Web mail server 104 may use the mail server 103 as a configuration, and may make it possible for the client terminal 102 to use the mail server 103 from a Web browser. In the above description, the Web terminal is accessed from the client terminal 102 using the Web browser. However, the embodiment of the present invention includes a configuration in which communication is performed from the community server 101 using the HTTP protocol.

  The embodiment of the present invention includes a case where mail is transmitted / received from the community server 101 using the mail server 103 or the API (application programming interface) of the web mail server 104.

  Further, any or all of the community server 101, the mail server 103, and the web mail server 104 may be the same casing. The configuration in FIG. 1 is an example, and various configurations are possible.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration of the community server 101 according to the embodiment of the present invention. The present invention can also be applied to other information processing apparatuses, that is, the client terminal 102, the mail server 103, and the Web mail server 104.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the community server 101 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 201, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 203, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 202, an input controller 205, a video controller 206, a system bus 204, and the like. A configuration in which a memory controller 207, a communication I / F controller 208, and the like are connected is adopted.

  The CPU 201 comprehensively controls each device and controller connected to the system bus 204.

  Further, the ROM 202 or the external memory 211 will be described later, which is necessary for realizing the functions executed by each server or each PC, such as BIOS (Basic Input / Output System) and OS (Operating System) which are control programs of the CPU 201. Various programs are stored. Further, information necessary for carrying out the present invention is stored. The external memory may be a database.

  The RAM 203 functions as a main memory, work area, and the like for the CPU 201. The CPU 201 implements various operations by loading a program or the like necessary for executing the processing from the ROM 202 or the external memory 211 to the RAM 203 and executing the loaded program.

  The input controller 205 controls input from a keyboard (KB) 209 or a pointing device such as a mouse (not shown).

  The video controller 206 controls display on a display device such as the display 210. The display device may be a display device such as a liquid crystal display. These are used by the administrator as needed.

  The memory controller 207 is an external storage device (hard disk (HD)), flexible disk (FD), or PCMCIA (Personal Computer) that stores a boot program, various applications, font data, user files, editing files, various data, and the like. Controls access to an external memory 211 such as a Compact Flash (registered trademark) memory connected to a Memory Card International Association (Card Memory) card slot via an adapter.

  The communication I / F controller 208 connects and communicates with an external device via the network 105, and executes communication control processing on the network. For example, communication using TCP / IP (Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol) is possible.

  The CPU 201 can display on the display 210 by executing an outline font rasterization process on a display information area in the RAM 203, for example. Further, the CPU 201 enables a user instruction using a mouse cursor (not shown) on the display 210.

  Various programs to be described later for realizing the present invention are recorded in the external memory 211 and executed by the CPU 201 by being loaded into the RAM 203 as necessary. Furthermore, definition files and various information tables used when executing the program are also stored in the external memory 211, and a detailed description thereof will be described later.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the software configuration of the community server according to the embodiment of the present invention. The community server 101 includes a forum registration unit 301, a mail reception unit 302, an SNS message reception unit 303, an ID assignment determination unit 304, an ID determination unit 305, a posting unit 306, a mail transmission unit 307, a forum storage unit 308, and a message storage unit 309. The message registration unit 310 is provided.

  The forum registration unit 301 is created by an administrative user or a general user who has the authority to create a forum in the community server 101, and registers it in the forum storage unit 308.

  The mail reception unit 302 receives post data from a mail (message, sub message, comment, sub comment, etc. described later).

  The SNS message accepting unit 303 accepts post data from the SNS user interface.

  The ID assignment determination unit 304 determines whether or not an ID for specifying the second post data is assigned to a designated position such as a header of the first post data. When the ID for identifying the second posting data is given, the first posting data is not a new posting (the one directly under the forum), but specifies the second posting data specified by the ID Then, it is shown that the post was made as a subordinate post. If no ID is given, it indicates a new post.

  If there is an ID, the ID determination unit 305 determines whether the ID already exists in the forum where the ID is posted. Otherwise it is an error. In particular, since posting from e-mail is not a community user, it is possible to assign an ID to a designated position such as a header of post data by mistake or illegally. It is also possible to prevent posts having these IDs. In the embodiment of the present invention, an example of determining whether an ID already exists in the forum where the ID has been posted has been described. However, the ID may be managed and determined as the entire community.

  The posting unit 306 posts the posting data received by the mail receiving unit 302 or the SNS message receiving unit 303 to a forum designated by the community. Post data is stored in the message storage unit 309. The designation of the forum will be described later.

  When the first posting data is posted from an email, the email transmission unit 307 designates the first posting data and posts the second data, and sends an email to the first posting data. To be sent. Details such as obtaining an email address will be described later.

  The forum storage unit 308 stores information related to forums in the community registered by the forum registration unit. Details will be described later.

  The message storage unit 309 stores the posted data in association with the forum. Details will be described later. Specifically, it is registered by the message registration unit 310.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a GUI (Graphical User Interface) that displays a list of forums and messages in the community according to the embodiment of the present invention. 4 of FIG. 4 illustrates an example of the SNS user interface used for the SNS user in the client terminal 102 (SNS client).

  In 401, a list of forums that can be used in the community is displayed based on the forum storage unit 308. Although not shown, for example, in the user information storage unit, it is possible to set the user's access authority for each forum. When a specific SNS user uses the SNS user interface, only those having access authority You may make it display. Also, with regard to the access authority, the display form (color, icon shape), etc. may be changed depending on, for example, when the user has the viewing authority or the authority to post.

  In 402, the name of the currently focused forum is displayed. For example, it is possible to display the screen 403 by, for example, clicking the forum that the user wants to browse from the list of forums 401 with the mouse. In the example of FIG. 4, “Company A project” (forum name for sharing and supporting information on development projects ordered from Company A) is displayed. In the above-described forum registration unit 301, for example, access authority may be given only to the persons related to the “Company A project”. In addition, it is conceivable to give access authority to managers and project management departments. In addition, a 404 (new posting from SNS) button to be described later is displayed.

  In 403, posted messages are displayed as a hierarchical structure (tree structure). In the hierarchical structure, a message is directly linked to a forum (root message). There can be multiple root messages. In FIG. 4 403, two messages, message A and message B, are the root messages. The root message is implemented, for example, by creating a message to be posted by clicking a new posting button 404 with a mouse and displaying a message input screen (not shown). In addition, when posting a sub-message (that is, when a first message to be posted is to be posted), there is a case in which it is desired to post a sub-message. For example, the message A1, the message A2, or the message A21, the message A22 under the message A2 below the message A in FIG. In this case, a GUI for creating a message is displayed by, for example, right-clicking the second message (the message one level higher) with the mouse, and after posting, the GUI is displayed one level lower than the second message. To be placed.

  Even if the message A and the message B are information related to the same “Company A project”, the message group is divided into different hierarchical structures in order to handle different topics. This one message group may be referred to as a “thread”. The thread having the message A as a root has a message A1 and a message A2 as subordinate messages (submessages) in order to state opinions, confirmations, and thanks for the message A. In 403, the message A is displayed one level below (displayed indented on the right side).

  In FIG. 4 of the first embodiment, the hierarchical structure of messages can be created without limitation, but the number of hierarchies may be fixed as a community system. In addition, the administrator may be able to set the number of levels. In this case, for example, the forum registration unit 301 may be set for each forum, or an administrator GUI (not shown) may be able to set a uniform number of hierarchies for the entire system. If it can be set, the operation method can be changed depending on the purpose, for example, whether it is mainly used with a personal computer in the company or mainly used with a portable terminal having a small screen outside the company.

  Reference numerals 405 to 407 denote application start buttons for use in cooperation with applications other than the community or for other purposes using the community system.

  For example, reference numeral 405 denotes a button for using a new message as a workflow. 406 makes a conference room reservation in the electronic conference system. In step 407, a reserved conference room is entered (participation in the conference).

  Reference numeral 408 denotes an icon for indicating to the user that a mail has been accepted when a post from the mail is accepted. For example, it is realized by changing the display form such as simple animation such as blinking and rotation.

  Reference numeral 410 denotes an example of a screen on which a user displays a message when the posting of the message by mail is accepted. This community server 101 is operated by “C Development Co., Ltd.”, and the screen 410 is posted by “Mr. Nishimoto” of “Company A” by email. In order to post by e-mail, it is necessary to know the e-mail address set in the “Company A Project” forum of the community described later. That is, the company A / Nishimoto is notified in advance of the e-mail address.

  As an example of operation, for example, a user who uses a mail client is a customer outside the company, and a user who uses an SNS user interface is a person in charge such as a department in charge of C Development Co., Ltd. or a project in charge. As will be described later, the person in charge can post a message while selecting whether or not to mail the customer. That is, in response to a customer request / question, first, an answer to the effect that the request / question has been accepted is sent by e-mail, and then a meeting is held between the persons in charge within the company. It is possible to respond such as giving a final answer. Of course, intermediate answers can be made at any time during that time.

By these methods, the person in charge within the company can receive and answer customer requests / questions using only the SNS user interface. In addition, it is possible to obtain an effect that it is possible to send only necessary messages to the customer by email instead of all in-house meetings.
This completes the description of the GUI of FIG.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data structure of a forum and a message according to the embodiment of the present invention. Data managed by the community is stored in the forum storage unit 308 (detailed using 500 in FIG. 5) and the message storage unit 309 (detailed using 510 in FIG. 5).

  The forum storage unit 308 includes data items such as a forum name 501 and a forum mail address 502.

  The forum name 501 is a data item in which the name of the forum displayed in the forum list 401 of FIG. 4 is registered.

  The forum email address 502 is a data item that describes an email address used when posting to the forum by email. This e-mail address can be designated by an authorized user (such as an administrative user) when the corresponding forum information is registered by the forum registration unit.

  The message storage unit 309 includes data items such as a forum name 511, ID 512, posting time 513, upper ID 514, mail address 515, contents 516, and the like.

  The forum name 511 is a data item that identifies which forum the message information is for.

  The ID 512 is a data item that describes an ID that uniquely identifies the message. By using it together with a higher-order ID 514 described later, it is possible to trace the message of the route. As a result, it is possible to determine the hierarchical structure (tree structure) of one thread. Also, as will be described later, when a post is made by mail, if there is an ID at a designated position such as the header of the mail and the ID already exists in the forum corresponding to the mail address, post to that thread. Identified as a message. It is assumed that a post from the mail client and a post from the SNS client are posted to a position one level lower as a sub-message having an ID at a specified position such as a header of the message. However, it is limited to such a configuration

It is not a thing. For example, for a posting from a mail client, it is possible to implement a community system such that the ID is traced to the upper level and posted to the position one level lower than the root message. In addition, it may be possible to specify which message is to be posted below by specifying the user in the posted message (such as specifying some symbol in the mail title).

  The posting time 513 is a data item for describing the time when the message was posted.

  The upper ID 514 is a data item that describes the ID of an upper message when the message is posted as a sub message of another message (one higher in the hierarchical structure).

  The mail address 515 is a data item that describes the mail address of the transmission source when the message is posted from the mail client.

  Content 516 is the content of the posted message. It is a data item in which “Subject: Product Inquiry C Development Co., Ltd./Tamaoki-Thank you in advance” in 410 of FIG. Alternatively, the subject may be a separate data item. The third and subsequent lines of the content 516 (character string enclosed in <>) describe the position of each message in the hierarchical structure, not the actual content.

  Note that 500 in FIG. 5 corresponds to the forum list 400 in FIG. 4 and 510 in FIG. 5 corresponds to the message list 403 in FIG. 4 as an example in which forum data and posted message data are registered. doing.

  This completes the description of FIG. The above-described data configuration is merely an example, and other data items may be included. For example, the forum storage unit 308 may describe a link to an icon image file indicating a forum. In addition, a different configuration may be used.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a GUI for posting a sub message corresponding to a posted message according to the embodiment of the present invention. In the example of FIG. 6, the GUI is for posting a sub message to “Message A” posted in the “Company A Project” forum of FIG. 4. As described above, for example, when the message A is right-clicked with the mouse, the GUI of FIG. 6 is displayed.

  6 is the same as 410 in FIG. That is, the content of message A is displayed as it is. On the lower side 601, there are a field for inputting a sub message (602), a button for posting a message (603), a button for posting a message, and a button (604) for sending the contents by e-mail. Is displayed. The SNS user inputs a message in the input field 602.

  When the button 603 is pressed (when a message is specified to be posted), the “Message A1” posting process in the message list 403 in FIG. 4 is performed.

  When the button 604 is pressed (when both message posting and mail transmission are designated), mail transmission processing is performed simultaneously with the posting of “message A1” in the message list 403 in FIG. The details will be described.

The address used for sending the e-mail at the time of posting is searched for the e-mail address corresponding to the message specified when posting the message (which becomes a message one level higher when the posting is completed). That is, in the above example, in order to post a sub-message of message A, the mail address corresponding to message A (515 in FIG. 5) is used for transmission. If there is no corresponding mail address, the transmission process is stopped.
This completes the description of FIG.

<Second Embodiment>
The second embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. The first embodiment and the second embodiment are basically processed in the same flow. However, in the second embodiment, the hierarchical structure of messages is limited to three layers. The root message is simply referred to as “message”, the root message (message) sub-message is referred to as “comment”, and the comment sub-message is referred to as “sub-comment”.

  As described in FIG. 4 as an operation example, a message (route message) can be posted from an SNS client corresponding to the forum or by a mail user who knows a mail address using the mail client. That is, firstly, information sharing such as a meeting can be performed for each topic among in-house personnel (SNS client users). In this case, since there is no e-mail address (customer e-mail address) corresponding to the thread (a message, a comment below it, and sub-comments), no e-mail is sent. Furthermore, when a message is sent from a customer's mail client, there is a case where a mail is sent or not sent when a message is posted because there is a corresponding mail address.

  The difference from the first embodiment is that whether or not to send an email to a customer is changed depending on whether a comment is posted or a sub comment is posted. Thus, unlike the first embodiment, it is possible to fix whether the person in charge sends an e-mail according to the hierarchy to be posted, and to obtain an effect of preventing an in-house consultation from being e-mailed by mistake. Is possible. Details will be described below.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of state transition in which a message is added according to a posting in the message list according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 shows a state in which the message A (702) is posted (701), a state in which the comment A1 (704) is posted to the message A (702) (702), and a sub for the comment A1 (704) in the SNS user interface. A state (705) in which the comment A11 (706) has been posted is illustrated.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of a GUI for posting a comment on a posted message according to the second embodiment of the present invention. In the first embodiment, as described with reference to FIG. 6, in the first embodiment, after creating a sub-message, whether to post the message to the community or to send an email together with the posting, Was specified by the contributor using a button. In the second embodiment, it is as follows.

  When posting a comment is used for a message, the GUI is as shown in FIG. The upper side is the same as 410 in FIGS. That is, the content of message A is displayed as it is. A column (802) for inputting a comment and a button (803) for posting the comment and transmitting the contents by e-mail are displayed in the lower part 801. The SNS user inputs a message in the input field 802. If message A is posted from an email, comments are posted and emails are sent as described above, but if message A is posted from an SNS user interface, email No transmission is done (no corresponding email address). In that case, instead of the “Comment & Email” button 803, a “Comment” button similar to 904 in FIG. 9 to be described later is displayed, and it is easy to present to the poster that only posting is possible. Good.

  FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a GUI for posting a subcomment for a posted comment according to the second embodiment of the present invention. As explained in the previous operation example, the sub-comment is a post of a message that is one level lower than the comment, and because it is an internal meeting, email transmission is not performed (for example, an email address corresponds to the message) But do n’t send).

  901 on the upper side of FIG. 9 is a subcomment in which posting and transmission to the customer are performed (the same content as 803 in FIG. 8). On the other hand, on the lower side 902, there are a sub-comment input field (903) and a button (904) for posting the input sub-comment.

  FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a GUI that displays a list of messages, comments, and subcomments according to the second embodiment of the present invention. As in the above-described example, there is a post by a mail from a customer (message A (1001) and a response to it (comment A1 (1002): post and mail transmission). Further, an internal subcomment for the comment A1 (1003 to 1004).

  In the comment A2, the user's post is displayed as a comment of the message A. Since the person in charge of posting the comment A1 has selected the message A (there is no comment A1 at this point), the ID of the message A is assigned to the header and sent to the customer by mail. Since the ID is also given to the header of the mail from the customer as the reply, it is posted as a comment which is a sub-message of message A. Thereby, it is possible to prevent the comment A2 that is a reply mail from the customer from being mixed into the sub-comment of the comment A1 (meeting of countermeasures in the company).

  On the contrary, since it is a reply to the comment A1 (email from the person in charge to the customer) as the content, if it is easier to make a subcomment of the comment A1, add the ID of the comment A1 just posted to the header Just reply to the customer.

  Although not shown, it may be possible to instruct when posting a comment on the SNS user interface so that the contributor selects whether to use the comment of the message A or the subcomment of the comment A1.

  Finally, a countermeasure for the message A is determined between the persons in charge within the company, and the comment A3 (1006) is a state in which the posting to the message A and the mail transmission to the customer are performed.

  The description of the second embodiment that differs from the first embodiment has been given above with reference to FIGS. Next, the process in a community server is demonstrated using the flowchart of FIG. 11, FIG. Since the processing is basically the same between the first embodiment and the second embodiment, the same flowchart is used, but the following two points are different. The first point is whether or not posting to the third layer (or subcomment) is possible in the SNS user interface. The second point is whether or not to check up to the first layer if the e-mail address is not set to the comment (second layer) when the subcomment (third layer) is posted. The difference between these two points is not particularly described in the description of the flowchart.

  FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing an example of mail posting processing according to the embodiment of the present invention. Each step in FIG. 11 is executed by the CPU 201 of the community server 101.

In S1101, it is checked whether or not an instruction to end the community processing in the community server has been issued. If there is no end command (NO), the process proceeds to S1102. If there is an end instruction (YES), the process ends.
In S1102, the reception of the mail is confirmed.

  In S1103, it is determined whether or not a mail is received in the confirmation in S1102. If mail has been received (YES), the process proceeds to S1104. If not (NO), the process proceeds to S1101.

  In S1104, it is analyzed whether an ID of the format specified in the embodiment of the present invention is assigned to a predetermined position (for example, a position corresponding to the sender name in the header) of the received mail data.

  In step S1105, it is determined whether an ID is included. If not included (NO), the process proceeds to S1106. If it is included (YES), the process proceeds to S1108.

  In S1106, a message posted as mail data is regarded as a root message. That is, an ID is issued as a new message rather than a message that is a subordinate of another message (ID issuing unit).

  In S1107, the message posted as mail data is posted as a root message in association with the sender mail address and the ID issued in S1106.

  In S1108, it is determined whether the ID is already existing in the forum. If it is not an existing ID (NO), the process proceeds to S1109. If it is an existing ID (YES), the process proceeds to S1110.

  In step S1109, a post from a mail with a message with an ID that does not exist is regarded as an error, and a notification to that effect is sent to the mail sender.

In S1110, the mail data is posted as a sub-message of the message corresponding to the ID. In this case, an ID corresponding to this message is newly issued (ID issuing unit).
Thus, the description of the flowchart of FIG. 11 is completed.

  FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating an example of posting processing from the SNS user interface according to the embodiment of the present invention. Each step in FIG. 12 is executed by the CPU 201 of the community server 101.

  In S1201, it is checked whether or not an instruction to end the community processing in the community server has been issued. If there is no end command (NO), the process proceeds to S1202. If there is an end instruction (YES), the process ends.

  In S1202, the presence / absence of posting a message from the SNS user interface is confirmed.

  In S1203, it is determined whether there is a post in the confirmation in S1202. If there is a post (YES), the process proceeds to S1204. If not (NO), the process proceeds to S1201.

  In S1204, it is analyzed whether or not an ID of the format specified in the embodiment of the present invention is assigned to a predetermined position (for example, a tag position specified in the header) of the posted message.

  In step S1205, it is determined whether an ID is included. If not included (NO), the process proceeds to S1206. If it is included (YES), the process proceeds to S1208.

  In S1206, the posted message is regarded as a root message. That is, an ID is issued as a new message rather than a message that is a subordinate of another message (ID issuing unit).

  In S1207, the posted message is posted as a root message in association with the ID issued in S1206.

  In S1208, the message is posted as a sub-message of the message corresponding to the ID. In this case, an ID corresponding to this message is newly issued (ID issuing unit).

  In step S1209, it is determined whether or not this message is designated to be transmitted by mail (mail transmission designation determination unit). The above operation example corresponds to the case where an email is sent from the person in charge to the customer. If it is designated to transmit (YES), the process proceeds to S1210. If it is not designated to transmit (NO), the process proceeds to S1201. A specific description of whether or not to transmit will depend on whether the message button (603) in FIG. 6 or the message & mail button (604) in the first embodiment is pressed. Also, depending on whether a comment is posted on a message or a sub-comment is posted on a comment in the second embodiment. In addition, as described above, although not shown, when the user can explicitly select, designation by each method is included.

  In step S1210, the upper message is traced based on the corresponding ID, and the mail address is acquired. In the second embodiment, when a comment is posted, the upper message has an e-mail address. In the first embodiment, the upper message has a mail address. However, if the upper message does not have a mail address, whether the higher message is followed depends on the design or setting.

In S1211, when the e-mail address is acquired in S1210, the message posted in S1208 is transmitted as an e-mail to the e-mail address.
Thus, the description of the flowchart in FIG. 12 is completed.

  It should be noted that the configuration and contents of the various data described above are not limited to this, and it goes without saying that the various data and configurations are configured according to the application and purpose.

  Although one embodiment has been described above, the present invention can take an embodiment as, for example, a system, apparatus, method, program, or recording medium, and specifically includes a plurality of devices. The present invention may be applied to a system including a single device.

  Further, the program according to the present invention is a program capable of executing the processing method of the flowcharts shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, and the storage medium according to the present invention is a program capable of executing the processing method of FIGS. Is remembered. Note that the program in the present invention may be a program for each processing method of each apparatus shown in FIGS.

  As described above, a recording medium that records a program that implements the functions of the above-described embodiments is supplied to a system or apparatus, and a computer (or CPU or MPU) of the system or apparatus stores the program stored in the recording medium. It goes without saying that the object of the present invention can also be achieved by executing the reading.

  In this case, the program itself read from the recording medium realizes the novel function of the present invention, and the recording medium storing the program constitutes the present invention.

  As a recording medium for supplying the program, for example, a flexible disk, hard disk, optical disk, magneto-optical disk, CD-ROM, CD-R, DVD-ROM, magnetic tape, nonvolatile memory card, ROM, EEPROM, silicon A disk, solid state drive, or the like can be used.

  Further, by executing the program read by the computer, not only the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized, but also an OS (operating system) operating on the computer based on an instruction of the program is actually It goes without saying that a case where the function of the above-described embodiment is realized by performing part or all of the processing and the processing is included.

  Furthermore, after the program read from the recording medium is written to the memory provided in the function expansion board inserted into the computer or the function expansion unit connected to the computer, the function expansion board is based on the instructions of the program code. It goes without saying that the case where the CPU or the like provided in the function expansion unit performs part or all of the actual processing and the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by the processing.

  Further, the present invention may be applied to a system composed of a plurality of devices or an apparatus composed of a single device. Needless to say, the present invention can be applied to a case where the present invention is achieved by supplying a program to a system or apparatus. In this case, by reading a recording medium storing a program for achieving the present invention into the system or apparatus, the system or apparatus can enjoy the effects of the present invention. Furthermore, by downloading and reading a program for achieving the present invention from a server, database, etc. on a network using a communication program, the system or apparatus can enjoy the effects of the present invention.

  In addition, all the structures which combined each embodiment mentioned above and its modification are also included in this invention.

101 Community server 102 Client terminal 103 Mail server 104 Web mail server 105 Network

Claims (7)

A community server for managing messages posted to the Internet community that can be connected to the client terminal via the network,
Information related to the forum that divides and manages the message posted to the net community, and if the mail address corresponding to the forum is designated, the mail address is associated with and stored in the forum storage means Forum registration means to let
ID issuing means for issuing an ID for identifying the message to the message;
Message registration means for associating and storing the message and the ID issued by the ID issuing means in a message storage means;
Mail receiving means for receiving mail sent to the mail address;
First ID assignment determination means for determining whether or not the ID is assigned to a designated position of a header in the received mail;
ID determination means for determining whether or not the ID already exists;
If the ID is not assigned to the mail by the first ID assignment determination means, it is determined that the information about the mail is the new message, and that the ID is assigned, If the ID determination means determines that the ID already exists, information related to the mail is registered in the message storage means by the message registration means as a sub-message of another message corresponding to the ID. A first posting means,
A community server characterized by comprising: SNS message accepting means for accepting the SNS message from the client terminal provided with an SNS user interface for posting an SNS message to the forum of the community server as a social network system;
Second ID assignment determination means for determining whether or not the ID is assigned to a designated position of the SNS message;
If the ID is not assigned to the SNS message by the second ID assignment determination means, it is determined that the information related to the SNS message is the new message and the ID is assigned. When the ID determination means determines that the ID already exists, information on the SNS message is registered in the message as a sub message having the other message corresponding to the ID as the upper message. Second posting means for registering in the message storage means by means;
When the upper message is posted by the first posting means as the mail, it is determined whether or not to transmit information related to the message that is the sub message to the mail address corresponding to the mail. E-mail transmission designation determination means,
If the mail transmission designation determination means determines that the mail is to be transmitted, the mail transmission means transmits information related to the message to the mail address;
The community server according to claim 1, comprising: The mail transmission designation determination means
The community server according to claim 2, wherein it is determined whether or not to transmit based on a hierarchical relationship between the upper message and the sub message. The mail transmission designation determination means
The community server according to claim 2, wherein it is determined whether or not to transmit based on a user designation when posting from the SNS user interface. Email sending means
When sending the mail, by assigning the ID of the upper message to the designated position of the header of the mail, the reply mail to the mail becomes a sub message of the message corresponding to the ID. The community server according to any one of claims 2 to 5, wherein: A community server control method for managing messages posted to a network community that can be connected to a client terminal via a network,
The forum registration means associates information related to the forum that divides and manages the message posted to the net community, and further, if an email address corresponding to the forum is specified, the email address Forum registration step to be stored in the forum storage means;
An ID issuing step in which an ID issuing means issues an ID for identifying the message to the message;
A message registration unit that stores the message and the ID issued in the ID issuing step in a message storage unit in association with each other;
An e-mail receiving step for receiving e-mail sent to the e-mail address;
A first ID assignment determination means for determining whether or not the ID is assigned to a specified position of a header in the received mail;
An ID determination step in which an ID determination means determines whether the ID already exists;
When the ID is not assigned to the mail by the first ID assignment determination step, the first posting means sets the information related to the mail as the new message, and the ID is assigned. If the ID determination step determines that the ID already exists, the message registration step stores information related to the mail as a sub-message of the other message corresponding to the ID. A first posting step of registering in the message storage means by:
A community server control method comprising: A program for causing a computer to function as a community server that can be connected to a client terminal via a network and that manages messages posted to a net community,
The computer,
Information related to the forum that divides and manages the message posted to the net community, and if the mail address corresponding to the forum is designated, the mail address is associated with and stored in the forum storage means Forum registration means,
ID issuing means for issuing an ID for identifying the message to the message;
Message registration means for associating and storing the message and the ID issued by the ID issuing means in a message storage means;
Mail receiving means for receiving mail sent to the mail address;
First ID assignment determination means for determining whether or not the ID is assigned to a specified position of the header in the received mail;
ID determination means for determining whether the ID already exists,
If the ID is not assigned to the mail by the first ID assignment determination means, it is determined that the information about the mail is the new message, and that the ID is assigned, If the ID determination means determines that the ID already exists, information related to the mail is registered in the message storage means by the message registration means as a sub-message of another message corresponding to the ID. The program for functioning as a community server characterized by including the 1st contribution means to do.

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