IDENTIFYING WEB SITES

Abstract: A system (10) enables one or more Web site pages (28) to be identified for subsequent recall, together with annotations indicating, for example, their pertinence. Web pages may be organized and accessed through a dedicated Web site (18) in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. In addition, the annotations and the selected Web site pages may be organized (42) for viewing by others.

Description: Identifying Web Sites Background This invention relates generally to techniques for accessing Web sites. In the course of browsing the Internet, one may find a number of Web sites which are of interest. If the user wishes to store the uniform resource locators to access those Web sites, the user can readily do this using available browsers such as Internet Explorer and Netscape. Browsers include a feature sometimes called a bookmark or favorite which allows a user to click on an icon to automatically store a uniform resource locator and a title for a Web site. The user may then easily return to the selected Web site and page by merely clicking on the appropriate title in a list of titles containing bookmarked or favorite Web sites. The titles are automatically acquired since the Web page arranges the titles within the code using a title tag so that titles may be located by the browser. This software enables the user of one processor-based system to develop a list of bookmarked or favorite Web pages that the user can repeatedly access. However, these features do not assist the user in telling others about such Web pages. Moreover existing systems do not readily enable the user to tell others what it was that was of interest in a particular Web page. Moreover there is no simple or automatic way to enable one user to provide a list of Web pages to others. Thus, there is a continuing need for better ways to identify Web pages of interest to one or more other people. Summary In accordance with one aspect, a method includes providing an interface for receiving information about a plurality of selected Web pages. The method enables locators for the selected Web pages to be retrieved and provides an interface for receiving notes about a selected Web page. The method also enables the notes to be retrieved with the locator. Other aspects are set forth in the accompanying detailed descriptions and claims. Brief Description of the Drawings Fig. 1 is a schematic depiction of one embodiment of the present invention; - 2 - Fig. 2 is a flowchart for software for implementing one embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 3 is a flowchart for software for implementing one embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 4 shows a graphical user interface in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 5 shows a graphical user interface in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention; and Fig. 6 is a block diagram of one embodiment of the embodiment shown in Fig. 1. Detailed Description A system 10, shown in Fig. 1, for enabling automatic retrieval of one or more previously identified Web sites, includes a user's processor-based system 12. The user may access features provided by the system 10 over the Internet 16. The system may be created by a creator using a processor-based system 14. The creator may select one or more Web sites of interest, and may provide annotations to assist the user in understanding why the creator selected the Web sites. Moreover the creator may organize Web pages in a particular order to enable the user to move through the Web pages in the sequence selected by the creator. The creator's processor-based system 14 may include setup software 26 which provides an interface for receiving information about selected Web sites, enables locators for the Web sites to be retrieved, provides an interface for retrieving notes about selected Web sites and enables the notes to be retrieved with the locators. The Web site 18, also coupled to the Internet 16, provides the software graphical user interfaces over the Internet to enable the creator to develop the Web page identifying information. The Web site 18 also allows the user to download and use that information. The Web site 18 may be coupled to an assembler server 20 and a database server 22. The assembler server 20 filters, organizes and delivers content to the database server 22. The database server may be an open database connectivity (ODBC) data source. Software 50 may be stored in association with the assembler server 20. Referring next to Fig. 2, the setup software 26, which may be stored on the creator's processor-based system 14, begins by determining whether a particular Web page has been selected by the creator (diamond 28). The creator may use graphical user interfaces (described later) to indicate selected Web pages which may be added to a list of Web pages for subsequent access. When the creator selects a Web page, the uniform resource locator (URL) or address and page title for that page are captured, as indicated in blocks 30 and 32. Capturing the URL and the title simply involves identifying the title within the code for Web page, using the title tag for example, and capturing it as is conventionally done with the browser software. Next, the setup software 26 determines whether the creator wishes to enter any annotations associated with the captured URL and title as indicated in diamond 34. If so, the system provides a graphical user interface for the creator to input annotation information and capture that information as indicated in block 36. The captured annotation may then be stored in association with the previously captured URL and page title. Once the information has been captured, a session identifier may be developed as indicated in block 38. In some embodiments of the present invention, the session identifier may be useful in accessing and identifying one session and associated Web pages with annotations from a plurality of other sessions. The session identifier may be used to find a URL to reopen a given session for playback by an unlimited number of users from a variety of locations. Session identifiers may be stored in the database server 22 in association with the Web site 18. If desired, the creator may select a plurality of Web pages in the fashion described above, annotating each Web page if desired. At the end, the creator can sort the captured Web pages and associated information as indicated in diamond 40. If the creator elects to sort the Web pages, the software 26 reorganizes the Web pages under command from the creator as indicated in block 42. Similarly, upon receiving a creator input command, the system may retitle the particular Web pages as indicated in diamond 44. Thus, a creator can rename the Web pages, overriding the titles provided by the Web page originator, as indicated in block 46. Thereafter, the URL with session identifier may be published as indicated in block 48. The manner of publishing may encompass a wide variety of possibilities. It may involve merely sending an email from the creator to a potential user. It may also encompass providing access to the session identifier through the creator's Web site. Referring to Fig. 3, software 50, which may be stored on the server 20, for enabling use of the system 10 by a user processor-based system 12 begins by determining whether the Web site 18 has been accessed, as indicated in diamond 52. If so, a graphical user interface may be provided with session information (block 54). In particular, this involves displaying a graphical interface normally accessed through the Web site 18 which may be dedicated to implementing the Web page identifying function. The Web page 18 may identify a variety of sessions and may indicate particular users for whom the information was intended. In some cases, password access may be provided to ensure that only the appropriate users access given sessions. A session identifier may also be used to gain access to one and only one session. When the user links to a given session, as indicated in diamond 56, that session may automatically be displayed in the appropriate graphical user interface. The user may link to a preselected Web page merely be selecting a title, using a conventional pointing device such as a mouse, in which case the user may simply click on a icon or text information. The user may then access the Web page whose title was selected, as indicated in block 58. The Web page may be one or more of the Web pages previously identified for sequential viewing by a user. The user then cycles through the various Web pages, viewing the annotations as they appear in association with those pages. Although the present invention has been described in connection with software 50 which accesses the Web page identifying information through a dedicated Web site, it is also contemplated to access the information through other techniques, such as through an electronic mail which includes hyperlinks to the various pages. A graphical user interface 86, shown in Fig. 4, implementing one embodiment of the present invention, may be used by the creator for capturing one or more selected Web pages. A particular Web page and graphics may be displayed in a frame 86 on one side of the screen. A frame 88 may display a graphical user interface for implementing the Web page selection and annotation feature. The frame 88 may be situated to the side of the frame 86. In this example, the creator may wish to capture the information associated with the heading "seed starting" as indicated at 102 on the displayed frame 86. Referring to the frame 88, a title is automatically captured, as indicated at 90, from the Web page 86. The creator may input annotation information into the graphical user interface 92. The graphical user interface 94 may contain a list of other pages already captured. The creator may use the icons 96 and 98 to change the order of the pages in the graphical user interface 94 to suit the creator's purposes. Finally, the creator may select the icon 100 to save the current frame 88 settings to the list and to save the pages in the order set forth in the page list interface 94. In one embodiment of the present invention, the annotations in the interface 92 may be written in Java programming language in a hidden frame which monitors the URL in the frame 86. The list of selected pages set forth in the interface 94 may be set forth as hypertext markup language (HTML) form fields that interact with the database server 22. Turning next of Fig. 5, a graphical user interface for retrieving the information selected by the creator uses a graphical user interface frame 114 on one side of the screen. The screen displays the preselected Web page including the information indicated at 116. The user may be guided by the information in the frame 118 through a plurality of preselected Web pages displayed in the frame 114 to the right of the frame 118. The frame 118 may include a title graphical user interface 120 which gives the creator provided title for the information that has been preselected for a targeted user. The URL beneath the title interface 120 provides the address of the Web page where the information has been accessed. A page list graphical icon 126 may provide a list of the Web pages that have been preselected. The user can highlight, using a pointing device, one or more of the preselected Web pages as indicated at 128. Thus the user can view the selected Web pages in any order but, failing any input from the user, the Web pages are automatically viewed one after another in the order set by the creator. The user may use the icons 132 and 130 to view either the previous or the next Web page in the order provided by the creator. The creator's annotations are displayed in the graphical user interface 124. In one embodiment of the present invention, a Java script controls the location of the frame 114 which shows the selected Web page. The user's annotations, displayed in the interface 124, may be an HTML form field populated by and interacting with the database server 22. Turning finally to Figure 6, the processor-based systems 14 and 18 may be coupled through the Internet 16 as may the user's processor-based system 12. The systems 14 and 18 include processors 162 and 140 and interfaces 158 and 142. The interfaces 142, 158 may be bridges in one embodiment of the present invention. Each interface 142 and 158 couples to a system memory 144 or 160 and a bus 154 or 146. The buses 146, 154 are coupled to an interface 150 or 152 which couple the systems 18 and 14 to the Internet 16. The interfaces 150 and 152 may be any of a variety of modems. The buses 146 and 154 also couple to storage devices 148 or 156. The storage device 148 may store the software 50 and a storage device 156 may store the software 26. The creator's processor-based system 14 may also include a display controller 164 coupled to the interface 158 to drive a display 166. The system 14 may also include a keyboard 170 and a mouse 168 coupled through the interface 152, which may be a serial input/output (SIO) device in one embodiment of the present invention. Thus, with embodiments of the present invention, a creator can provide a list of Web pages in a desired order and may annotate those Web pages for viewing by a targeted or untargeted user. The user may access the selected list and annotations, either by being provided with appropriate information from the creator or by accessing a Web site identified by the creator, as two examples. In this way, the creator may conveniently communicate information about one or more Web pages to one or more users. While the present invention has been described with respect to a limited number of embodiments, those skilled in the art will appreciate numerous modifications and variations therefrom. It is intended that the appended claims cover all such modifications and variations as fall within the true spirit and scope of this present invention.

Claims: What is claimed is: 1. A method comprising: providing an interface for receiving information about a plurality of selected Web pages; enabling locators for said Web pages to be retrieved; providing an interface for receiving notes about a selected Web page; and enabling said notes to be retrieved with said locator. 2. The method of claim 1 wherein providing an interface includes providing a graphical user interface associated with a Web site. 3. The method of claim 2 wherein providing an interface includes providing a graphical user interface which receives information including a title of a Web page, and a uniform resource locator for the Web page. 4. The method of claim 1 wherein enabling locators for said Web pages to be retrieved includes automatically acquiring a uniform resource locator associated with a selected Web page. 5. The method of claim 4 wherein enabling locators to be retrieved includes automatically capturing said locator upon selection by the user. 6. The method of claim 5 further including providing a graphical user interface which may be selected by a user to automatically capture locators for said Web pages. 7. The method of claim 1 wherein providing an interface for receiving notes includes providing a graphical user interface with a form field for receiving notes. 8. The method of claim 7 further including providing a graphical user interface at a dedicated Web site. 9. The method of claim 1 wherein enabling said notes to be retrieved with said locator includes publishing an address to locate said information. 10. The method of claim 1 wherein enabling said notes to be retrieved with said locator includes providing an address for a Web page from which said notes and locator may be accessed. 11. An article comprising a medium for storing instructions that cause a processor-based system to: provide an interface for receiving information about a plurality of selected Web pages; enable locators for said Web pages to be retrieved; provide an interface for receiving notes about a selected Web page; and enable said notes to be retrieved with said locator. 12. The article of claim 11 further storing instructions that cause a processor- based system to provide a graphical user interface associated with a Web site. 13. The article of claim 12 further storing instructions that cause a processor- based system to provide a graphical user interface which receives information including a title of a Web page and the uniform resource locator for a Web page. 14. The article of claim 11 further storing instructions that cause a processor- based system to automatically acquire a uniform resource locator associated with a selected Web page. 15. The article of claim 14 further storing instructions that cause a processor- based system to automatically capture a locator upon selection by the user. 16. The article of claim 11 further storing instructions that cause a processor- based system to provide a graphical user interface with a form field for receiving notes. 17. The article of claim 11 further storing instructions that cause a processor- based system to provide an address for a Web site from which said information may be accessed. 18. The article of claim 11 further storing instructions that cause a processor- based system to receive commands to put a list of selected Web pages in a selected order. 19. A processor-based system comprising: a processor; storage coupled to said processor; an interface for access to the Internet; and software stored on said storage to provide an interface to receive information about a selected Web page, enable a locator for the selected Web page to be retrieved, provide an interface for receiving notes about a selected Web page and to enable the notes to be retrieved with the locator. 20. The system of claim 19 wherein said storage stores a graphical user interface which includes a form field for entering selected web pages and notes for said pages.

Inventors: CASSEZZA JASON T, CASSEZZA, JASON, T.
Applicants: INTEL CORP, INTEL CORPORATION
Application year: 2000
Main classification: G06F17
IPC codes: G06F17