Abstract:
The present invention provides a method of publishing a newsletter over a computer network comprising displaying headlines and abstracts of articles; displaying category listings that reference each category; displaying article archives that reference each article in the archive; searching articles by keywords; subscribing e-mail addresses to distribution lists; adding, modifying, and deleting articles; converting added and modified articles into HTML; and adding, modifying, or removing any references to an article when it is added, modified, or deleted.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    The present invention relates to the publishing of a web site and more particularly to a method and apparatus for a person with no knowledge of web page design to publish materials and administrate the publishing of online materials.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    Web pages, like any other piece of software, have to be written in a programming language, known as HyperText Markup Language (“HTML”). Before a person can write a web page, he or she must acquire, at a minimum, a rudimentary understanding of HTML. As the number of people accessing the Internet drastically rises, more people want to publish web sites—most of whom are not computer programmers and who have no experience writing software. In addition, most companies want to maintain web sites for both the public and employees.  
           [0003]    As a result of the growing number of untrained people publishing web sites, many HTML editor programs have been developed to simplify the writing process. HTML editor programs allow a user to create an HTML document on a word-processor platform such as Microsoft Word, Corel WordPerfect, etc. The HTML editor then converts the document into HTML which functionally changes the document into an internet web page. This method allows a web page designer to design a web page without knowing the syntax of HTML. It does not, however, simplify the process of combining many web pages into one interconnected web site. The user still has to know how to create links and how to organize a web site. Each time the web page designer wants to add a new web page to the web site, the new page must be created and then every web page on the web site that the user wants to point to that web page must be modified. In addition, when the user wants to delete a web page from the web site, every page that points to the deleted page must be modified. While it is simpler to create or update a web page in an HTML editor, it does not simplify the maintenance of a web site.  
           [0004]    Therefore, there exists a need in the art for a method and apparatus that allows a person with limited knowledge of computer programming and HTML to administrate a web site.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0005]    The present invention allows a person with no knowledge of HTML to maintain the content of a web site. This allows a company to have a current employee maintain the content of an online company newsletter without providing any additional training to that employee. Once the web site is set up, a person only has to fill out a simple form that is on the web site to post new content to the web site. The new content will be formatted and placed in all of the appropriate places in the web site. This includes any links from drop down menus that should point to the new article. Content is deleted from the web site or modified in the same manner.  
           [0006]    It is, therefore, an object of the invention to provide an automated web site formatting system that requires less knowledge of programming to administrate than the prior art.  
           [0007]    It is a further object of this invention to provide a computer system publishing program that comprises a computer memory and a search processor with a user interface that includes a searcher, a subscriber, an articles searcher, a category viewer, an article viewer, a headline viewer, and an editor.  
           [0008]    It is further an object of this invention that the searcher allows the articles to be searched by text, category, abstract, or by headlines.  
           [0009]    It is further an object of this invention that the subscriber adds e-mail addresses to distribution lists.  
           [0010]    It is further an object of this invention that the category searcher allows the articles within a category to be searched by text or abstracts.  
           [0011]    It is further an object of this invention that the category viewer allows the articles in a category to be viewed.  
           [0012]    It is further an object of this invention that the article archive viewer allows old articles to be viewed.  
           [0013]    It is further an object of this invention that the headlines viewer allows the headlines of the articles to be viewed.  
           [0014]    It is further an object of this invention that the article editor allows the user to edit articles and categories.  
           [0015]    It is further an object of this invention that the article editor allows an article to be added, deleted, or modified or allows an image to be added to an article.  
           [0016]    It is further an object of this invention that the category editor allows a category to be added, deleted, or modified.  
           [0017]    With these and other objects, the present invention provides a method of publishing a newsletter over a computer network comprising displaying headlines and abstracts of articles; displaying category listings that reference each category; displaying article archives that reference each article in the archive; searching articles by keywords; subscribing e-mail addresses to distribution lists; adding, modifying, and deleting articles; converting added and modified articles into HTML; and adding, modifying, or removing any references to an article when it is added, modified, or deleted.  
           [0018]    In addition to solving the problem of requiring trained personnel to operate a web site, the present invention also reduces the amount of time it takes to update the information on a web site. A company newsletter can be operated by individuals from various departments who have no knowledge of HTML and who have no contact with each other. It is not necessary to have all of the people adding information to a web site coordinate the changes they are making to the web site. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0019]    [0019]FIG. 1 is an organizational chart for an online newsletter in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 1 a  is an illustration of the main web page of an online newsletter created accordance with the preferred embodiment of FIG. 1.  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 2 is an organizational chart for an online newsletter&#39;s search articles page in accordance with the preferred embodiment of FIG. 1.  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 2 a  is an illustration of the search articles page of an online newsletter created in accordance with the preferred embodiment of FIG. 1.  
         [0023]    [0023]FIG. 3 is an organizational chart for an online newsletter&#39;s category page in accordance with the preferred embodiment of FIG. 1.  
         [0024]    [0024]FIG. 3 a  is an illustration of the category page of an online newsletter created in accordance with the preferred embodiment of FIG. 1.  
         [0025]    [0025]FIG. 4 is an organizational chart for an online newsletter&#39;s subscribe page in accordance with the preferred embodiment of FIG. 1.  
         [0026]    [0026]FIG. 4 a  is an illustration of the subscribe page of an online newsletter that requests an e-mail address created in accordance with the preferred embodiment of FIG. 1.  
         [0027]    [0027]FIG. 4 b  is an illustration of the subscribe page of an online newsletter created in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0028]    [0028]FIG. 5 is an organizational chart for an online newsletter&#39;s article archive page in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0029]    [0029]FIG. 5 a  is an illustration of the article archive page of an online newsletter created in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0030]    [0030]FIG. 6 is an organizational chart for an online newsletter&#39;s editor&#39;s desk in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0031]    [0031]FIG. 6 a  is an illustration of the editor&#39;s desk of an online newsletter created in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0032]    [0032]FIG. 6 b  is an illustration of the delete story page of an online newsletter created in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0033]    [0033]FIG. 7 is an organizational chart for an online newsletter&#39;s add article page in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0034]    [0034]FIG. 7 a  is an illustration of the add story page of an online newsletter created in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0035]    [0035]FIG. 8 is an organizational chart for an online newsletter&#39;s set lead article page in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0036]    [0036]FIG. 8 a  is an illustration of the set lead article page of an online newsletter created in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0037]    [0037]FIG. 9 is an organizational chart for an online newsletter&#39;s administer categories page in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0038]    [0038]FIG. 9 a  is an illustration of the administer categories page of an online newsletter created in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0039]    [0039]FIG. 10 is an organizational chart for an online newsletter&#39;s add category page in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0040]    [0040]FIG. 10 a  is an illustration of the add category page of an online newsletter created in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0041]    [0041]FIG. 11 is an organizational chart for an online newsletter&#39;s delete category page in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0042]    [0042]FIG. 11 a  is an illustration of the delete category page of an online newsletter created in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0043]    [0043]FIG. 12 is an organizational chart for an online newsletter&#39;s edit category status page in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0044]    [0044]FIG. 12 a  is an illustration of the edit category status page of an online newsletter created in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0045]    [0045]FIGS. 13 a - 13   i  illustrate additional editor features of the present invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0046]    In the following detailed description, reference is made to the accompanying drawings which form a part hereof, and in which is shown by way of illustration specific embodiments in which the invention may be practiced. These embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the invention, and it is to be understood that structural changes may be made and equivalent structures substituted for those shown without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.  
         [0047]    The invention comprises an apparatus and method for publishing a newsletter over a computer network.  
         [0048]    In a preferred embodiment of the system, the web site will be set up on a server. The server will be connected to the a wide area network, such as the Internet or an Intranet. It should be understood that any network may apply. Any user can access the web site from anywhere he or she can connect to the Internet if the user has a password. The server contains the files for the web site and the database. The database archives all of the information for the web site. There are entries for each category, each article, distribution lists, and for the web pages. The category entries each contain a list of articles associated with it. The article entries each contain a category associated with it. The database is set up when the software is installed. It initially has no stories or categories. Once the software is functioning, then the user can modify the database using the Editor&#39;s Desk  140 .  
         [0049]    The web page shown in FIG. 1 includes a main page  100  with links to a search articles page  110 , an article archive page  120 , a subscribe page  130 , and an editor&#39;s desk page  140 . The main page also includes links to headline articles from each category.  
         [0050]    The search articles page  110  allows the database of articles to be searched by keywords. The database is searched by the software using SQL. The software transforms the keywords entered into an SQL query. When the search articles link  110  is selected, a web page requesting words to be searched for  111  is displayed. The program then searches the database for articles that have keywords that match. Once the database is searched, a web page is displayed with the title and abstract of every matching article  112 . The title of each article is formatted to link to the full text of that article.  
         [0051]    The article archive page  120  allows a category to be selected for viewing. A category is a set of related articles. The user sets up the categories for the newsletter. An article will be listed when the category it is associated with is displayed and it is e-mailed to the distribution list of the category it is associated with when it is added. When the article archive link  120  is selected, a menu of every category is displayed. When a category is selected, each article in the selected category is displayed by its title and abstract  121  in the same manner as described above with respect to the search articles module. The title of each article is a link to the full text of that article. Once an article is selected, the full text is displayed  122 .  
         [0052]    The subscribe page  130  allows an e-mail address to be added to a distribution list. There is a distribution list for each category and audience in the database. When a category or audience is created, the distribution list is empty. Once users have subscribed to the distribution list, each subscriber receives an e-mail of each new article added to that category or specified for that audience. When the subscribe link  130  is selected, a prompt for an e-mail address is displayed  131 , which after an e-mail address is entered, a list of categories and audiences are displayed  132 . The user can select any of the categories&#39; or audiences&#39; distribution lists to be added to which will in turn cause an automatic update to be made to the database.  
         [0053]    The editor&#39;s desk page  140  requires any person accessing it to login. Once the user is logged in, the editor&#39;s desk page  140  includes links to an add article page  160 , a set lead article page  170 , and an administer categories page  180 . The editor&#39;s desk  140  also includes links to allow every article published on the web site to be edited or deleted. The delete article function  190  involves selecting the article to be deleted at  190  step  191  and updating the article database at step  192 .  
         [0054]    The add articles page  160  prompts the user to enter all of the necessary information for an article  161 . Once the article database is updated  162 , a link to that article is added to the list of articles for the designated category and the article database is updated. The added article is also e-mailed to the distribution list for the designated category or audience, a link to it is added to the editor&#39;s desk  140 , and it is added to the list of articles for that category on the set lead article page  170 .  
         [0055]    The set lead article page  170  allows an article to be set as the lead article. The lead article&#39;s title and abstract are displayed more prominently than any other article on the main page  100 . When the set lead article link is selected, a list of all of the articles in the database is displayed  171 . Once an article is set as the lead article, the main page  100  is changed so that the lead article&#39;s title and abstract are displayed prominently. The title of the lead article is a link to the full text of that article. The changes are then stored by the system at step  172 .  
         [0056]    The administer categories page  180  includes links to add a category, delete a category, and to change the status of each category. When the add category page  181  is selected, the user is prompted to provide a name for the new category. Once all of the information is entered, a link to edit that category&#39;s status is added to the administer categories page  180  and its default status is inactive. The new category is also added to the add article page  160 .  
         [0057]    When the delete category page  182  is selected, a list of categories is displayed. Once a category is selected, the category and all of the articles in it are deleted. All of the links to that category and to any articles in it are deleted from the web site also.  
         [0058]    When the change category status page  183  is selected, the status of a category can be changed from active to inactive or inactive to active. If a category is changed from inactive to active, links to that category are added to the main page  100 , the article archive page  120 , and the subscribe page  130 . In addition, the inactive designation on the links to that story on the add new story page  161  and the editor&#39;s desk page are removed. If a category is changed from active to inactive, the only links to it that remain are on the administer categories page  180  and the editor&#39;s desk page  140 . In addition, designations are added to those pages to indicate that the category is inactive.  
         [0059]    The web page illustrated in FIG. 1 a  is a depiction of the web page described for FIG. 1. It is the main page for an online newsletter. There are links to search stories or articles  110 , to view the article archive  120 , to subscribe to distribution lists  130 , and for the editor&#39;s desk. There is also a lead article  101  and a list of categories  102 .  
         [0060]    The web page shown in FIG. 2 is a search articles page  200 . When it is selected from another web page on the web site, the user is prompted to enter keywords  211 . The software converts the keywords entered into a query to the database. The database searches for articles with matching keywords and displays the matching articles  211 .  
         [0061]    The web page illustrated in FIG. 2 a  is a depiction of the web page described for FIG. 2. It is the search articles page for an online newsletter. The user would enter keywords  111  and select submit  213 .  
         [0062]    The web page shown in FIG. 3 a  and the flow diagram in FIG. 3 involves the administer categories page  300 . There are links to the article archive for each category on each web page that users without administrative access can view at step  301 . The user selects the category to be viewed on that page  302 . The software then displays the article archive for the selected category  302 . The category status is then updated at step  303 .  
         [0063]    The web page illustrated in FIG. 3 a  is a depiction of the web page described for FIG. 3. It is a category page for an online newsletter. Once the user is on the category page, the user can change the category being viewed by selecting a new category from the links  305  or from the drop-down menu  307  which contains a list of all of the categories. In addition, a category can be deleted at step  304 .  
         [0064]    The flow chart web page shown respectively in FIGS. 4 and 4 a  show the subscribe page  400 . When the user selects the subscribe page, the user is prompted to enter an e-mail address  401 . Once that is done, the software displays a list of all of the categories and audiences  402 . An audience is a type of user. The audience can be used solely for distribution lists or to restrict access to particular articles to members of the specified audience. After the user selects which categories and audiences to subscribe to, the database entries for those distribution lists are updated  403 . The subscribe page also enables the user to set up links. At step  405 , the user can link to the website&#39;s main page. In addition, links can be to a category page  406  on to the website administration  407 .  
         [0065]    The web pages illustrated in FIG. 4 a  and FIG. 4 b  are depictions of the web pages described for FIG. 4. FIG. 4 a  is the prompt for an e-mail address  401  and FIG. 4 b  is the list of categories and audiences function  402 .  
         [0066]    The web page shown in FIG. 5 is the article archive page. This page differs from the category page in that when it is selected, the default category displayed is all categories. This page displays a brief abstract  502  of the article with a direct link to the full-text version. If a hypertext link is activated, then the user can review the entire article at step  504 .  
         [0067]    The web page illustrated in FIG. 5 a  is a depiction of the article archive page  500  described for FIG. 5. The categories shown in FIG. 4B are described as topic areas, with numeric designations for specific topics. Any categorization scheme can be employed.  
         [0068]    The page shows the capability of going to an archive based on a searched category  506 . A drop down menu  508  of all the categories is provided. The list of abstracted articles with hypertext links are displayed  502 . FIG. 6 illustrates a flow diagram of the editor&#39;s desk  140 . The editor&#39;s desk has links to add an article  160 , set a lead article  170 , administer the categories  180 , delete each article  190 , and edit each article  601 . When an article is selected to be edited, the add article page  160  is displayed with the information for the selected article already in the fields. Once the user is finished editing the article  604 , the database is updated  606 .  
         [0069]    The set lead article story option  170  can also be chosen by the user in order to build the headline story. When that option is closer, the editor&#39;s desk will display a list of all articles available to the editor at step  608 . Once the lead article is set, the database is updated and the selected article is chosen as the lead and stored at step  610 .  
         [0070]    The administrator categories  180  enables the editor to manipulate the various categories affiliated with the news center. The editor can either add a new category  181 , delete a category  182  or change the category&#39;s status from, for example, active to inactive.  
         [0071]    The delete article further  190  is available in the editor&#39;s desk when the article, in its entirety, is displayed  191  (see FIG. 6 b ). The user is a head if he/she wants to delete the story at step  512  [FIG. 6 b].  Once the story is deleted, then the database is updated to reflect the change  192 .  
         [0072]    The web page illustrated in FIG. 6 a  is a depiction of the web page described for FIG. 6. It has a list of articles with links to edit  601  display a selected article  612  and then update the database  614  or delete  190  each article. It also has links to add a new article  160 , set a lead article  170 , and administer the categories  180 .  
         [0073]    The web page illustrated in FIG. 6 b  is a depiction of the confirmation to delete displayed when the user selects to delete an article. The user can select to either confirm the deletion  612  or to cancel it  616 .  
         [0074]    The flow chart shown in FIG. 7 is a more detailed description of the add articles flow chart in FIG. 6. When the user selects the add article link  160 , a blank form for an article is displayed. The user is prompted to enter a headline at step  701 , the user&#39;s name and e-mail address  702 , keywords for the article  703 . The keywords are later used by the search articles function  110  and step  111  to retrieve articles that the user wants to display. The editor must then select a category  704  for the new article at step  704 . At step  705  an audience is designated for the article. Any kind of scheme can be devised to describe the appropriate audience types for the publication. For example, the audience can be “all employee”, “management”, “HR Professionals”, “Engineering”, etc. At step  706 , the user&#39;s prompted to enter a brief  706  description of the article and enter the body of the article at step  707 . Once the user is finished entering this information, the database is updated  708 , which will cause the article to be e-mailed to the distribution list for the category and audiences. While an article can be associated with multiple audiences, it can only be associated with one category.  
         [0075]    The web page illustrated in FIG. 7 a  is a depiction of the web page described for FIG. 7. To simplify the administration of the web site, this web page also includes options for the software to auto-create hotlinks  708 , auto-create returns and paragraph breaks  709 , and auto-create bulleted lists  710 . When auto-create hotlinks  708  is selected, the software will search the body of the article for any Internet addresses. If there are any, it will automatically convert them into the HTML format for links in the body of the article when it updates the database. When auto-create returns and paragraph breaks  709  is selected, the software will convert any returns or paragraph breaks in the body of the article into HTML format when it updates the database. When auto-create bulleted lists  710  is selected, the software will convert any bulleted lists in the body of the article into HTML format when it updates the database.  
         [0076]    The web page shown in FIG. 8 is the set lead article page  170 . When the user selects the set lead article page, a drop-down menu is displayed  801 . Every article in the database is listed in the drop-down menu. After the user selects an article, the database is updated and the main page is modified at step  802  so that the lead article is displayed prominently.  
         [0077]    The web page illustrated in FIG. 8 a  is a depiction of the web page described for FIG. 8.  
         [0078]    The flow diagram shown in FIG. 9 is the administer categories page  180 . It includes links to add a category  181 , delete a category  182 , and links to edit each category&#39;s status. If a category is set to an active status, then any users without administrative access can access the articles in that category or subscribe to a distribution list for it. If a category is inactive, then the articles in that category can only be viewed from the editor&#39;s desk  140 . When the administer categories link  181  is selected, the software queries the database for a list of all categories and each category&#39;s status  903 . A table is displayed with each category, its status  903 , and link to edit each category&#39;s status and update the category status in the databases  904 .  
         [0079]    The web page illustrated in FIG. 9 a  is a depiction of the flow chart described for FIG. 9.  
         [0080]    The flow chart shown in FIG. 10 is the add category page  181 . When the add category link is selected  181 , the user is prompted to enter the name of the new category  1001 . The default status of a new category is inactive. Once the user has selected to add the category, the database is updated  1002 .  
         [0081]    The web page illustrated in FIG. 10 a  is a depiction of the web page described for FIG. 10.  
         [0082]    The web page shown in FIG. 11 is the delete category page  182 . When the delete category page is selected, a drop-down menu containing a list of the categories  1101  is displayed. Once the user selects a category to delete  1102 , the category, its distribution list, and all of the articles associated with that category are deleted from the database  1103 . The main page, and all pages that link to each category, are modified to remove the deleted category.  
         [0083]    The web page illustrated in FIG. 11 a  is a depiction of the web page described for FIG. 11.  
         [0084]    The flow chart shown in FIG. 12 is the edit category status page  183 . When the edit category status page is selected, the database is queried for the status of the selected category. Then a table with active and inactive is displayed with the current status of the category selected  1203 . The user can then select the desired status for the selected category  1201 . The database is then updated  1202 .  
         [0085]    The web page illustrated in FIG. 12 a  is a depiction of the web page described for FIG. 12.  
         [0086]    The invention provides an apparatus and method for allowing a person with limited knowledge of web page design and computer programming to design an online newsletter that a person with minimal knowledge of computers can administer over a computer network. The above description and drawings are only illustrative of preferred embodiments which achieve the objects, features and advantages of the present invention. It is not intended that the present invention be limited to the illustrated embodiments as modifications, substitutions and use of equivalent structures can be made. Accordingly, the invention is not to be considered as limited by the foregoing description, but is only limited by the scope of the appended claims.