Abstract:
The content management application is an intranet application which provides a process for implementing changes to an internet website of a company by providing the company the ability to define and enforce a common style of page layout. The application can be accessed via a desktop browser and multiple users may access the application for multiple reasons at the same time. The application also dynamically generates new page designs and new component design with various people assigned to groups or teams enabling the continuous creation and processing of content. Once the content is created and reviewed, it is then launched onto the company&#39;s internet site for viewing by the internet users accessing the company&#39;s web page.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is a continuation of and claims benefit to U.S. Ser. No. 11/458,851 filed on Jul. 20, 2006 and entitled “CONTENT MANAGEMENT APPLICATION FOR AN INTERACTIVE ENVIRONMENT”; which application is a continuation of and claims benefit to U.S. Ser. No. 09/897,858 filed on Jul. 2, 2001 and entitled “CONTENT MANAGEMENT APPLICATION FOR AN INTERACTIVE ENVIRONMENT”; which application claims the benefit of, and is a continuation-in-part of, U.S. Ser. No. 09/769,924 filed on Jan. 25, 2001, which itself claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/178,376, filed Jan. 27, 2000, the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention relates generally to methods and apparatus for implementing changes to an internet website, and more particularly, to systems for defining and enforcing a common style of website page layout for use on an internet and intranet. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     As more and more companies begin to provide a presence on the internet, they are confronted with the issues of presentation and conformity within the preparation of the presentations. Various schemes have been presented to assist the companies in preparing the presentation screens that would appear on the internet website. Such approaches have included delegated authority systems, used content aggregation, provided graphical interfaces, and dynamically generated web documents. Further, general website management has included editing and generating information, data access/processing systems, automatic publishing systems and group ware systems. These approaches generally require knowledge of an authoring language, such as, for example, Hypertext Markup Language (HTML), a capability generally understood by website programmers, but not sufficiently among general employees. 
     The prior art generally fails to disclose a sufficient process for implementing changes to an internet website such that employees in a corporation may define and enforce a common style of page layout. Further, it is desirable to provide an application that can be accessed by multiple users at the same time via an intranet browser, where the application allows corporate employees to manage content, create new web pages, process content through workflow, and define new content and style without requiring that the employee be proficient in an authoring language, such as HTML. It is further desirable that prior to a web page being introduced to the internet, a launch status be assigned to the page such that all appropriate employees, which form the workflow committee, review the content and proposed web page and authorize the launch to the internet. Additionally, it is desired that an access control system that can limit access to certain members within the workflow group and certain areas of the proposed web site be provided. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention provides a content management application which is an intranet application for implementing changes to a website. The application provides a corporation the ability to define and enforce a common style of page layout in an intranet environment prior to introduction of the page layout to the internet website. The intranet application can be accessed utilizing a standard desktop browser and multiple users may access the application for multiple reasons at the same time. Thus, with minimal or no sufficient knowledge of an authoring language such as, for example, the HTML programming language, corporate employees may access the application to manage content, create new pages, process content through workflow, define new content style and/or the like. The content management application also dynamically generates new content for predesigned page layouts and new component layouts, the content of which within the internet can be assigned to groups or teams which enables the creation/processing of content by any member of the team. 
     The content management application through the use of a workflow concept indicates the status of the user such as, for example, an author, an editor, a legal reviewer, market reviewer, owner and/or the like. In the workflow, after the author drafts content for a proposed web page, the author can approve the content and it then becomes available, via the intranet, to the next member within the workflow, such as an editor. After all of the appropriate employees within the workflow review the content and proposed web page, the proposed page is assigned a launch status which allows the newly created web page to be made available on the corporation&#39;s internet site. The content management application system includes access control such that access to certain documents can be limited to only certain members within the workflow. Additionally, the access control can limit access of not only certain members, but also limit access to certain areas of the content. Thus, templates can be pre-established using a uniform style guide such that when a template is added to the web page, all the templates conform to a uniform style. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The above and other features and advantages of the present invention are hereinafter described in the following detailed description of exemplary embodiments to be read in conjunction with the accompanying drawing figures, wherein like reference numerals are used to identify the same or similar parts or steps in the similar views, and: 
         FIG. 1  is an exemplary representation of the components of the Content Management Application of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is an exemplary block diagram of the workflow process of the present invention; 
         FIG. 3  is an exemplary representation of the dataflow of the present invention; 
         FIG. 4  is an exemplary block diagram depicting the Administrative User embodiment of the Content Management Utility of the present invention; 
         FIG. 5  is an exemplary block diagram depicting the Non-Administrative User/Workflow embodiment of the Content Management Utility of the present invention; 
         FIG. 6  is an exemplary workflow diagram for Content Management Application Administrative users; 
         FIG. 7  is an exemplary workflow diagram for Content Management Application Non-Administrative users; and 
         FIGS. 8   a - 8   c  are examples of screen layout templates for use in enforcing standard page layouts. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS 
     The present invention may be described herein in terms of functional block components and various processing steps. It should be appreciated that such functional blocks may be realized by any number of hardware and/or software components configured to perform the specified functions. For example, the software elements of the present invention may be implemented with any programming or scripting language such as C, C++, Java, PERL, or the like, with the various algorithms being implemented with any combination of data structures, objects, processes, routines or other programming elements. For purposes of simplicity and only by way of example and not by way of limitation, the exemplary embodiments are described as using extensible Markup Language (XML). Further, it should be noted that the present invention may employ any number of conventional techniques for data transmission, signaling, data processing, network control, and the like. Still further, the invention could be used to detect or prevent security issues with a client-side scripting language, such as JavaScript, VBScript or the like. For a basic introduction of cryptography, please review a text written by Bruce Schneider which is entitled “Applied Cryptography: Protocols, Algorithms, And Source Code In C,” published by John Wiley &amp; Sons (second edition, 1996), which is hereby incorporated by reference. 
     The computing units may be connected with each other via a data communication network. The network may be a public network and assumed to be insecure and open to eavesdroppers. In the illustrated implementation, the network may be embodied as the internet. In this context, the computers may or may not be connected to the internet at all times. For instance, the customer computer may employ a modem to occasionally connect to the internet, whereas the bank computing center might maintain a permanent connection to the internet. Specific information related to the protocols, standards, and application software utilized in connection with the Internet may not be discussed herein. For further information regarding such details, see, for example, D ILIP  N AIK , I NTERNET  S TANDARDS AND  P ROTOCOLS  (1998); J AVA  2 C OMPLETE , various authors, (Sybex 1999); D EBORAH  R AY AND  E RIC  R AY , M ASTERING  HTML 4.0 (1997). L OSHIN , TCP/IP C LEARLY  E XPLAINED  (1997). All of these texts are hereby incorporated by reference. 
     A variety of conventional communications media and protocols may be used for data links. Such as, for example, a connection to an Internet Service Provider (ISP) over the local loop as is typically used in connection with standard modem communication, cable modem, Dish networks, ISDN, Digital Subscriber Line (DSL), or various wireless communication methods. Merchant system might also reside within a local area network (LAN) which interfaces to network via a leased line (T1, D3, etc.). Such communication methods are well known in the art, and are covered in a variety of standard texts. See, e.g., G ILBERT  H ELD , U NDERSTANDING  D ATA  C OMMUNICATIONS  (1996), hereby incorporated by reference. 
     The databases disclosed herein may be any type of database, such as relational, hierarchical, object-oriented, and/or the like. Common database products that may be used to implement database  103  include DB2 by IBM (White Plains, N.Y.), any of the database products available from Oracle Corporation (Redwood Shores, Calif.), Microsoft Access by Microsoft Corporation (Redmond, Wash.), or any other database product. Database may be organized in any suitable manner, including as data tables or lookup tables. Association of certain data may be accomplished through any data association technique known and practiced in the art. For example, the association may be accomplished either manually or automatically. Automatic association techniques may include, for example, a database search, a database merge, GREP, AGREP, SQL, and/or the like. The association step may be accomplished by a database merge function, for example, using a “key field” in each of the manufacturer and retailer data tables. A “key field” partitions the database according to the high-level class of objects defined by the key field. For example, a certain class may be designated as a key field in both the first data table and the second data table, and the two data tables may then be merged on the basis of the class data in the key field. In this embodiment, the data corresponding to the key field in each of the merged data tables is preferably the same. However, data tables having similar, though not identical, data in the key fields may also be merged by using AGREP, for example. 
     It should be appreciated that the particular implementations shown and described herein are illustrative of the invention and its best mode and are not intended to otherwise limit the scope of the present invention in any way. Indeed, for the sake of brevity, conventional data networking, application development and other functional aspects of the systems (and components of the individual operating components of the systems) may not be described in detail herein. Furthermore, the connecting lines shown in the various figures contained herein are intended to represent exemplary functional relationships and/or physical couplings between the various elements. It should be noted that many alternative or additional functional relationships or physical connections may be present in a practical electronic transaction system. 
     It will be appreciated, that many applications of the present invention could be formulated. One skilled in the art will appreciate that the network may include any system for exchanging data or transacting business, such as the Internet, an intranet, an extranet, WAN, LAN, satellite communications, and/or the like. The users may interact with the system via any input device such as a keyboard, mouse, kiosk, personal digital assistant, handheld computer (e.g., Palm Pilot®), cellular phone and/or the like. Similarly, the invention could be used in conjunction with any type of personal computer, network computer, workstation, minicomputer, mainframe, or the like running any operating system such as any version of Windows, Windows NT, Windows2000, Windows 98, Windows 95, MacOS, OS/2, BeOS, Linux, UNIX, or the like. Moreover, although the invention is frequently described herein as being implemented with TCP/IP communications protocols, it will be readily understood that the invention could also be implemented using IPX, Appletalk, IP-6, NetBIOS, OSI or any number of existing or future protocols. Moreover, the system contemplates the use, sale or distribution of any goods, services or information over any network having similar functionality described herein. One skilled in the art will also appreciate that, for security reasons, any databases, systems, or components of the present invention may consist of any combination of databases or components at a single location or at multiple locations, wherein each database or system includes any of various suitable security features, such as firewalls, access codes, encryption, de-encryption, compression, decompression, and/or the like. 
     To simplify the description of the exemplary embodiment, the invention is described as pertaining to an internet and intranet system. Referring now to  FIG. 1 , an exemplary representation of the content management application system  100  for use in an active environment is shown. In an exemplary embodiment, the content management application is directed to a system for permitting a company to implement changes to an internet website by defining and enforcing a common style of page layout produced on an intranet server. The system suitably facilitates access to various application users  102 , including an author  104 , an editor  105 , legal reviewer  106 , the business owner  107 , utility administrator  406  and/or the site administrator  108 . It is to be understood that reference to the author  104 , editor  105 , legal reviewer  106 , business owner  107 , and site administrator  108 /utility administrator  406  may be to an entity, group, or team as well as to an individual, hardware, or software, as these titles are related to the function performed, rather than to an individual entity. 
     Each user may interact with the Information Processing Center (IPC)  101  through a connection with an Intranet web server  110  which maintains the page layout for the internet web page on internet web server  130 . In order to restrict unauthorized access to components within the IPC  101 , connections may pass through a firewall  132 . Intranet web server  110  communicates through a firewall  114  into a data base server  120 . Data base server  120  additionally suitably communicates with a management application server  122  and an internet web server  130 . Site administrator  108  also communicates through firewalls  112 ,  114  to the management application server  122  which permits the site administrator to signal the data base server  120 , controlling release of an updated content web page to the internet web server  130 . Web users  150  using a standard desktop browser can log onto the internet  140  and, after passing through a firewall  132 , enter the secure internet web server to receive the current version of the updated web page. 
     Referring also to  FIG. 2 , the figure shows an exemplary flow diagram  200  of the workflow process of the content management application associated with the application users  102  of  FIG. 1 . Once a project is initiated by the site administrator to create a new page or to change existing page content to be presented on a web page, an author is assigned to create or modify the content in step  204  and forwards the updated content to an editor for review and editing. The author may be tasked to create new content pertaining only to a portion of a new or an existing page rather than authoring an entire page. In step  205 , the editor reviews the content and may either reject or approve the content in step  212  thereby returning it to the author for review and/or modification if rejected, or if accepted, sending it to the legal reviewer  106  for review in step  206 . In step  212 , the legal reviewer may reject or approve the page content received from the editor. If the page content is rejected, the legal reviewer may return it to either the author or the editor as shown in step  218 . If returned to the author, the author reviews the rejection, modifies the content and again sends it to the editor, starting the process over. If sent to the editor, the editor reviews the content with regard to the comments provided by the legal reviewer and may address the legal reviewer&#39;s concerns or send the page back to the author for review and revision, again restarting the workflow process. If the legal reviewer approves the content, the page content is then sent to the business owner to review the contents at step  207 . As with the legal reviewer, in step  216 , the business owner may reject the content and return it to either the author or the editor for further processing as shown in step  218 . If, however, the business owner approves the content, it is sent to the site administrator in step  208  for publication of the content to the web in step  230  as above described for  FIG. 1 . 
     Referring now to  FIG. 3 , there is shown at  300  an exemplary representation of the flow diagram of  FIG. 2 . The creation process in the content management application  301  is, in one embodiment, initiated by an author  304  creating a page which starts the workflow  310  as above described in  FIG. 2 . While various scripting languages may be used in creating content and/or a page, by way of example only and not by way of limitation, the content/page is written in eXtensible Markup Language (XML) and stored in a data base  320 . Once the workflow process is completed and the site administrator  308  has authorization, the updated page with the new content is launched,  312 . Upon the site administrator&#39;s  308  launching,  312 , the updated page content at  301  is stored as an XML file in a data base  320 . At this point, an external web user  350  may request the updated page wherein the page is retrieved from the data base in XML format, processed through a Content Delivery Application (CDA) translation  324  into, for example, an HTML format and delivered as an HTML page to the user  350 . 
     When launched, in one embodiment, the updated page content may contain an auto-expiration provision. This provision is utilized for content that has a limited time period during which the content is valid. At the end of the selected time period, the content is automatically removed from the page. Further, the present invention contains a provision for manually removing page content at any time: However, once page content has been removed, predetermined information relating to the deleted material is retained and stored. Thus, the retained content may be recalled and reproduced to provide information relating to the content as well as providing audit information relating to the member of the workflow process originally launching the removed page content. 
     Referring now to  FIG. 4 , there is shown an exemplary embodiment of the content management application of the present invention at  400  directed to administrative user workflow. In this embodiment, the content management application is under the control of a utility administrator  406 . Utility administrator  406  sets up a new account using an internet browser application to connect to the production environment. The utility administrator  406  creates workflow groups that will use the system. Users are then added to the groups and the groups are associated with the project. 
     As a security precaution, the administrator may verbally communicate the user ID and password to each new user. In an exemplary embodiment, the new user is previously designated as either a content author  402  or a content approver  404 , which would include editor  105 , legal  106 , business owner, or local site administrator  108 . Content authors can then create and edit content items and content approvers have the authority to approve production content as ready to be launched to the website. In this embodiment, no user of the content management application can be associated with more than one entity in the same workflow. That is, the author cannot become an approver of his own work product. Once the new page content has been approved, it is presented to the utility administrator  406  for distribution. Utility administrator  406  approves the content as a final step in the workflow and releases it to intranet web server  410 , which then distributes the upgraded web page to the application server  422  and the data base server  420  for presentation to the internet website of the company. 
     Referring now to  FIG. 5 , an alternate exemplary embodiment of the content management application is shown at  500 . This embodiment is directed to the non-administrative user workflow group under control of the local site administrator  502 . Once the site administrator  502  initiates a project and verbally communicates the user ID and password to each new user designated in the workflow, designated content authors  504  can log directly onto a production server  508  and create and edit items using content entry templates accessed via a web browser. Additionally, designated content approvers  506 , such as have been previously described, may log directly onto the production server  508  in the intranet and preview content items using a web browser. Content approvers can then mark items as approved or rejected as previously discussed in  FIG. 2 , using the intranet based application. When the new content has been approved by all or a predetermined number or list of concerned users in the workflow, the utility administrator  514  will then launch the content. Content is launched by the production server  508  to the worldwide web  510  on the internet. At this point, users  512   a ,  512   b , and  512   c  may access the newly added content pages. 
     Referring now to  FIG. 6 , the content management application flow for use by the site wide administrative user disclosed in  FIG. 4  is shown at  600 . The site wide administrative user  602  can setup workflow users  604  by creating, modifying or listing them. Next, the administrative user  602  may identify groups, creating and modifying workflow groups to include the members of the workflow users. The site wide administrative user  602  may also set out projects  608  for the group  606  to address. As certain members of the group  606  may have access only to certain portions of a project  608 , the site wide administrative user assigns privileges  610  to the users  604  of a group  606 . Further, the site wide administrative user can create or delete tags  612  identified with the project, view the URL  614  where the modified content will reside, request help  616  or log out from the system  618 . 
     Referring now to  FIG. 7 , an exemplary content management application for non-administrative users is shown at  700 . In this embodiment, the user  702  can be the author, editor, legal, business owner, or site administrator. The site administrator defines a work space on the production server to accommodate the changes and modifications to a new content page. The site administrator also sets tasks  706  such that when he selects roles and projects under work space  704 , he can then assign the tasks to various entities or groups. As unassigned tasks are disclosed, they may be added to the tasks listed for edit, approval, reassignment, or rejection. An author then defines the content  708  of the page, starting the workflow process through the review by the editor, legal, and the business owner. Again, once the content is approved throughout the workflow, it is sent to the site administrator for launching to the production server for introduction to the worldwide web on the internet. A user may also view the URL  710  where the modified content will reside, request help  712  or log out from the system  714 . 
     Referring now to  FIG. 8   a - 8   c , various exemplary templates are depicted at  800  for use in standardizing the content pages which will be created or modified by the workflow process for introduction to the intranet. A number of standard page types have been developed for use with the Content Management Application in order to present a common page style and layout. Page types are general descriptions of the type of information that appears on the page. As a result, templates can be set up in a simple table structure that define the overall structure of the page. The table structure divides the page into areas, each of which is assigned a specific function, such as global navigation, local navigation, content, etc. Thus, by creating templates for use across the company, consistency across the company web site can be ensured. Exemplary embodiments of such templates are depicted in  FIGS. 8   a - 8   c.    
     Referring particularly to  FIG. 8   a , there is shown an exemplary template  802  having a global navigation segment  804 , a content area  806 , and a copyright area  808 . Copyright area  808  may include an automatic counter or automatic date stamp for correctly indicating the appropriate date of distribution next to the copyright symbol ©2000 along with the appropriate creator of the copyright. This template is used primarily for site wide utility pages which are accessible from the tool bar, such as search or Company information. It is also used for any content which falls outside of the hierarchical navigation of a segment, which will be hereinafter described. This template is generally used for searching a site, the site directory, customer service, information about the company, and as an exception, partner-hosted content. 
     Referring now to  FIG. 8   b , there is shown an exemplary segment content template  810  again having a global navigation segment  804 ′, a content area  806 ′ and a copyright area  808 ′. In addition, a left hand navigation bar  812  has been added. This navigation bar  812  provides access to various segments located in the content area  806 ′. This template could be used for demonstrations, demonstration introductions, acquisition/registration, interactive and non-interactive content on a fourth level or lower within the web page only site. 
     Referring now to  FIG. 8   c , there is depicted an exemplary segment content template  810  with a cross-sell column  822 . As before, the segment content template with cross-sell column  820  includes a global navigation segment  804 ″, a content area  806 ″, a copyright area  808 ″ and a left hand navigation column  812 ″. The new cross-sell column  822  is used to present content, such as general information or product descriptions, product/service pages, category introduction pages, output pages and glossaries. 
     While only three types of templates have been described, it should be understood that other templates for other reasons and other uses can be designed and utilized for presentation of company content to the internet website. As such, these templates are by way of example only and are not by way of limitation to the style and format of templates used to present company information and content. Accordingly, corresponding structures, acts, and equivalents of all elements in the claims below are intended to include any structural material or acts for performing the functions in combination with other elements as specifically claimed. The scope of the invention should be determined by the allowed claims and their legal equivalents, rather than by the examples given above.