Patent ID: 7184970

Claim:
An on-line publishing system comprising: a computer network including a plurality of network access devices, an electronic mail server, and a database, wherein community members can submit member-generated messages that include member-generated content by electronic mail and vendors can submit advertising by electronic mail, wherein the network is configured to pass the member-generated messages and the advertising to the electronic mail server which is configured to pass the member-generated messages and the advertising to the database for storage therein, wherein a community manager can review and assign values to the member-generated messages and the advertising stored in the database, and can assign values to editorial content stored in the database, wherein assigned values are indicative of the relevance of the member-generated messages, the advertising and the editorial content, respectively, to particular segments of an on-line community, and wherein the database is configured to generate individualized electronic mail text messages addressed to community members, wherein each individualized electronic mail text message includes information from one or more of the advertising, the member-generated content and the editorial content, wherein the individualized electronic mail text messages collectively include information from the advertising, the member-generated content and the editorial content, and wherein the information included in a particular individualized electronic mail text message depends on the assigned values and on data previously provided by a community member to whom the particular individualized electronic mail message is addressed.