Patent ID: 8793324

Claim:
A discussion-topic server configured to manage communications and content sharing between a first device and at least one second device, wherein the discussion-topic server is configured to communicate over a data communications network with the first device and the at least one second device, the discussion-topic server comprising: at least one network interface connected to the data communications network and configured to receive and transmit data; and at least one processor adapted with machine-readable instructions that configure the discussion-topic server to: receive, from the first device, a conventional email chain message; receive, from the first device, naming data for identifying the conventional email chain message, wherein the naming data was entered by a user to name a discussion topic for the email chain message; create a discussion-topic data structure associated with the named discussion topic; parse email messages within the email chain as separate comment data; store the separate comment data in association with the discussion-topic data structure; identify at least one addressee in the email chain, in addition to the first device, as a respective participant in the named discussion topic that is permitted access to the discussion-topic data structure; and responsive to receiving a request from the respective participant for content associated with the discussion topic, transmit first visual feed data comprising the separate comment data to the respective participant for displaying on a display a discussion-topic page identified by the named discussion topic and comprising a listing of at least a portion of the separate comment data associated with the named discussion topic.