Digital signage system

A method of operating an online community wherein each of a plurality of users of the online community has access to a plurality of display devices and wherein each of the plurality of display devices is associated with a display device computer, the method comprising:

• establishing, by a processor of a computer, a database, the database storing a plurality of user account records, wherein each user account record is associated with a user of the online community;
• receiving, by a processor of a computer, a request to establish a first user account for a first user to be included in the plurality of users of the online community;
• receiving, by the processor, an identifier of the first user;
• automatically storing, by the processor, a record of the first user account for the first user to the plurality of user account records stored in the database, wherein the record of the first user account includes an identifier of the first user and does not include an identifier of any of the plurality of display devices accessible through the online community;
• receiving, by the processor, a request to establish a second user account for a second user to be included in the plurality of users of the online community;
• receiving, by the processor, an identifier of the second user, a messaging address of the second user, an address of a display device to be included in the plurality of display devices accessible through the online community, and a display price for the display device, wherein the display price is a rate for displaying data on the display device;
• automatically storing, by the processor, a record of the second user account for the second user to the plurality of user account records stored in the database, wherein the record of the second user account includes the identifier of the second user, the messaging address of the second user, an identifier of the display device, the address of the display device, and the display price of the display device;
• receiving, by the processor, a request to log into the first user account from a user computer;
• in response to verifying the request to log into the first user account, receiving, by the processor, a search request from the user computer, the search request specifying one or more parameters for display devices sought by the first user;
• automatically retrieving from the database, by the processor, at least one record matching the search request, wherein the at least one record includes the record of the second user account;
• automatically transmitting, by the processor, data regarding the display device identified in the record of the second user account to the user computer, wherein transmitting the data includes transmitting the display price for the display device;
• receiving, by the processor, a selection of the display device identified in the record of the second user account from the user computer;
• receiving, by the processor, content from the user computer;
• in response to the selection, automatically retrieving, by the processor, the messaging address of the second user included in the record of the second user account from the database;
• in response to the selection, automatically generating and transmitting, by the processor, an electronic message to the messaging address of the second user, the electronic message including a request to display the content on the display device;
• in response to receiving a reply to the request including an acceptance of the request, automatically transmitting, by the processor, the content over a communication network to a display device computer associated with the display device, wherein the display device computer controls the display device to display the content on the display device;
• and
• automatically cancelling the request when the second user does not accept or reject the request with a predetermined period of time.

A method of operating an online community wherein each of a plurality of users of the online community has access to a plurality of display devices and wherein each of the plurality of display devices is associated with a display device computer, the method comprising:

• establishing, by a processor of a computer, a database, the database storing a plurality of user account records, wherein each user account record is associated with a user of the online community;
• receiving, by a processor of a computer, a request to establish a first user account for a first user to be included in the plurality of users of the online community;
• receiving, by the processor, an identifier of the first user;
• automatically storing, by the processor, a record of the first user account for the first user to the plurality of user account records stored in the database, wherein the record of the first user account includes an identifier of the first user and does not include an identifier of any of the plurality of display devices accessible through the online community;
• receiving, by the processor, a request to establish a second user account for a second user to be included in the plurality of users of the online community;
• receiving, by the processor, an identifier of the second user, a messaging address of the second user, an address of a display device to be included in the plurality of display devices accessible through the online community, and a display price for the display device, wherein the display price is a rate for displaying data on the display device;
• automatically, by the processor, determining additional location information for the display device based on the address of the display device;
• automatically storing, by the processor, a record of the second user account for the second user to the plurality of user account records stored in the database, wherein the record of the second user account includes the identifier of the second user, the messaging address of the second user, an identifier of the display device, the address of the display device, the display price of the display device, and the additional location information for the display device;
• receiving, by the processor, a request to log into the first user account from a user computer;
• in response to verifying the request to log into the first user account, receiving, by the processor, a search request from the user computer, the search request specifying one or more parameters for display devices sought by the first user;
• automatically retrieving from the database, by the processor, at least one record matching the search request, wherein the at least one record includes the record of the second user account;
• automatically transmitting, by the processor, data regarding the display device identified in the record of the second user account to the user computer, wherein transmitting the data includes transmitting the display price for the display device and the additional location information for the display device;
• receiving, by the processor, a selection of the display device identified in the record of the second user account from the user computer;
• receiving, by the processor, content from the user computer;
• in response to the selection, automatically retrieving, by the processor, the messaging address of the second user included in the record of the second user account from the database;
• in response to the selection, automatically generating and transmitting, by the processor, an electronic message to the messaging address of the second user, the electronic message including a request to display the content on the display device;
• and
• in response to receiving a reply to the request including an acceptance of the request, automatically transmitting, by the processor, the content over a communication network to a display device computer associated with the display device, wherein the display device computer controls the display device to display the content on the display device.