Extended applications of multimedia content previews in the cloud-based content management system

A system comprising:

• a host server comprising a processor;
• a preview module executed by the processor of the host server, the preview module configured to generate a preview of a current version of a file stored in a repository of the cloud-based collaboration environment, wherein generating the preview comprises converting the current version of the file from a format of the file to a target format of the preview, and provide, to a client device, the generated preview for display by the client device without downloading the current version of the file;
• an annotation module executed by the processor of the host server, the annotation module configured to:
• superimpose a transparent layer over the generated preview;
• receive receive, from the client device, an input to annotate the generated preview based on interaction of a user of the client device with the generated preview displayed by the client device;
• generate annotation data based on the received input to annotate the generated preview, wherein the annotation data has a format suitable for rendering on the transparent layer and wherein the annotation data is associated with the current version of the file and the user of the client device;
• store the annotation data in in an annotation file in an annotation file database of the cloud-based collaboration environment, wherein the annotation file includes previous annotation data associated with each of one or more previous versions of the file and one or more users other than the user of the client device and the annotations to the current version based on the received input;
• and
• a tracking module executed by the processor of the host server, the tracking module configured to:
• receive a user selection specifying the portion of the file to track, the portion comprising a user-specified section of the file less that the whole file;
• track the user interaction with the portion of the file to track indicated by the received user selection through the generated preview displayed by the client device in response to detecting an initial engagement by the user of the client device with the generated preview after initiating display of the generated preview;
• update tracking data based on the tracking, wherein the tracking data indicates a frequency and duration of access of content within the file by a plurality of users in the cloud-based collaboration environment and content within a portion of the file represented in the generated preview displayed by the client device;
• store the generated tracking data in a visual representation file;
• and
• generate, for display at the client device, a visual representation of interaction with the file based on the tracking data stored in the visual representation file, wherein the visual representation indicates the indicates popular content within the file based on the frequency and duration of access of content a plurality of portions of the file by the plurality of users in the collaboration environment and wherein the annotation file and visual representation file are stored separately from the file stored in the repository.

A non-transitory, computer-readable medium comprising a set of instructions stored therein which, when executed by a processor, causes the processor to provide multimedia content previews by:

• accessing a file stored in a repository of a cloud-based collaboration environment and associated with a workspace in the cloud-based collaboration environment, the file having a file format of a plurality of different file formats and including a current version of the file and a version history including plurality of previous versions of the file;
• receiving a user selection specifying a portion of the file to track, the portion comprising a user-specified section of the file less than the whole file;
• generating a preview of the current version of the file, wherein generating the preview comprises converting the current version of the file from a format of the file to a target format of the preview;
• providing, to a client device, the generated preview for display by the client device without downloading the current version of the file;
• superimposing a transparent layer over the generated preview;
• receiving from the client device, an input to annotate the generated preview based on interaction of a user of the client device with the generated preview displayed by the client device;
• generating annotation data based on the received input to annotate the generated preview, wherein the annotation data has a format suitable for rendering on the transparent layer, wherein the annotation data is associated with the current version of the file and the user of the client device;
• storing the annotation data in in an annotation file in an annotation file database of the cloud-based collaboration environment, wherein the annotation file includes previous annotation data associated with each of one or more of the plurality of previous versions of the file and one or more users of a plurality of users other than the user of the client device and the annotations to the current version based on the received input;
• tracking the interaction of the user of the client device with the portion of the file to track indicated by the received user selection through the generated preview displayed by the client device in response to detecting an initial engagement by the user of the client device with the generated preview after initiating display of the generated preview;
• updating tracking data based on the tracking, wherein the tracking data indicates a frequency and duration of access of content within the file by the plurality of users in the cloud-based collaboration environment and content within a portion of the file represented in the generated preview displayed by the client device;
• storing the generated tracking data in a visual representation file;
• and
• generating for display at the client device, a visual representation of interaction with the file based on the tracking data stored in the visual representation file, wherein the visual representation indicates popular content within the file based on the frequency and duration of access of content in a plurality of portions of the file by the plurality of users in the collaboration environment and wherein the annotation file and visual representation file are stored separately from the file stored in the repository.