System and method for filtering and organizing items based on common elements

A computer-readable storage medium storing computer-executable software components for implementing a method for filtering items in a computer system, the computer system having a display and a memory for storing items, the method comprising:

• representing a plurality of items on the display;
• analyzing, at a computing device, a plurality of metadata properties associated with the plurality of items to determine common metadata properties that are associated with at least two of the plurality of items, wherein a metadata property is a category of metadata and a metadata value is the entry in a metadata property for a specific item;
• representing subsets of the plurality of items that are associated with the common metadata properties as a plurality of stacks, wherein a stack is a virtual folder, and wherein an individual stack displays a number of items within the individual stack that share the common metadata property associated with the stack;
• receiving a user selection of one of the plurality of stacks represented on the display;
• responsive to the user selection, displaying representations of the individual items within the one of the plurality of stacks;
• displaying a quick link that is associated with a specified metadata value within a category of metadata;
• and
• responsive to a user selection of the quick link, providing a view on the display of a subset of the representations of the individual items associated with the specified metadata value.

A computer-readable storage medium storing computer-executable instructions for performing steps comprising:

• displaying each of a plurality of stacks on a display, wherein a stack contains references to items grouped by a common metadata property, and wherein an individual stack displays a number of items within the individual stack that share the common metadata property associated with the stack;
• analyzing, at a computing device, a plurality of metadata properties associated with a plurality of items within the plurality of stacks to determine a plural subset of the metadata properties each being associated with at least two of the plurality of items, wherein a metadata property is a category of metadata and a metadata value is the entry in a metadata property for a specific item;
• generating a plurality of filter terms each based on a metadata value associated with at least one of the subset of the metadata properties;
• displaying each of the filter terms on the display as a plurality of quick links, wherein each of the plurality of quick links is associated with an individual metadata value;
• receiving a user selection of one of the displayed quick links;
• and
• responsive to the user selection, displaying a subset of the plurality of items having a metadata value associated with the metadata property corresponding to the filter quick link but not those of the plurality of items having a metadata value associated with the metadata property not corresponding to the quick link.

A computer-assisted method, comprising:

• displaying each of a plurality of stacks on a display, wherein a stack contains references to items grouped by a common metadata property, and wherein an individual stack displays a number of items within the individual stack that share the common metadata property associated with the stack;
• analyzing, at a computing device, a plurality of metadata properties associated with a plurality of items within the plurality of stacks to determine a plural subset of the metadata properties each being associated with at least two of the plurality of items, wherein a metadata property is a category of metadata and a metadata value is the entry in a metadata property for a specific item;
• generating a plurality of filter terms each based on a metadata value associated with at least one of the subset of the metadata properties;
• displaying each of the filter terms on the display as a plurality of quick links, wherein each of the plurality of quick links is associated with an individual metadata value;
• receiving a user selection of one of the plurality of quick links and responsive to the user selection, displaying those of the items having a metadata value corresponding to the individual metadata value associated with the selected quick link but not those of the items having a metadata value not corresponding to the quick link.