US 8,286,086 B2Granted

On-widget data control

AssigneeYahoo! Inc.

InventorsTodd Sampson, Eric Marcoullier, John Sampson, Steve Ho, Neil Scott Rafer

Life of this patent

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Abstract

A system and method are directed towards enabling control of widgets using on-widget data controls. A visitor may enter selective personal information and determine what information is made available on a social networking webpage. A visitor to a social networking website may select to not have their information displayed at a social networking website, while still being displayed at another social networking website. A visitor's information may be displayed within a reader roll, an association listing, a visitor comment page, or the like. An owner of a social networking website may also select not to have a visitor's information displayed on the website. In one embodiment, selecting not to display information may be performed by ‘mousing’ over the information and selecting a display option. Social networking websites may look to a centralized registration system to determine whether to display the visitor information.

Claims16

Dependent claims

A system for managing a display of visitor information on a website over a network, comprising:

a central registration server that is configured to perform actions, including:
receiving visitor information including at least one of an alias, an avatar, or a comment;
and
a social networking server configured to display contents of the website, and to perform actions, including:
requesting the visitor information from the central registration server for at least one visitor;
selectively displaying the visitor information within a widget, wherein the widget comprises the selectively displayed visitor information and a hidden data control;
and
if a mouse pointer or screen cursor is relocated substantially within the widget, selectively automatically displaying the hidden data control, such that the displayed hidden data control is used to change at least some of the display of the visitor information, wherein selectively automatically displaying the hidden data control further comprises:
determining if relocating the mouse pointer or screen cursor is an action performed by the visitor, another visitor, or an owner of the social networking server website;
if the action is by the visitor for which the visitor information is about, enabling the visitor to modify at least some of the display of the visitor information, the visitor information being provided directly to the social networking server website by other than the visitor;
if the action is by another visitor, inhibiting displaying of the hidden data control for the visitor's information such that the other visitor is inhibited from modifying the display of the visitor information;
and
if the action is by the owner, enabling the display of the hidden data control such that the owner is enabled to modify the display of the visitor's information or the other visitor's information.

10 more elements

A computer readable storage medium in a computer system having a user interface for managing a display of data on a webpage, the computer readable storage medium comprising:

a widget displayed within the webpage wherein the widget comprises a display of a plurality of visitor information including at least one of an alias, an avatar, or a comment;
and
a hidden data control within the widget that is selectably hidden from display within the widget;
and
a set of computer instructions that are configured to perform actions, including:
detecting when a user interface input signal is relocated substantially within the displayed widget;
in response to detecting the relocation, selectively displaying the hidden data control;
receiving another user interface input signal;
and
selectively hiding at least some of the plurality of visitor information from being displayed within the widget based on selectively displaying the hidden data control and using the selectively displayed hidden data control and the other user interface input signal, wherein selectively displaying the hidden data control further comprises:
determining a source of the user interface input signal, wherein the source is one of a visitor for which the plurality of visitor information is about, another visitor unassociated with the plurality of visitor information, or an owner of the webpage;
if the source is associated with the visitor, enabling the visitor to modify the display of at least some of the visitor information using the displayed hidden data control, the visitor information being provided for display by a central registration server;
if the source is associated with the other visitor, inhibiting displaying of the hidden data control for the visitor's information;
and
if the source is associated with the owner, enabling the display of the hidden data control such that the owner is enabled to modify the display of the visitor's information or the other visitor's information.

12 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 11/756,523Filed 31 May 2007 · continuation in part
Priority: 30 Mar 2007
Published: US 2008/0244413 A12 Oct 2008
Granted: 9 Oct 2012
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification7 codes

H04L 67/54
Network services: presence management, e.g. monitoring or registration for receipt of user log-on information, or the connection status of the users
G06F 16/9535
Querying, e.g. by the use of web search engines: search customisation based on user profiles and personalisation
H04L 67/131
Protocols: protocols for games, networked simulations or virtual reality
H04L 67/306
Profiles: user profiles

Family

Application11/694,741Parent of this continuation-in-part · filed 30 Mar 2007
US 2008/0244414 A1Pre-grant publication · published 2 Oct 2008
US 2008/0244413 A1Published application
US 8,112,501 B2Related patent
US 8,286,086 B2This patent

From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.