Patent Application
20170308518
This invention relates to updating a layout of a page including content on a native application, and more specifically to updating the layout of the page through dynamic page templates.
Online systems select and present various content items to their users to encourage the users to interact with the online system. For example, an online system selects various content items for presentation to a user based on information associated with the user and actions performed by the user that are identified to the online system. The online system communicates the selected content items to a client device for presentation to the user and receives information from the client device describing the user's interactions with the content items.
An online system may organize content into a digital magazine and present the content to the user. The digital magazine may include multiple pages, with different pages including different content items having different layouts relative to each other. Organization of content items in different pages of a digital magazine affects user interaction with the digital magazine. For example, if multiple pages of a digital magazine present content items in similar layouts to each other, user interaction with the digital magazine may decrease. Hence, changing or updating layouts of content items relative to each other in different pages of a digital magazine may increase user interaction with the digital magazine or encourage continued interaction with the digital magazine by a user.
However, digital magazines generated by an online system are often presented using a native application executing on a client device. A native application is an application designed or optimized for execution by a particular operating system or a particular device. Modifying layouts of content items relative to each other in pages of a digital magazine presented by a native application may involve changes to instructions comprising the native application itself. Modifying instructions of the native application itself may be limited in frequency, which may limit modification of presentation of content items in pages of the digital magazine presented by the native application.
A digital magazine server retrieves content from one or more sources and generates a personalized, customizable digital magazine for a user based on the retrieved content. The generated digital magazine provided to a client device (such as a mobile communication device, tablet, computer, or any other suitable computing system) for presentation to a user of the digital magazine server. In various embodiments, the digital magazine server communicates the digital magazine to an application associated with the digital magazine server that is executing on a client device. The application presents the digital magazine to the user and receives actions from the user with content presented by the application. In various embodiments, the application associated with the digital magazine server presents content from the digital magazine to users via one or more pages, with each pages including one or more content items.
When presenting content from the digital magazine server, the application associated with the digital magazine server may use one or more page templates each describing a spatial arrangement (“layout”) of content items from the digital magazine server relative to each other on a page for presentation by the client device executing the application associated with the digital magazine server. To increase user interaction with content presented by the application associated with the digital magazine server, the application may maintain one or more dynamic page templates to update the arrangement of content items relative to each other in one or more pages presented by the application without modifying the application itself. A dynamic page template specifies layout of content items relative to each other and formatting of various content items for presentation in a page of the digital magazine in the application. In some embodiments, content from the digital magazine server is a data dictionary defining variables that used by a dynamic page template to describe the layout and formatting of content items within a page of the digital magazine based on the dynamic page template. Dynamic page templates may be stored in a memory of a client device executing the application associated with the digital magazine server, allowing the dynamic page templates to be updated by replacing the dynamic page templates stored in the memory of the client device. In one embodiment, the application requests dynamic page templates from the digital magazine server when a user views or accesses content via the application and replaces dynamic page templates stored on the client device with page templates from the digital magazine server. Alternatively, the application associated with the digital magazine server replaces dynamic page templates stored by the client device on which the application executes after a stored dynamic page template has been used to present content at least a threshold number of times or after the stored dynamic page template has been stored on the client device for at least a threshold length of time. In other embodiments, the digital magazine server communicates dynamic page templates to the application for storage on the client device when the digital magazine server determines one or more criteria have been satisfied.
The figures depict various embodiments of the present invention for purposes of illustration only. One skilled in the art will readily recognize from the following discussion that alternative embodiments of the structures and methods illustrated herein may be employed without departing from the principles of the invention described herein.
A digital magazine server retrieves content from one or more sources and generates a personalized, customizable digital magazine for a user based on the retrieved content. The generated digital magazine is retrieved by a digital magazine application executing on a computing device (such as a mobile communication device, tablet, computer, or any other suitable computing system) and presented to the user. For example, based on selections made by the user and/or on behalf of the user, the digital server application generates a digital magazine including one or more sections including content items retrieved from a number of sources and personalized for the user. The generated digital magazine allows the user to more easily consume content that interests and inspires the user by presenting content items in an easily navigable interface via a computing device.
The digital magazine may be organized into a number of sections that each include content having a common characteristic (e.g., content obtained from a particular source). For example, a section of the digital magazine includes articles from an online news source (such as a website for a news organization), another section includes articles from a third-party-curated collection of content associated with a particular topic (e.g., a technology compilation), and an additional section includes content obtained from one or more accounts associated with the user and maintained by one or more social networking systems. For purposes of illustration, content included in a section is referred to herein as “content items” or “articles,” which may include textual articles, pictures, videos, products for sale, user-generated content (e.g., content posted on a social networking system), advertisements, and any other types of content capable of display within the context of a digital magazine.
A source 110 is a computing system capable of providing various types of content to a client device 130. Examples of content provided by a source 110 include text, images, video, or audio on web pages, web feeds, social networking information, messages, or other suitable data. Additional examples of content include user-generated content such as blogs, tweets, shared images, video or audio, social networking posts, and social networking status updates. Content provided by a source 110 may be received from a publisher (e.g., stories about news events, product information, entertainment, or educational material) and distributed by the source 110, or a source 110 may be a publisher of content it generates. For convenience, content from a source, regardless of its composition, may be referred to herein as an “article,” a “content item,” or as “content.” A content item may include various types of content, such as text, images, and video.
The sources 110 communicate with the client device 130 and the digital magazine server 140 via the network 120, which may comprise any combination of local area and/or wide area networks, using both wired and/or wireless communication systems. In one embodiment, the network 120 uses standard communications technologies and/or protocols. For example, the network 120 includes communication links using technologies such as Ethernet, 802.11, worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX), 3G, 4G, code division multiple access (CDMA), digital subscriber line (DSL), etc. Examples of networking protocols used for communicating via the network 120 include multiprotocol label switching (MPLS), transmission control protocol/Internet protocol (TCP/IP), hypertext transport protocol (HTTP), simple mail transfer protocol (SMTP), and file transfer protocol (FTP). Data exchanged over the network 120 may be represented using any suitable format, such as hypertext markup language (HTML) extensible markup language (XML) or JavaScript Object Notation (JSON). In some embodiments, all or some of the communication links of the network 120 may be encrypted using any suitable technique or techniques.
The client device 130 is one or more computing devices capable of receiving user input as well as transmitting and/or receiving data via the network 120. In one embodiment, the client device 130 is a conventional computer system, such as a desktop or a laptop computer. Alternatively, the client device 130 may be a device having computer functionality, such as a personal digital assistant (PDA), a mobile telephone, a smartphone or another suitable device. In one embodiment, the client device 130 executes an application allowing a user of the client device 130 to interact with the digital magazine server 140. For example, an application executing on the client device 130 communicates instructions or requests for content items to the digital magazine server 140 to modify content presented to a user of the client device 130. As another example, the client device 130 executes a browser that receives pages from the digital magazine server 140 and presents the pages to a user of the client device 130. In another embodiment, the client device 130 interacts with the digital magazine server 140 through an application programming interface (API) running on a native operating system of the client device 130, such as IOS® or ANDROID™. While
A display device 132 included in the client device 130 presents content items to a user of the client device 130. Examples of the display device 132 include a liquid crystal display (LCD), an organic light emitting diode (OLED) display, an active matrix liquid crystal display (AMLCD), or any other suitable device. Different client devices 130 may have display devices 132 with different characteristics. For example, different client devices 132 have display devices 132 with different display areas, different resolutions, or differences in other characteristics.
One or more input devices 134 included in the client device 130 receive input from the user. Different input devices 134 may be included in the client device 130. For example, the client device 130 includes a touch-sensitive display for receiving input data, commands, or information from a user. Using a touch-sensitive display allows the client device 130 to combine the display device 132 and an input device 134, simplifying user interaction with presented content items. In other embodiments, the client device 130 may include a keyboard, a trackpad, a mouse, or any other device capable of receiving input from a user. Additionally, the client device may include multiple input devices 134 in some embodiments. Inputs received via the input device 134 may be processed by a digital magazine application associated with the digital magazine server 140 and executing on the client device 130 to allow a client device user to interact with content items presented by the digital magazine server 140.
The client device 130 executes an application 136 associated with the digital magazine server 140 that receives content form the digital magazine server 140 and presents the received content to a user associated with the client device 130. Additionally, the user performs various actions with the application 136, such as actions with content from the digital magazine server 140 presented by the application 136. For example, the application 136 presents various content items received from the digital magazine server 140 and receives actions from the user with one or more of the content items. Example actions by bye user with content items presented by the application 136 include: accessing a content item, viewing a content item, sharing a content item with another user of the digital magazine server 140, saving a content item to the client device 130, providing a comment associated with a content item, and providing a content item to the digital magazine server 140.
Additionally, the application 136 receives and maintains one or more dynamic page templates from the digital magazine server 140, as further described below in conjunction with
The digital magazine server 140 receives content items from one or more sources 110, generates pages in a digital magazine by processing the received content, and provides the pages to the client device 130. As further described below in conjunction with
Each user of the digital magazine server 140 is associated with a user profile, which is stored in the user profile store 205. A user profile includes declarative information about the user that was explicitly shared by the user and may also include profile information inferred by the digital magazine server 140. In one embodiment, a user profile includes multiple data fields, each describing one or more attributes of the corresponding social networking system user. Examples of information stored in a user profile include biographic, demographic, and other types of descriptive information, such as gender, hobbies or preferences, location, or other suitable information. A user profile in the user profile store 205 also includes data describing interactions by a corresponding user with content items presented by the digital magazine server 140. For example, a user profile includes a content item identifier, a description of an interaction with the content item corresponding to the content item identifier, and a time when the interaction occurred.
While user profiles in the user profile store 205 are frequently associated with individuals, allowing individuals to provide and receive content items via the digital magazine server 140, user profiles may also be stored for entities such as businesses or organizations. This allows an entity to provide or access content items via the digital magazine server 140. An entity may post information about itself, about its products or provide other content items associated with the entity to users of the digital magazine server 140. For example, users of the digital magazine server 140 may receive a digital magazine or section including content items associated with an entity via the digital magazine server 140.
The template store 210 includes page templates each describing a spatial arrangement (“layout”) of content items relative to each other on a page for presentation by a client device 130. A page template includes one or more slots, each configured to present one or more content items. In some embodiments, slots in a page template may be configured to present a particular type of content item or to present a content item having one or more specified characteristics. For example, a slot in a page template is configured to present an image while another slot in the page template is configured to present text data. Each slot has a size (e.g., small, medium, or large) and an aspect ratio. One or more page templates may be associated with types of client devices 130, allowing content items to be presented in different relative locations and with different sizes when the content items are viewed using different client devices 130. Additionally, page templates may be associated with sources 110, allowing a source 110 to specify the format of pages presenting content items received from the source 110. For example, an online retailer is associated with a page template to allow the online retailer to present content items via the digital magazine server 140 with a specific organization. Examples of page templates are further described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/187,840, filed on Jul. 21, 2011, and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/938,227, filed on Jul. 9, 2013, each of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
One or more page templates in the template store 210 are dynamic page templates, which may be used by the application 136 executing on the client device 130 to modify presentation of content items by the application 136 without updating the application 136 in its entirety. A dynamic page template may be a data dictionary identifying variables used by the dynamic page template specifying characteristics of data for presentation to a user. Dynamic page templates may be written in a templating language (e.g. JSON Template, LESS cascading style sheets) to combine formatting information in a dynamic page template with content to present the content in a format specified by the dynamic page template. A dynamic page template may specify a layout of slots on a page, where slots specify locations within the page where content items are presented, formatting of content presented within one or more slots, or a combination of layouts of slots on the page and formatting of content presented by different slots. For example, a dynamic page template identifies sizes of one or more slots within a page and placement of slots within the page relative to each other or relative to boundaries of the page, margins between one or more slots and one or more boundaries (e.g., edges) of the page, or spacing between different slots in the page. As an example, a dynamic page template partitions a page into a grid of slots and specifies dimensions of various slots in the grid.
The content store 215 stores objects that each represent various types of content. For example, the content store 215 stores content items received from one or more sources 110 within a threshold time of a current time. Examples of content items stored by the content store 215 include: a page post, a status update, an image, a photograph, a video, a link, an article, video data, audio data, a check-in event at a location, or any other type of content. A user may specify a section including content items having a common characteristic, and the common characteristic is stored in the content store 215 along with an association with the user profile or the user specifying the section.
The layout engine 220 retrieves content items from one or more sources 110 or from the content store 215 and generates a page including the content items based on a page template from the template store 210. Based on the retrieved content items, the layout engine 220 may identify candidate page templates from the template store 210, score the candidate page templates based on characteristics of the slots in different candidate page templates and based on characteristics of the content items. Based on the scores associated with candidate page templates, the layout engine 220 selects a page template and associates the retrieved content items with one or more slots to generate a page where the retrieved content items are presented relative to each other and sized based on their associated slots. When associating a content item with a slot, the layout engine 220 may associate the content item with a slot configured to present a specific type of content item or to present content items having one or more specified characteristics. Examples of using a page template to present content items are further described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/187,840, filed on Jul. 21, 2011, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/938,223, filed on Jul. 9, 2013, and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/938,226, filed on Jul. 9, 2013, each of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
The connection generator 225 monitors interactions between users and content items presented by the digital magazine server 140. Based on the interactions, the connection generator 225 determines connections between various content items, connections between users and content items, or connections between users of the digital magazine server 140. For example, the connection generator 225 identifies when users of the digital magazine server 140 provide feedback about a content item, access a content item, share a content item with other users, or perform other actions with content items. In some embodiments, the connection generator 225 retrieves data describing user interaction with content items from the user's user profile in the user profile store 205. Alternatively, user interactions with content items are communicated to the connection generator 225 when the interactions are received by the digital magazine server 140. The connection generator 225 may account for temporal information associated with user interactions with content items. For example, the connection generator 225 identifies user interactions with a content item within a specified time interval or applies a decay factor to identified user interactions based on times associated with interactions. The connection generator 225 generates a connection between a user and a content item if the user's interactions with the content item satisfy one or more criteria. In one embodiment, the connection generator 225 determines one or more weights specifying a strength of the connection between the user and the content item based on user interactions with the content item that satisfy one or more criteria. Generation of connections between a user and a content item is further described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/905,016, filed on May 29, 2013, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
If multiple content items are connected to a user, the connection generator 225 establishes implicit connections between each of the content items connected to the user. In one embodiment, the connection generator 225 maintains a user content graph identifying the implicit connections between content items connected to a user. In one embodiment, weights associated with connections between a user and content items are used to determine weights associated with various implicit connections between content items. User content graphs for multiple users of the digital magazine server 140 are combined to generate a global content graph describing connections between various content items provided by the digital magazine server 140 based on user interactions with various content items. For example, the global content graph is generated by combining user content graphs based on mutual connections between various content items in user content graphs.
In one embodiment, the connection generator 225 generates an adjacency matrix from the global content graph or from multiple user content graphs and stores the adjacency matrix in the connection store 230. The adjacency matrix describes connections between content items. For example, the adjacency matrix includes identifiers of content items and weights representing the strength or closeness of connections between content items based on the global content graph. As an example, the weights indicate a degree of similarity in subject matter or similarity of other characteristics associated with various content items. In other embodiments, the connection store 230 includes various adjacency matrices determined from various user content graphs. The adjacency matrices may be analyzed to generate an overall adjacency matrix for content items provided by the digital magazine server 140. Graph analysis techniques may be applied to the adjacency matrix to rank content items, to recommend content items to a user, or to otherwise analyze relationships between content items. An example of the adjacency matrix is further described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/905,016, filed on May 29, 2013, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
In addition to identifying connections between content items, the connection generator 225 may also determine a social proximity between users of the digital magazine server 140 based on interactions between users and content items. The digital magazine server 140 determines social proximity, or “social distance,” between users using a variety of techniques. For example, the digital magazine server 140 analyzes additional users connected to each of two users of the digital magazine server 140 within a social networking system to determine the social proximity of the two users. In another example, the digital magazine server 140 determines social proximity between a user and an additional user by analyzing the user's interactions with content items posted by the additional user, whether the content items are presented using the digital magazine server 140 or using another social networking system. Additional examples for determining social proximity between users of the digital magazine server 140 are described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/905,016, filed on May 29, 2013, which is incorporated by reference in its entirety. In one embodiment, the connection generator 225 determines a connection confidence value between a user and an additional user of the digital magazine server 140 based on the user's and the additional user's common interactions with particular content items. The connection confidence value may be a numerical score representing a measure of closeness between the user and the additional user. For example, a larger connection confidence value indicates a greater similarity between the user and the additional user. In one embodiment, if a user has at least a threshold connection confidence value with another user, the digital magazine server 140 stores a connection between the user and the additional user in the connection store 230.
Using data from the connection store 230, the recommendation engine 235 identifies content items from one or more sources 110 for recommending to a digital magazine server user. Hence, the recommendation engine 235 identifies content items potentially relevant to a user. In one embodiment, the recommendation engine 235 retrieves data describing interactions between a user and content items from the user's user profile and data describing connections between content items, and/or connections between users from the connection store 230. In one embodiment, the recommendation engine 235 uses stored information describing content items (e.g., topic, sections, subsections) and interactions between users and various content items (e.g., views, shares, saved, links, topics read, or recent activities) to identify content items that may be relevant to a digital magazine server user. For example, content items having an implicit connection of at least a threshold weight to a content item with which the user interacted are recommended to the user. As another example, the recommendation engine 235 presents a user with content items having one or more attributes in common with a content item with which an additional user having a threshold connection confidence score with the user interacted. Recommendations for additional content items may be presented to a user when the user views a content item using the digital magazine, may be presented as a notification to the user by the digital magazine server 140, or may be presented to the user through any suitable communication channel.
In one embodiment, the recommendation engine 235 applies various filters to content items received from one or more sources 110 or from the content store 215 to efficiently provide a user with recommended content items. For example, the recommendation engine 235 analyzes attributes of content items in view of characteristics of a user retrieved from the user's user profile. Examples of attributes of content items include a type (e.g., image, story, link, video, audio, etc.), a source 110 from which a content item was received, time when a content item was retrieved, and subject matter of a content item. Examples of characteristics of a user include biographic information about the user, users connected to the user, and interactions between the user and content items. In one embodiment, the recommendation engine 235 analyzes attributes of content items in view of a user's characteristics for a specified time period to generate a set of recommended content items. The set of recommended content items may be presented to the user or may be further analyzed based on user characteristics and on content item attributes to generate more refined set of recommended content items. A setting included in a user's user profile may specify a length of time that content items are analyzed before identifying recommended content items to the user, allowing a user to balance refinement of recommended content items with time used to identify recommended content items.
The search module 240 receives a search query from a user and retrieves content items from one or more sources 110 based on the search query. For example, content items having at least a portion of an attribute matching at least a portion search query are retrieved from one or more sources 110. The user may specify sources 110 from which content items are received through settings maintained by the user's user profile or by identifying one or more sources in the search query. In one embodiment, the search module 240 generates a section of the digital magazine including the content items identified based on the search query, as the identified content items have a common attribute of their association with the search query. Presenting identified content items identified from a search query allows a user to more easily identify additional content items at least partially matching the search query when additional content items are provided by sources 110.
To more efficiently identify content items based on search queries, the search module 240 may index content items, groups (or sections) of content items, and user profile information. In one embodiment, the index includes information about various content items, such as author, source, topic, creation data/time, user interaction information, document title, or other information capable of uniquely identifying the content item. Search queries are compared to information maintained in the index to identify content items for presentation to a user. The search module 240 may present identified content items based on a ranking. One or more factors associated with the content items may be used to generate the ranking. Examples of factors include: global popularity of a content item among users of the digital magazine server 140, connections between users interacting with a content item and the user providing the search query, and information from a source 110. Additionally, the search module 240 may assign a weight to the index information associated with each content item selected based on similarity between the index information and a search query and rank the content items based on their weights. For example, content items identified based on a search query are presented in a section of the digital magazine in an order based in part on the ranking of the content items.
To increase user interaction with the digital magazine, the interface generator 245 maintains instructions associating received input with actions performed by the digital magazine server 140 or by a digital magazine application executing on a client device 130. For example, instructions maintained by the interface generator 245 associate types of inputs or specific inputs received via an input device 132 of a client device 130 with modifications to content presented by a digital magazine. As an example, if the input device 132 is a touch-sensitive display, the interface generator 245 includes instructions associating different gestures with navigation through content items or presented via a digital magazine. Instructions from the interface generator 245 are communicated to a digital magazine application or other application executing on a client device 130 on which content from the digital magazine server 140 is presented. As further described below in conjunction with
The web server 250 links the digital magazine server 140 via the network 120 to the one or more client devices 130, as well as to the one or more sources 110. The web server 250 serves web pages, as well as other content, such as JAVA®, FLASH®, XML and so forth. The web server 250 may retrieve content item from one or more sources 110. Additionally, the web server 250 communicates instructions for generating pages of content items from the layout engine 220 and instructions for processing received input from the interface generator 245 to a client device 130 for presentation to a user. The web server 250 also receives requests for content or other information from a client device 130 and communicates the request or information to components of the digital magazine server 140 to perform corresponding actions. Additionally, the web server 250 may provide application programming interface (API) functionality to send data directly to native client device operating systems, such as IOS®, ANDROID™, WEBOS®, or BlackberryOS.
For purposes of illustration,
In the example of
A content region 304 may present image data, text, data, a combination of image and text data, or any other information retrieved from a corresponding content item. For example, in
Sections may be further organized into subsections, with content items associated with one or more subsections presented in content regions. Information describing sections or subsections, such as a characteristic common to content items in a section or subsection, may be stored in the content store 215 and associated with a user profile to simplify generation of a section or subsection for the user. A page template associated with a subsection may be identified, and slots in the page template associated with the subsection used to determine presentation of content items from the subsection relative to each other. Referring to
Additionally, various dynamic page templates may specify presentation of content items within one or more slots. In various embodiments, a dynamic page template associates information with a slot identifying formatting and placement of components of a content item within the slot. For example, a dynamic page template includes information for sizing or placing a title of a content item within a slot, for sizing or placing information identifying an author or a source of a content item within a slot, or for sizing or placing images, icons, buttons, or previews of portions of a content item or other components of a content item within a slot. Additionally, the dynamic page template may identify components of a content item presented in a slot in some embodiments. For example, a dynamic page template specifies presentation of an image from a content item in a slot, while another dynamic page template specifies presentation of a portion of the content from a content item in a slot. If a dynamic page template specifies presentation of an image from the content item in a slot, the dynamic page template may also specify a height, a width, an aspect ratio, or other characteristics of the image (e.g., whether to fit, crop, stretch tile, or otherwise modify the image). Additionally, a dynamic page template may include formatting information for text from a content item presented in a slot (e.g., font style, font size, font type, etc.). A dynamic page template may also specify spacing between various components of a content item presented in a slot or spacing between components of a content item and one or more boundaries of the slot.
Dynamic page templates may also specify combinations of positions of slots relative to each other and formatting of content within one or more slots. A dynamic page template may specify both positions of slots relative to each other within a page and formatting of content presented within slots on the page. Alternatively, a dynamic page template specifies positions of slots relative to each other within a page, while one or more additional page templates specify formatting of content within various slots on the page. An additional page templates specifying formatting content within a slot on page may be determined based on one or more characteristics of the slot, such as a size of slot. For example, a dynamic page template is selected to present content in slots on a page having a particular size, while an alternative page template is selected to present content in other slots on the page having a different size. A page template specifying positions of slots relative to each other within a page may identify additional page templates for presenting content via one or more slots within the page.
In
Additionally, the dynamic page template specifies presentation of content items within slots 610a, 620a, 630a, such as formatting information describing presentation of various components of content items within slots 610a, 620a, 630a. Alternatively, one or more additional dynamic page templates are associated with slots 610a, 620a, 630a, and specify presentation of components of content items within a corresponding slot 610a, 620a, 630a. In
In the example of
In some embodiments, another dynamic page template describes presentation of content items via slot 620b and slot 630b. For example, slot 620b presents an image 622b, a title 624b, an interface bar 626b, and a preview of text from a content item 628b presented by slot 620b, respectively, from an upper boundary of slot 620b to a lower boundary of slot 620b. Similarly, based on the other page template, slot 630b presents an image 632b, a title 634b, an interface bar 636b, and a preview of text from a content item 638b presented by slot 630b, respectively, from an upper boundary of slot 630b to a lower boundary of slot 630b. However, in
The client device 130 receives 710 a request for content to present to a user. For example, an application 136 associated with a digital magazine server 140 executing on the client device 130 receives a request for a page of a digital magazine from a user. The application 136 executing on the client device 130 determines 715 a time when dynamic page templates used by the application 136 were received. As described above in conjunction with
The application 136 communicates 720 the determined time to the digital magazine server 140, which determines 725 whether to provide dynamic page templates to the application 136 based at least in part on the determined time. In some embodiments, the application 136 communicates 720 the determined time to the digital magazine server 140 if a difference between a current time and the determined time equals or exceeds a threshold, so the application 136 communicates 720 the determined time to the digital magazine server 140 if at least a threshold amount of time has elapsed since the application 136 received dynamic page templates from the digital magazine server 140. Alternatively, the application 136 communicates 720 the determined time to the digital magazine server 140 in response to receiving 710 the request for content, regardless of the difference between the current time and the determined time.
The application 136 may determine whether one or more conditions are satisfied and communicate 720 the determined time to the digital magazine server 140 if at least a threshold number of the conditions are satisfied. For example, the application 136 determines a number of times a dynamic page template previously selected by the application 136 to generate content has been used to generate content and communicates 720 the determined time to the digital magazine server 140 if the number of times the dynamic page template previously selected by the application 136 was used to generate content equals or exceeds a threshold number of times. As another example, the application 136 determines a length of time a dynamic page template previously selected by the application 136 to generate content has been used to generate content and communicates 720 the determined time to the digital magazine server 140 if the length of time equals or exceeds a threshold duration. In another example, the application 136 determines a time when the application 136 previously received dynamic page templates from the digital magazine server 140 and communicates 720 the determined time to the digital magazine server 140 if at least a threshold amount of time has lapsed between a current time and the time when the application previously received dynamic page templates from the digital magazine server 140.
In some embodiments, the digital magazine server 140 determines 725 whether to communicate updated or additional dynamic page templates to the application 136 executing on the client device 130 based on the determined time received from the client device 130. For example, the digital magazine server 140 determines 725 whether the determined time from the client device 130 is greater than a threshold amount of time from a current time and communicates 730 one or more additional dynamic page templates to the client device 130 in response to the determined time being greater than the threshold amount of time from the current time. As another example, the digital magazine server 140 determines 725 whether the determined time from the client device 130 is prior to a time associated with one or more dynamic page templates maintained by the digital magazine server 140 (e.g., a time when the digital magazine server 140 communicated a dynamic page template to one or more client devices 130, a time when a dynamic page template was stored by the digital magazine server 140). Additionally, the digital magazine server 140 may associate an update time with the application 136 indicating a time when the digital magazine server 140 communicated one or more dynamic page templates to the application 136 and determines 725 to communicate 730 one or more dynamic page templates to the client device 130 on which the application 136 executes if the determined time from the client device 130 is prior to the update time by at least a threshold amount of time.
In some embodiments, the digital magazine server 140 determines 725 whether to communicate updated or additional dynamic page templates to the application 136 executing on the client device 130 based on the determined time received from the client device 130. For example, the digital magazine server 140 determines 725 whether the determined time from the client device 130 is greater than a threshold amount of time from a current time and communicates 730 one or more additional dynamic page templates to the client device 130 in response to the determined time being greater than the threshold amount of time from the current time. As another example, the digital magazine server 140 determines 725 whether the determined time from the client device 130 is prior to a time associated with one or more dynamic page templates maintained by the digital magazine server 140 (e.g., a time when the digital magazine server 140 communicated a dynamic page template to one or more client devices 130, a time when a dynamic page template was stored by the digital magazine server 140). Additionally, the digital magazine server 140 may associate an update time with the application 136 indicating a time when the digital magazine server 140 communicated one or more dynamic page templates to the application 136 and determines 725 to communicate 730 one or more dynamic page templates to the client device 130 on which the application 136 executes if the determined time from the client device 130 is prior to the update time by at least a threshold amount of time.
In response to determining 725 to communicate one or more dynamic page templates to the application 136, the digital magazine server 140 communicates 730 one or more dynamic page templates to the client device 130. The digital magazine server 140 may communicate 730 dynamic page templates associated with times subsequent to the determined time received from the client device 130 in some embodiments. Alternatively, the digital magazine server 140 communicates 720 multiple dynamic page templates to the client device 130, regardless of times associated with the dynamic page templates. If the digital magazine server 140 determines 725 not to communicate one or more dynamic page templates, no dynamic page templates are communicated from the digital magazine server 140 to the client device 130.
Dynamic page templates received from the digital magazine server 140 are stored 735 on the client device 130 by the application 136. In some embodiments, when storing 735 the dynamic page templates received from the digital magazine server 140, the application 136 removes one or more dynamic page templates already stored on the client device 130. For example, the application 136 identifies dynamic page templates stored on the client device 130 associated with a times greater than a threshold time interval from a current time and removes the identified dynamic page templates from the client device 130. As another example, the application 136 identifies dynamic page templates stored on the client device 130 and used to present content items greater than a threshold number of times within a specified time interval and removes the identified dynamic page templates from the client device 130.
After storing 735 dynamic page templates received from the digital magazine server 140, if dynamic page templates are received, the application 136 executing on the client device 130 requests 740 content from the digital magazine server 140 for presentation to the user. The digital magazine server 140 communicates 745 content to the client device 130, where the application 136 selects 750 a dynamic page template and generates 755 a page of content for presentation to the user based on the selected dynamic page template and the received content. As further described above in conjunction with
In some embodiments, the application 136 requests dynamic page templates from the digital magazine server 140 after selecting 750 a dynamic page template to generate 755 the page. The request may include a time when the application 136 selected 750 the selected dynamic page template and information identifying the selected dynamic page template, and the digital magazine server 140 determines whether to communicate one or more dynamic page templates to the application 136 if greater than a threshold amount of time has lapsed between modification of the selected dynamic page template and the time when the application 136 selected 750 the selected dynamic page template. If greater than the threshold amount of time has lapsed between modification of the selected dynamic page template and the time when the application 136 selected 750 the selected dynamic page template, the digital magazine server 140 communicates a modified version of the selected dynamic page template or an alternative dynamic page template to the application 136. Alternatively, the request includes information identifying the selected dynamic page template and a number of times the selected dynamic page template has been used by the application 136 to generate 755 pages of content within a specified time interval. If the selected dynamic page template has been used by the application 136 to generate 755 pages at least a threshold number of times within the specified time interval, the digital magazine server 140 communicates one or more additional dynamic page templates, or a modified version of the selected dynamic page template to the application 136.
In other embodiments, the digital magazine server 140 communicates dynamic page templates to the client device 130 on which the application 136 executes without receiving a request from the application 130. Hence, the digital magazine server 140 may push dynamic page templates to the client device 130 for use by the application 136. For example, the digital magazine server 140 stores information identifying the application 136 and a time when the digital magazine server 140 previously communicates dynamic page templates to the application 136. If greater than a threshold amount of time has lapsed between a the time stored by the digital magazine server 140 and a current time, the digital magazine server 140 communicates one or more dynamic page templates to a client device 130 on which the application 136 executes. Alternatively, the digital magazine server 140 communicates dynamic page templates to the client device 130 on which the application 136 executes when dynamic page templates are stored on the digital magazine server 140.
The foregoing description of the embodiments of the invention has been presented for the purpose of illustration; it is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed. Persons skilled in the relevant art can appreciate that many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above disclosure.
Some portions of this description describe the embodiments of the invention in terms of algorithms and symbolic representations of operations on information. These algorithmic descriptions and representations are commonly used by those skilled in the data processing arts to convey the substance of their work effectively to others skilled in the art. These operations, while described functionally, computationally, or logically, are understood to be implemented by computer programs or equivalent electrical circuits, microcode, or the like. Furthermore, it has also proven convenient at times, to refer to these arrangements of operations as modules, without loss of generality. The described operations and their associated modules may be embodied in software, firmware, hardware, or any combinations thereof.
Any of the steps, operations, or processes described herein may be performed or implemented with one or more hardware or software modules, alone or in combination with other devices. In one embodiment, a software module is implemented with a computer program product comprising a computer-readable medium containing computer program code, which can be executed by a computer processor for performing any or all of the steps, operations, or processes described.
Embodiments of the invention may also relate to an apparatus for performing the operations herein. This apparatus may be specially constructed for the required purposes, and/or it may comprise a general-purpose computing device selectively activated or reconfigured by a computer program stored in the computer. Such a computer program may be stored in a non-transitory, tangible computer readable storage medium, or any type of media suitable for storing electronic instructions, which may be coupled to a computer system bus. Furthermore, any computing systems referred to in the specification may include a single processor or may be architectures employing multiple processor designs for increased computing capability.
Embodiments of the invention may also relate to a product that is produced by a computing process described herein. Such a product may comprise information resulting from a computing process, where the information is stored on a non-transitory, tangible computer readable storage medium and may include any embodiment of a computer program product or other data combination described herein.
Finally, the language used in the specification has been principally selected for readability and instructional purposes, and it may not have been selected to delineate or circumscribe the inventive subject matter. It is therefore intended that the scope of the invention be limited not by this detailed description, but rather by any claims that issue on an application based hereon. Accordingly, the disclosure of the embodiments of the invention is intended to be illustrative, but not limiting, of the scope of the invention, which is set forth in the following claims.
