Collaborative Content Generation System And Method

Abstract

The present invention discloses a system and method for managing the collaborative generation of content for an electronic document such as software applications, computer programs and the like. A source content item ( 42 ) is created at a source development environment ( 32 ) and accessed over a network ( 102 ) by a plurality of users of a user community. Each of the plurality of users is located at a unique remote site ( 38 ). The source content item ( 42 ) can be downloaded by each of the plurality of users and maintained at each remote site ( 38 ) as a unique content presentation item ( 44 ). In one embodiment, the user can edit his or her content presentation item ( 44 ) and upload the edits for incorporation into the source content item ( 42 ).

1 . A method for managing the collaborative generation of an electronic content item by multiple users over a network, the method comprising:
 providing a source development environment;   creating an original electronic content item in the source development environment;   transferring the original electronic content item over a network from the source development environment to a plurality of users of a user community, each of the plurality of users located at a unique remote site;   editing the original electronic content item by at least one of the plurality of users at a unique remote site to create a local copy electronic content item comprising at least one edited component;   transferring the local copy electronic content item from the unique remote site over the network to the source development environment;   incorporating the at least one edited component from the local copy electronic content item into the original electronic content item to create a current version electronic content item; and   transferring the current version electronic content item to each of the plurality of users of the user community.   
     
     
         2 . The method according to  claim 1  wherein the electronic content item is selected from the group consisting of a software program, a web site and a computer program. 
     
     
         3 . The method according to  claim 1  wherein the network is the internet. 
     
     
         4 . The method according to  claim 1  wherein the electronic content item is a source code, and the method further comprises spawning an application shell from a master template and transferring the application shell for the source code to each of the plurality of users of the user community. 
     
     
         5 . The method according to  claim 1  wherein editing the original electronic content item by at least one the plurality of users occurs offline, and the method further comprises caching the original electronic content item for offline use. 
     
     
         6 . The method according to  claim 5  wherein transferring the local copy electronic content item from the unique remote site over the network comprises reconnecting the unique remote site to the network. 
     
     
         7 . The method according to  claim 1  wherein the source development environment is a wiki page and editing the original electronic content item by at least one the plurality of users occurs online 
     
     
         8 . The method according to  claim 7  wherein creating the original electronic content item in the source development environment comprises:
 transferring a source wiki content into a plurality of local presentation formats; and   providing in the source wiki content an edit link to each of the plurality of local presentation formats.   
     
     
         9 . A method for managing the collaborative generation of an electronic source content item by multiple users over a network, the method comprising:
 creating an original source content item on a wiki page;   providing a link to the wiki page to a plurality of users of a user community;   linking to the wiki page by one of the plurality of users of the user community;   editing the original source content item by at least one of the plurality of users at a unique remote site to create an edited source content item comprising at least one edited component;   incorporating the at least one edited component from the edited source content item into the original source content item to create a current version source content item; and   refreshing the wiki page to provide the current version source content item on the wiki page.   
     
     
         10 . A method for managing the collaborative generation of an electronic content item by multiple users over a network, the method comprising:
 creating an original electronic content item on a wiki page, the wiki page being accessible by a plurality of users of a user community over a network, each of the plurality of users located at a remote site;   transforming the original electronic content item into a plurality of presentation formats, each of the plurality of presentation formats having an edit link for linking to the original electronic content item on the wiki page;   editing one of the plurality of presentation formats by accessing the respective edit link by at least one of the plurality of users to create an edited portion of the original electronic content item;   updating the original electronic content item with the edited portion of the original electronic content item by running an update process to create a current version electronic content item; and   refreshing the wiki page to republish the current version electronic content item.   
     
     
         11 . The method according to  claim 10  wherein the electronic content item is a source code for an electronic document of a software application. 
     
     
         12 . The method according to  claim 10  wherein the electronic content item is a snippet for an electronic document of a software application. 
     
     
         13 . A method for managing the collaborative generation of an electronic content item by multiple users over a network, the method comprising:
 creating an original electronic content item on a wiki page, the wiki page being accessible by a plurality of users of a user community over a network, each of the plurality of users located at a remote site;   transforming the original electronic content item into a plurality of presentation formats, each of the plurality of presentation formats having an edit link for linking to the original electronic content item on the wiki page;   editing one of the plurality of presentation formats by accessing the respective edit link by at least one of the plurality of users to create an edited portion of the original electronic content item; and   transparently transforming the original electronic content item on the wiki page during the editing of the one of the plurality of presentation formats by the user.   
     
     
         14 . A system for managing the collaborative generation of an electronic content item by multiple users over a network, the system comprising:
 a source content development environment to facilitate the development of a software application, the source content development environment comprising a source content version;   a network;   a plurality of remote user sites of a user community, each of the plurality of remote user sites capable of accessing and downloading the source content version of the source content development environment over the network to create a local content presentation item of the source content version for editing at the remote user site by a user to create an edited local content presentation item, the local content presentation item having an edit link comprising context related information indicating the location and presentation of the source content version.   
     
     
         15 . The system according to  claim 14  wherein the source content development environment is a wiki page, and the source content version is a source wiki content comprising a plurality of edit links, each of the plurality of edit links providing access to a different presentation format of the source wiki content. 
     
     
         16 . A system for managing the collaborative generation of an electronic content item by multiple users over a network, the system comprising:
 a network;   a data repository comprising a source content item;   an integrated development environment comprising means for accessing the source content item of the data repository over the network;   a plurality of remote user sites of a user community, each of the plurality of remote user sites capable of accessing and downloading the source content item of the data repository over the network using the accessing means of the integrated development environment to create a local content presentation item of the source content item for editing at the remote user site by a user to create an edited local content presentation item, the local content presentation item having an edit link comprising context related information indicating the location and presentation of the source content item; and   means for transforming the source content item during an application build process.   
     
     
         17 . The system according to  claim 16  wherein the data repository is a wiki page. 
     
     
         18 . The system according to  claim 16  wherein the edit link is a permalink. 
     
     
         19 . The system according to  claim 16  wherein the transforming means allows for real-time updates to the source content item.