Indexing, sorting, and categorizing network information monitors

Abstract

A network information monitor for accessing and displaying Internet content includes a definition for rendering a graphical user interface and a URL pointing to the Internet Content to be downloaded and presented within said user interface. A graphical viewer may be used in association with the network information monitor to manage the collection, organization, sharing, and rendering of a plurality of such monitors. A user is provided with the option of arranging multiple network information monitors, such as in groups, and such as vertically, horizontally, etc. By selecting, dragging and dropping, network information monitors are snapped or docked together such that they may be move individually or in mass on the client display. The organization and groupings may be shared with others.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of grouping of multiple network information monitors, said method comprising:
 presenting graphical user interfaces defined by individual ones of the multiple network information monitors on the display of the client computing device in a spatial arrangement, a given network information monitor comprising (i) a definition of a graphical user interface within which content in a web browser-readable language may be presented on a display associated with a client computing device, wherein the graphical user interface lacks user controls for manual network navigation with the given network information monitor, and (ii) a network reference at which content in a web browser-readable language is obtained over a network by the network information monitor, said graphical user interface having a plurality of interface boundaries;   associating an identification with said spatial arrangement of the graphical user interfaces such that the identification identifies the spatial arrangement as a whole; and   uploading said spatial arrangement of the graphical user interfaces and said identification from the client computing device to a server computer.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the spatial arrangement of the graphical user interfaces of the network information monitors specifies the relative positions of the graphical user interfaces such that the graphical user interfaces are aligned with at least one of said interface boundaries. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein said alignment is linear. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the spatial arrangement of the graphical user interfaces of the network information monitors specifies the relative positions of the graphical user interfaces such that the graphical user interfaces are aligned parallel to a boundary of said display of the client computing device. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the spatial arrangement of the graphical user interface distributes the graphical user interfaces across the display of the client computing device in accordance with user selections received from a user at the client computing device. 
     
     
         6 . A system configured to group graphical user interfaces of a plurality of network information monitors on a display, said system comprising:
 electronic storage configured to store a plurality of network information monitors, a given network information monitor comprising (i) a definition of a graphical user interface within which content in a web browser-readable language may be presented on a display associated with a client computing device, wherein the graphical user interface lacks user controls for manual network navigation with the given network information monitor, and wherein the graphical user interface has a boundary, and (ii) a network reference at which content in a web browser-readable language is obtained over a network by the network information monitor;   a display; and   one or more processors configured to:
 present the graphical user interfaces defined by said plurality of network information monitors on the display in a spatial arrangement; 
 associate an identification with said spatial arrangement of the graphical user interfaces such that the identification identifies the spatial arrangement as a whole; and 
 upload said spatial arrangement of the graphical user interfaces and said identification to a server computer. 
   
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 6 , wherein the spatial arrangement of the graphical user interfaces of the network information monitors specifies the relative positions of the graphical user interfaces such that the graphical user interfaces are aligned with at least one of said interface boundaries. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 7 , wherein said alignment is linear. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 6 , wherein the spatial arrangement of the graphical user interfaces of the network information monitors specifies the relative positions of the graphical user interfaces such that the graphical user interfaces are aligned parallel to a boundary of said display. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 6 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to receive user selections regarding the distribution of the graphical user interfaces across the display, and to arrange the graphical user interfaces in the spatial arrangement in accordance with the received user selections. 
     
     
         11 . A system configured to group graphical user interfaces of a plurality of network information monitors on a display, said system comprising:
 electronic storage configured to store a plurality of network information monitors, a given network information monitor comprising (i) a definition of a graphical user interface within which content in a web browser-readable language may be presented on a display associated with a client computing device, wherein the graphical user interface lacks user controls for manual network navigation with the given network information monitor, and wherein the graphical user interface has a boundary, and (ii) a network reference at which content in a web browser-readable language is obtained over a network by the network information monitor; and   one or more processors configured to:
 transmit, over a network, the network information monitors to a client computing device for execution on the client computing device resulting in presentation of the graphical user interfaces defined by the network information monitors on a display of the client computing device in a spatial arrangement; 
 receive the spatial arrangement of the graphical user interfaces and an identification associated with the spatial arrangement from the client computing device such that the identification identifies the spatial arrangement as a whole; and 
 store the spatial arrangement of the graphical user interfaces and the identification associated therewith to the electronic storage. 
   
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the spatial arrangement of the graphical user interfaces of the network information monitors specifies the relative positions of the graphical user interfaces such that the graphical user interfaces are aligned with at least one of said interface boundaries. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein said alignment is linear. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the spatial arrangement of the graphical user interfaces of the network information monitors specifies the relative positions of the graphical user interfaces such that the graphical user interfaces are aligned parallel to a boundary of the display of the client computing device. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the spatial arrangement reflects user selections regarding the distribution of the graphical user interfaces on the display that are received at the client computing device.