Adjusting Orientation of Content Regions in a Page Layout

Abstract

When a device is rotated from a portrait orientation to landscape orientation, or vice versa, the display device rotates the content items within distinct respective content regions of a page template (“slots”) that each appear to stay in their same position with respect to a frame of reference of the display device. While the content regions stay in their same positions, the content within each content region counter-rotates in place to offset the rotation of the display device. Thus, the content within the content regions maintains an orientation with respect to a constant (non-rotating) frame of reference, regardless of the orientation or rotation of the display device. In one embodiment, a slot's position, height, and width in a template in a second orientation are determined from the slot's position, height, and width in the template in a first orientation.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method for adjusting a layout of a page of content for display on a display of a client device, the method comprising:
 receiving, by the client device, a page template including a plurality of slots, each slot defining a portion of the display of the client device within which a content item is displayed;   displaying a content item in each of the slots of the page template on the display of the client device while the client device is in a first orientation;   sensing by a rotation sensor included in the client device, a rotation of the client device to a second orientation, the rotation with respect to a reference orientation; and   responsive to the rotation sensor sensing the rotation of the client device:
 rotating the template and the plurality of slots with respect to the reference orientation to match the rotation of the client device so positions of the slots relative to each other in the second orientation based on the reference point of the display of the client device match positions of the slots relative to each other in the first orientation based on a reference point of the display of the client device, 
 rotating the content items within each of the slots with respect to the display of the client device to maintain a constant orientation of the content items relative to the reference orientation, and 
 modifying a layout of the content item presented in the respective slot to fit the content item within its respective slot. 
   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the first orientation is a portrait orientation and the second orientation is a landscape orientation. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the rotation of the client device to the second orientation is a 90 degree counter-clockwise rotation, and the rotation of the content items within each of the slots is a 90 degree clockwise rotation. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the reference orientation specifies positions of slots in the page template relative to each other within the display of the client device based on the reference point of the display of the client device. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 responsive to the rotation sensor sensing a rotation of the client device from the second orientation to a third orientation:
 rotating the template and the plurality of slots with respect to the reference orientation to match the rotation of the client device so positions of the slots relative to each other in the third orientation based on the reference point of the display of the client device match positions of the slots relative to each other in the first orientation based on the reference point of the display of the client device, 
 rotating the content items within each of the slots with respect to the display of the client device to maintain a constant orientation of the content items relative to the reference orientation, and 
 modifying a layout of at least one content item in the respective slot to fit the at least one content item within its respective slot. 
   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the content item comprises an image, and modifying the layout of the content item presented in the respective slot comprises repositioning the image within the slot. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the content item comprises text, and modifying the layout of the content item presented in the respective slot comprises modifying the text within the slot. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 arranging a plurality of content items into a composite content item;   displaying the composite content item in a slot of the page template on the display of the client device while the client device is in a first orientation; and   responsive to the rotation sensor sensing the rotation of the client device, rotating the composite content item within its respective slot with respect to the display of the client device to maintain a constant orientation of the composite content item relative to the reference orientation.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the plurality of content items that form the composite content item are arranged in adjacent positions on the display of the client device. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the composite content item is presented in a single slot having dimensions equal to the combined height and the combined width of corresponding slots in which the plurality of content items reside. 
     
     
         11 . A method for displaying content, the method comprising:
 receiving a page template including a plurality of slots, each slot defining a portion of a display of a client device within which a content item is displayed;   receiving a plurality of content items for display in the page template;   assigning each of the content items to a slot of the page layout;   generating a first layout of the content items, the layout comprising each of the content items contained in the slot of the page template to which the content item is assigned;   displaying the first layout on the display of the client device;   sensing by a rotation sensor in the client device, a rotation of the display of the client device from a first orientation to a second orientation;   responsive to the rotation sensor sensing the rotation of the display of the client device, generating a second layout of the content items where positions of the slots of the page template relative to each other in the second layout match positions of the slots relative to each other in the first layout based on a reference point of the display of the client device, where the orientation of the content items assigned in each slot in the second orientation match the orientation of the content items in each slot in the first orientation, and where a layout of one or more of the content items are modified to fit within their respective slots based on the rotation of the slots that contain the one or more content items; and   displaying the second layout on the display of the client device while the rotation sensor indicates that the display of the client device is in the second orientation.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the first orientation is a portrait orientation and the second orientation is a landscape orientation. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein at least one or more of the content items comprises an image, and where the at least one content item is modified to fit within its respective slot by repositioning the image within the respective slot. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein at least one or more of the content items comprises text, and where the at least one content item is modified to fit within its respective slot by modifying the text within the slot. 
     
     
         15 . A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing computer executable code, the code when executed by a computer processor performs a method comprising:
 receiving, by the client device, a page template including a plurality of slots, each slot defining a portion of the display of the client device within which a content item is displayed;   displaying a content item in each of the slots of the page template on the display of the client device while the client device is in a first orientation;   sensing by a rotation sensor included in the client device, a rotation of the client device to a second orientation, the rotation with respect to a reference orientation; and   responsive to the rotation sensor sensing the rotation of the client device:
 rotating the template and the plurality of slots with respect to the reference orientation to match the rotation of the client device so positions of the slots relative to each other in the second orientation based on the reference point of the display of the client device match positions of the slots relative to each other in the first orientation based on a reference point of the display of the client device, 
 rotating the content items within each of the slots with respect to the display of the client device to maintain a constant orientation of the content items relative to the reference orientation, and 
 modifying a layout of the content item presented in the respective slot to fit the content item within its respective slot. 
   
     
     
         16 . The computer program product of  claim 15 , wherein the first orientation is a portrait orientation and the second orientation is a landscape orientation. 
     
     
         17 . The computer program product of  claim 15 , wherein the rotation of the client device is a 90 degree counter-clockwise rotation, and the rotation of the content items within each of the slots is a 90 degree clockwise rotation. 
     
     
         18 . The computer program product of  claim 15 , wherein the method performed by the computer processor when the code is executed further comprises:
 responsive to the rotation sensor sensing a rotation of the client device from the second orientation to a third orientation:
 rotating the template and the plurality of slots with respect to the reference orientation to match the rotation of the client device so positions of the slots relative to each other in the third orientation based on the reference point of the display of the client device match positions of the slots relative to each other in the first orientation based on the reference point of the display of the client device, 
 rotating the content items within each of the slots with respect to the display of the client device to maintain a constant orientation of the content items relative to the reference orientation, and 
 modifying a layout of at least one content item presented in the respective slot to fit the at least one content item within its respective slot. 
   
     
     
         19 . A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing computer executable code, the code when executed by a computer processor performs a method comprising:
 receiving a page template including a plurality of slots, each slot defining a portion of a display of a client device within which a content item is displayed;   receiving a plurality of content items for display in the page template;   assigning each of the content items to a slot of the page layout;   generating a first layout of the content items, the layout comprising each of the content items contained in the slot of the page template to which the content item is assigned;   displaying the first layout on the display of the client device;   sensing by a rotation sensor in the client device a rotation of the display of the client device from a first orientation to a second orientation;   responsive to the rotation sensor sensing the rotation of the display of the client device, generating a second layout of the content items where positions of the slots of the page template relative to each other in the second layout match positions of the slots relative to each other in the first layout based on a reference point of the display of the client device, where content items assigned in each slot are rotated within the slot with respect to the page template in a direction opposite to the detected rotation of the device to maintain a constant orientation of the content items in the first orientation and in the second orientation, and where the one or more of the content items are modified to fit within their respective slots based on the rotation of the slots that contain the one or more content items and displaying the second layout on the display of the client device while the rotation sensor indicates that the display of the client device is in the second orientation.   
     
     
         20 . The computer program product of  claim 19 , wherein at least one or more of the content items comprises an image, and where the at least one content item is modified to fit within its respective slot by repositioning the image within the respective slot. 
     
     
         21 . The computer program product of  claim 19 , wherein at least one or more of the content items comprises text, and where the at least one content item is modified to fit within its respective slot by modifying the text within the slot.