Visual editing tool buffer region

Abstract

A website construction tool allows website construction via an interactive graphical user interface (GUI) using containers and modules defining predetermined website constructs from a robust assortment of common and popular rendering formats and content source definition for individual webpages, and arranges the individual pages for navigation. A user selects from the predefined constructs by selecting modules for generating code, corresponding to the desired content, source and rendering format. Pointing device positioning locates the on-screen location by generating a container dedicated to the desired content. Webpage structure, or page flow, is generated by insertion of navigation controls and page insertions for navigating between pages in the deployed site. The predetermined constructs, therefore, provide templates of complex rendering formats allowing for content insertion without burdening the user with development of the constructs so rendered. Constructed websites may be hosted by the development entity, further relieving the user from website maintenance.

1 . A method for displaying items for use in connection with construction of a website by a user, comprising the steps of:
 providing a developmental website comprising a developmental website workspace region for construction of the developmental website by the user;   providing a viewable display region for display of a developmental website workspace region and user controls, the developmental website being larger than the space provided by the display region;   providing a plurality of user-selectable user control items in a predetermined docking region of the display region accessed by the user to construct the developmental website, the predetermined docking region being of a horizontal dimension smaller than the display region so as to define a scrolling space for movement of a selected user control item to a lower area of the display region so as to invoke a scrolling operation;   in response to selection by the user of one of the plurality of user control items in the predetermined docking region, displaying a user-draggable representation of the item in the display region;   displaying a retracted image version of the plurality of user control items in the predetermined docking region during user dragging of the user-draggable representation of the item;   in response to a user command to release a drag operation, inserting a website construction functionality represented by the selected user control item in the developmental website workspace region at a predetermined location;   in response to dragging of the selected user control item into the scrolling space, scrolling the developmental website upwardly so as to expose additional area of the developmental website for construction of the website;   in response to display of a lowermost extent of the developmental website, halting the scrolling of the developmental website so as to permit user viewing of the bottom of the developmental website;   in response to display of a lowermost extent of the developmental website, displaying a buffer region beneath said lowermost extent in the display region   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising, in response to a user command to release a drag operation while displaying the buffer region:
 expanding the size of the developmental website such that an expanded workspace of the developmental website is rendered; and 
 inserting the website construction functionality represented by the selected user control item in the expanded workspace of the developmental website. 
 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the user-selectable user control items comprise tile icons, and the user-selectable control items are selected via a cursor on a user's computer, and the user-draggable representation of a selected item is moved by the user's dragging of a selected user control item to the developmental website workspace region of the developmental website for insertion of functionality into the developmental website. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising the step of displaying an insertion acceptance indicator in the developmental website workspace region to provide a visual indication of acceptability of the website construction functionality provided by the selected user control item in the developmental website. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4  wherein the insertion acceptance indicator comprises a (blue colored) bar having a dimension that corresponds to a dimension of a pre-existing website construction content item. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the website construction functionality comprises a website construction content item for containing content associated with the user. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the website construction content item includes at least one of a text item, a title, an image, a video, an audio, and a content extraction module. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising, in response to selection by the user of one of the plurality of user control items in the predetermined docking region:
 displaying a user-draggable representation of the item in the developmental website workspace region;   in response to user control corresponding to scrolling of the developmental website workspace region to a lowermost extent, displaying said lowermost extent of the developmental website workspace region with a buffer region beneath said lowermost extent;   in response to selection of a user control item while displaying the lowermost extent of the developmental website workspace region and the buffer region, expanding the size of the developmental website so as to create an expanded developmental website workspace region and remove the display of the buffer region; and   in response to a user command corresponding to insertion of a selected user control item while displaying an expanded developmental website workspace region, inserting the website construction functionality represented by the selected user control item in the expanded developmental website workspace region.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising: displaying a refracted image version of the plurality of user control items in the predetermined docking region while the user-draggable item representation is within the developmental website workspace region and outside proximity of the predetermined docking region;
 in response to user return of the user-draggable item representation to the proximity of the predetermined docking region, displaying the original unretracted version of the plurality of user control items in the predetermined docking region with an evacuated space formerly occupied by the selected user-draggable item representation; 
 in response to a user insertion command, inserting the website construction functionality represented by the selected user control item into the developmental website region; and 
 in further response to the user insertion command, displaying the original unretracted version of the plurality of user control items in the predetermined docking region repopulated with a new representation of the particular selected user control item that was utilized for the website construction functionality insertion.