Integration of social media with card packages

Abstract

Data structures, components, runtime viewers and methods are described for integrating wrapped packages of cards into various social media feeds and for integrating social media feeds into wraps. In some embodiments, a wrap identifier or cover is provided within a social media feed. In response to selection of the wrap identifier a runtime viewer is initiated and a descriptor that defines the selected wrap is obtained. The runtime viewer creates a wrap instance based on the descriptor. The instance may be displayed in-line within the social media feed, in an overlay frame, a new browser tab or using other suitable mechanisms. Preferably, each card in the wrap is rendered at the same portrait aspect ratio. Within each card, the relative positioning of the card content is immutable. In a separate aspect, a wrap package may include a social media card arranged to display a social media feed.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of delivering a wrap package of cards for display on a display screen associated with a computing device, the method comprising:
 receiving an indication of a selection of a wrap identifier in a social media feed displayed on the display screen associated with the computing device;   delivering a wrap descriptor that corresponds to the selected wrap identifier to the computing device in response to the selection of the wrap, the wrap descriptor defining the wrap package of cards and including a plurality of card descriptors, each card descriptor defining the content, layout and structure of an associated one of the cards of the wrap package; and   providing a runtime viewer to the computing device, the runtime viewer configured to create a wrap instance of the wrap package at the computing device by processing the wrap descriptor, wherein the wrap instance is arranged to be rendered on the display device by the computing device by displaying the cards of the wrap package a single card at a time and wherein the cards are arranged to be displayed sequentially in response to navigational inputs.   
     
     
         2 . A method of rendering a wrap package of cards on a display screen associated with a mobile computing device, the method comprising:
 receiving an indication of the selection of a wrap identifier in a social media feed displayed on the display screen;   in response to the selection of the wrap identifier, initiating a runtime viewer and obtaining a wrap descriptor that defines the wrap package, the wrap descriptor including a plurality of card descriptors, each card descriptor defining the content, layout and structure of an associated one of the cards of the wrap package respectively;   creating a wrap instance using the runtime viewer, the wrap instance created based on the wrap descriptor; and   rendering the wrap instance on the display screen, wherein when the wrap instance is rendered a single card at a time and wherein the cards are arranged to be displayed sequentially in response to navigational inputs.   
     
     
         3 . A method as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the runtime viewer is configured to render the wrap instance in the context of the social media feed by either:
 (i) rendering the cards of the wrap instance within a frame appearing within the social media feed; or   (ii) rendering the cards of the wrap instance in an overlay frame appearing at least partially over the social media feed.   
     
     
         4 . A method as recited  claim 1 , wherein the runtime viewer is configured to render the wrap instance by rendering the cards of the wrap package over where the social media feed would otherwise be visible on the display. 
     
     
         5 . A method as recited in  claim 2  wherein the wrap instance is displayed in-line within the social media feed. 
     
     
         6 . A method as recited in  claim 2 , further comprising opening a new container on the display screen and displaying the wrap instance in the new container. 
     
     
         7 . A method as recited in  claim 6 , wherein the new container or the wrap instance includes a close interface and wherein user selection of the close interface closes the new container such that the social media feed is displayed on the display screen. 
     
     
         8 . A method as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the runtime viewer is further configured to sequentially display the cards of the wrap instance, one at a time, in response to swipe navigational inputs on a mobile computing device have a touch-sensitive screen. 
     
     
         9 . A method as recited in  claim 1  wherein the selection of the wrap identifier is accomplished by selecting a wrap cover that is displayed in the social media feed, the wrap cover including an image representative of the wrap package and has the wrap identifier embedded therein. 
     
     
         10 . A method as recited in  claim 1  wherein the selection of the wrap identifier is accomplished by selecting a link that is displayed in the social media feed and that includes the wrap identifier embedded therein. 
     
     
         11 . A method as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the social media feed is selected from the group consisting of a Twitter feed, a Facebook feed, an Instagram feed, a Pinterest feed, a MyFitnessPal feed, a PhotoCircle feed and a Vine feed. 
     
     
         12 . A method as recited in  claim 2 , wherein the social media feed is displayed in a browser window and the runtime viewer is executed by the browser. 
     
     
         13 . A method as recited in  claim 12 , wherein the runtime viewer is not an integral part of the browser. 
     
     
         14 . A method as recited in  claim 2 , wherein the social media feed is displayed by an app residing on the computing device and the runtime viewer is executed by the app. 
     
     
         15 . A method as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the social media feed is displayed by an app residing on the computing device, the wrap instance is displayed by a browser separate from the app and the runtime viewer is executed by the browser. 
     
     
         16 . A method as recited in  claim 1 , wherein providing the runtime viewer in response to the selection of the wrap identifier occurs in cooperation with the delivery of the wrap descriptor. 
     
     
         17 . A method as recited in  claim 1 , wherein providing the runtime viewer further comprises providing a native application that includes the runtime viewer for execution on the computing device prior to the selection of the wrap identifier. 
     
     
         18 . A method as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the wrap descriptor is either a JSON wrap descriptor or a BSON wrap descriptor. 
     
     
         19 . A method as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the wrap instance is generated at the computing device by:
 (a) creating an object graph from the wrap descriptor;   (b) generating a document object model from the object graph; and   (c) generating the wrap instance from the document object model.   
     
     
         20 . A method as recited in  claim 1 , wherein:
 (a) each of the cards in the wrap package is rendered at the same portrait aspect ratio at runtime; and   (b) within each card, the relative positioning of the content of the card is immutable.   
     
     
         21 . A wrap package of cards, embedded in a tangible computer readable medium, the wrap package including a plurality of cards arranged to be rendered in one or more linear sequence(s) at runtime, the wrap package including a social media card arranged to display a social media feed. 
     
     
         22 . A wrap package as recited in  claim 21 , further comprising a wrap descriptor that defines the wrap package, the wrap descriptor including a plurality of card descriptors, each of the plurality of card descriptors arranged to define content, a structure and a layout for an associated card among the cards of the wrap package, the card descriptors including a social media card descriptor that defines the content, structure and layout of the social media card. 
     
     
         23 . A wrap package as recited in  claim 22 , wherein the wrap descriptor is either a JSON or a BSON data object. 
     
     
         24 . A wrap package as recited in  claim 22 , wherein a runtime instance of the wrap package is generated by:
 (a) creating an object graph from the wrap descriptor;   (b) generating a document object model from the object graph; and   (c) generating the runtime instance of the wrap package from the document object model.   
     
     
         25 . A wrap package as recited in  claim 21 , wherein the wrap social media feed is a Facebook feed. 
     
     
         26 . A wrap package as recited in  claim 21 , wherein the wrap social media feed is a Twitter feed. 
     
     
         27 . A wrap package as recited in  claim 21 , wherein the wrap social media feed is selected from the group consisting of an Instagram feed, and a Pinterest feed 
     
     
         28 . A wrap package as recited in  claim 22 , wherein the social media feed is displayed within an iframe contained within the social media card. 
     
     
         29 . A wrap package as recited in  claim 28 , wherein the social media card descriptor includes a widget descriptor that:
 defines a position within the social media card for the iframe,   identifies a widget server from which the content of the social media feed may be obtained; and   provides parameters to be passed to the widget server at runtime to identify the social media feed to be displayed.   
     
     
         30 . A wrap package as recited in  claim 22 , wherein the social media card descriptor includes a feed descriptor that is used by a runtime viewer to establish the social media feed.