IP Library Granted Patent US 12683974
Granted Patent B2
US 12683974 · App. 18/961,253 · Granted Jul 14, 2026

Varying internal and external hierarchies with webpage access permission management

Inventors: Natasha Mayur Shah (San Francisco, CA); Christopher Papazian (San Francisco, CA); Matthew Piccolella (San Francisco, CA); Ein Jung (Brooklyn, NY); Omar Skalli (San Francisco, CA)
Assignee: Notion Labs, Inc.
H04L63/104G06F40/137G06F40/186G06F40/197
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12683974
App. No.
18/961,253
Granted
Jul 14, 2026
Kind
B2
Abstract

A system can generate a website where pages are internally structured in a certain hierarchy, but where the pages can be published to an external hierarchy that need not match this internal hierarchy. These differing hierarchies allow for pages to be organized in the optimal way for both internal and external users. Each page can be assigned its own access permissions, designating it as public or private independently of the other pages and of its place in the internal hierarchy. Pages can also be published to a different domain than others in the external hierarchy and may be published to the external hierarchy with a different set of parent-child relationships than the page has in the internal hierarchy.

Claims (135)

1 . A non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions recorded thereon, wherein the instructions, when executed by at least one data processor of a system, cause the system to:

generate an internal hierarchy of pages, wherein the internal hierarchy includes an internal top level page and an internal lower level page, wherein the internal lower level page is accessible from the internal top level page, a parent page, wherein the parent page is included as a top level page in the internal hierarchy, and a subpage, wherein the subpage is included as a lower level page in the internal hierarchy;

associate access permissions with a page in the internal hierarchy in order to permit access to a restricted group of users;

receive an indication designating that the parent page is publicly accessible and an indication designating a first domain name associated with the parent page;

upon receiving the indications designating that the parent page is publicly accessible and designating the first domain name, create an external hierarchy of pages that differs from the internal hierarchy including an external top level page and an external lower level page, wherein setting the access permissions associated with the page enables the external hierarchy to differ from the internal hierarchy, wherein the external lower level page is accessible from the external top level page, wherein the parent page is included as an external top level page in the external hierarchy;

publishing the parent page to the external hierarchy at the first domain name;

receive an indication designating that the subpage is publicly accessible and an indication designating a second domain name associated with the subpage;

upon receiving the indications designating that the subpage is publicly accessible and designating the second domain name, add the subpage to the external hierarchy of pages at the second domain name;

when the first domain name and the second domain name do not match, prevent access to the subpage from the parent page in the external hierarchy while enabling access to the subpage from the parent page in the internal hierarchy, thereby presenting the external hierarchy as different from the internal hierarchy; and

when the first domain name and the second domain name match, enable access to the subpage from the parent page in both the internal and external hierarchies.

2 . The non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , further comprising instructions to:

provide a header bar associated with the parent page,

wherein the header bar is customized to include a search interface,

wherein the search interface allows a user to search for content on the parent page or a subpage,

wherein the header bar is customized to include a link to a subpage, and

wherein the header bar is saved as a template to be used for another page in the external hierarchy; and

provide a header bar associated with the subpage,

wherein the header bar is customized to include a search interface,

wherein the search interface allows a user to search for content on the subpage,

wherein the header bar is customized to include a link to the parent page or a different subpage,

wherein the header bar is customized to display breadcrumbs indicating a location of the subpage in the external hierarchy, and

wherein the header bar is saved as a template to be used for another page in the external hierarchy.

3 . The non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , further comprising instructions to:

add a page in the external hierarchy to a management portal,

wherein information about a page previously added to the management portal is displayed,

wherein a domain name associated with the page is displayed,

wherein the parent page and the first domain name associated with the parent page is displayed, and

wherein the domain name associated with the page and whether the page is publicly accessible is changed.

4 . The non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , further comprising instructions to:

provide an analytics panel associated with a page in the external hierarchy,

wherein the analytics panel can display statistics pertaining to a user interaction with the page;

categorize the user interaction as originating from a public user accessing the page through the external hierarchy, or a private user accessing the page through the internal hierarchy; and

record a name associated with the user interaction, when the user interaction is categorized as originating from a private user.

5 . The non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , further comprising instructions to:

receive an indication that a link to a page in the external hierarchy is going to be shared; and

provide, based on content included in the page, a smart unfurl image associated with the link to the page,

wherein the smart unfurl image thematically resembles the content of the page, and

wherein the smart unfurl image is edited by a user or replaced with a preexisting image.

6 . The non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , further comprising instructions to:

provide text on a page in the internal hierarchy which is highlighted by a user to an artificial intelligence (AI) tool,

wherein the AI tool is configured to receive and process the highlighted text,

wherein the AI tool is configured to, upon receiving an improvement request from the user, replace the highlighted text with an improved version of the text, and

wherein the AI tool is configured to, upon receiving a suggestion request from the user, provide a suggestion for an improved version of the text.

7 . The non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , further comprising instructions to:

associate a date and time with a page in the external hierarchy; and

upon occurrence of the date and time, remove the page from the external hierarchy.

8 . A method comprising:

generating an internal hierarchy of pages, wherein the internal hierarchy includes an internal top level page and an internal lower level page, wherein the internal lower level page is accessible from the internal top level page, a parent page, wherein the parent page is included as a top level page in the internal hierarchy, and a subpage, wherein the subpage is included as a lower level page in the internal hierarchy;

associating access permissions with a page in the internal hierarchy in order to permit access to a restricted group of users;

receiving an indication designating that the parent page within the internal hierarchy is publicly accessible and an indication designating a first domain name associated with the parent page;

creating, upon receiving the indications designating that the parent page is publicly accessible and designating the first domain name, an external hierarchy of pages that differs from the internal hierarchy, wherein setting the access permissions associated with the page enables the external hierarchy to differ from the internal hierarchy, wherein the external hierarchy includes an external top level page and an external lower level page, wherein the external lower level page is accessible from the external top level page, wherein the parent page is included as an external top level page in the external hierarchy; and

publishing the parent page to the external hierarchy at the first domain name;

receiving an indication designating that the subpage is publicly accessible and an indication designating a second domain name associated with the subpage;

upon receiving the indications designating that the subpage is publicly accessible and designating the second domain name, adding the subpage to the external hierarchy of pages at the second domain name;

when the first domain name and the second domain name do not match, preventing access to the subpage from the parent page in the external hierarchy while enabling access to the subpage from the parent page in the internal hierarchy, thereby presenting the external hierarchy as different from the internal hierarchy; and

when the first domain name and the second domain name match, enabling access to the subpage from the parent page in both the internal and external hierarchies.

9 . The method of claim 8 , further comprising:

associating the page in the internal hierarchy with the internal lower level; and

associating an external lower level page with the external lower level,

wherein the external lower level page is different from the page associated with the internal lower level.

10 . The method of claim 8 , further comprising:

providing a header bar associated with a page associated with the external top level,

wherein the header bar is customized to include a search interface,

wherein the search interface allows a user to search for content on the page or a subpage associated with the external lower level,

wherein the header bar is customized to include a link to the subpage, and

wherein the header bar is saved as a template to be used for another page in the external hierarchy; and

providing a header bar associated with the subpage,

wherein the header bar is customized to include a search interface,

wherein the search interface allows a user to search for content on the subpage,

wherein the header bar is customized to include a link to the page associated with the external top level or a different subpage associated with the external lower level,

wherein the header bar is customized to display breadcrumbs indicating a location of the subpage in the external hierarchy, and

wherein the header bar is saved as a template to be used for another page in the external hierarchy.

11 . The method of claim 8 , further comprising:

adding a page in the external hierarchy to a management portal,

wherein information about a page previously added to the management portal is displayed,

wherein a domain name associated with the page is displayed,

wherein the page and the domain name associated with the page is displayed, and

wherein the domain name associated with the page and whether the page is publicly accessible is changed.

12 . The method of claim 8 , further comprising:

providing an analytics panel associated with a page in the external hierarchy,

wherein the analytics panel can display statistics pertaining to a user interaction with the page;

categorizing the user interaction as originating from a public user accessing the page through the external hierarchy, or a private user accessing the page through the internal hierarchy; and

recording a name associated with the user interaction, when the user interaction is categorized as originating from a private user.

13 . The method of claim 8 , further comprising:

receiving an indication that a link to a page in the external hierarchy is going to be shared; and

providing, based on content included on the page, a smart unfurl image associated with the link to the page,

wherein the smart unfurl image thematically resembles the content of the page, and

wherein the smart unfurl image is edited by a user or replaced with a preexisting image.

14 . The method of claim 8 , further comprising:

providing text on a page in the internal hierarchy which is highlighted by a user to an artificial intelligence (AI) tool,

wherein the AI tool is configured to receive and process the highlighted text,

wherein the AI tool is configured to, upon receiving an improvement request from the user, replace the highlighted text with an improved version of the text, and

wherein the AI tool is configured to, upon receiving a suggestion request from the user, provide a suggestion for an improved version of the text.

15 . The method of claim 8 , further comprising:

associating a date and time with a page in the external hierarchy; and

upon occurrence of the date and time, removing the page from the external hierarchy.

16 . A system comprising:

at least one hardware processor; and

at least one non-transitory memory storing instructions, which, when executed by the at least one hardware processor, cause the system to:

generate an internal hierarchy of pages, wherein the internal hierarchy includes an internal top level page and an internal lower level page, wherein the internal lower level page is accessible from the internal top level page, a parent page, wherein the parent page is included as a top level page in the internal hierarchy, and a subpage, wherein the subpage is included as a lower level page in the internal hierarchy;

associate access permissions with a page in the internal hierarchy in order to permit access to a restricted group of users;

receive an indication designating that the parent page within the internal hierarchy is publicly accessible and an indication designating a first domain name associated with the parent page;

create, upon receiving the indications designating that the parent page is publicly accessible and designating the first domain name, an external hierarchy of pages that differs from the internal hierarchy, wherein setting the access permissions associated with the page enables the external hierarchy to differ from the internal hierarchy, wherein the external hierarchy includes an external top level page and an external lower level page, wherein the external lower level page is accessible from the external top level page, wherein the parent page is included as an external top level page in the external hierarchy;

publish the parent page to the external hierarchy at the first domain name;

receive an indication designating that the subpage is publicly accessible and an indication designating a second domain name associated with the subpage;

upon receiving the indications designating that the subpage is publicly accessible and designating the second domain name, add the subpage to the external hierarchy of pages at the second domain name;

when the first domain name and the second domain name do not match, prevent access to the subpage from the parent page in the external hierarchy while enabling access to the subpage from the parent page in the internal hierarchy, thereby presenting the external hierarchy as different from the internal hierarchy; and

when the first domain name and the second domain name match, enable access to the subpage from the parent page in both the internal and external hierarchies.

17 . The system of claim 16 , further comprising instructions causing the system to:

associate the page in the internal hierarchy with the internal lower level; and

associate an external lower level page with the external lower level,

wherein the external lower level page is different from the page associated with the internal lower level.

18 . The system of claim 16 , further comprising instructions causing the system to:

provide a header bar associated with a page associated with the external top level,

wherein the header bar is customized to include a search interface,

wherein the search interface allows a user to search for content on the page or a subpage associated with the external lower level,

wherein the header bar is customized to include a link to the subpage, and

wherein the header bar is saved as a template to be used for another page in the external hierarchy; and

provide a header bar associated with the subpage,

wherein the header bar is customized to include a search interface,

wherein the search interface allows a user to search for content on the subpage,

wherein the header bar is customized to include a link to the page associated with the external top level or a different subpage associated with the external lower level,

wherein the header bar is customized to display breadcrumbs indicating a location of the subpage in the external hierarchy, and

wherein the header bar is saved as a template to be used for another page in the external hierarchy.

19 . The system of claim 16 , further comprising instructions causing the system to:

add a page in the external hierarchy to a management portal,

wherein information about a page previously added to the management portal is displayed,

wherein a domain name associated with the page is displayed,

wherein the page and the domain name associated with the page is displayed, and

wherein the domain name associated with the page and whether the page is publicly accessible is changed.

20 . The system of claim 16 , further comprising instructions causing the system to:

provide an analytics panel associated with a page in the external hierarchy,

wherein the analytics panel can display statistics pertaining to a user interaction with the page;

categorize the user interaction as originating from a public user accessing the page through the external hierarchy or a private user accessing the page through the internal hierarchy; and

record a name associated with the user interaction, when the user interaction is categorized as originating from a private user.