Displaying conversations in a conversation-based email system
A method and system for processing messages is disclosed that includes receiving a plurality of messages directed to a user, where each message has a unique message identifier. Each of the plurality of messages may be associated with a respective conversation, where each conversation has a respective conversation identifier. Also, each conversation includes a set of one or more messages sharing a common set of characteristics that meet a first predefined criteria. A list of conversations is displayed as a set of rows in an order determined by a second predefined criteria, where each row corresponds to one of the listed conversations and includes at least a sender list, a conversation topic and a date/time value. The contents of a conversation is displayed when the user selects a conversation from the displayed list of conversations. Messages can be displayed in one of three modes: expanded, compacted and hidden.
1. A method of processing messages, comprising:
at a client computer:
receiving from a server a plurality of messages associated with a user;
wherein each of the plurality of messages is associated with a respective conversation, each conversation comprising a set of one or more related messages;
displaying, in a conversation view, content of a selected conversation that is associated with a plurality of messages, the content including one or more viewed or read messages displayed in a compacted mode and an unviewed or unread message displayed in an expanded mode, wherein when a respective message is displayed in compacted mode, at least a first portion of a message body of the respective message is displayed and a second portion of the message body of the respective message is not displayed in the conversation view; and
while displaying the one or more messages in the compacted mode, responding to detecting selection of an expand-all affordance by displaying in the conversation view a message body of each of the messages associated with the selected conversation.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein displaying the content of a conversation includes displaying a plurality of sub-forms, each sub-form corresponding to a respective message in the conversation, and each sub-form having a plurality of display modes, including a compacted display mode and an expanded display mode; and wherein the plurality of displayed sub-forms include at least one sub-form in the expanded display mode and at least one sub-form in a display mode other than the expanded display mode.
3. The method of claim 2 , further providing a third display mode including a hidden display mode.
4. The method of claim 2 , wherein the user may toggle between the compacted mode and the expanded mode for a respective message by clicking in a concise message header area, the concise message header including an identifier of the message sender and a portion of the message.
5. The method of claim 2 , wherein a sub-form includes a concise message header, a detailed message header, a message body and a plurality of message redirecting control affordances.
6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the concise message header includes an identifier of the message sender and a list of identifiers of primary message recipients.
7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the identifier of a new conversation participant is highlighted when the associated message comprises a first participation in the conversation by the new conversation participant.
8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the highlighting is one or more selected from the list consisting of: bolding, underlining, font color, font size, background color, and font type.
9. The method of claim 6 , wherein the identifier of any of the message sender and the primary message recipients is highlighted when the associated message comprises a first participation in the conversation by the message sender or the primary message recipient.
10. The method of claim 6 , wherein the identifier of the user as the message sender or one of the primary message recipients is replaced with a predefined character string or predefined icon.
11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the predefined character string or predefined icon comprises a self-referencing identifier in a particular language.
12. The method of claim 5 , wherein the concise message header includes an identifier of the message sender and the sub-form includes a portion of text from the corresponding message.
13. The method of claim 5 , wherein the sub-form provides an affordance for rendering the detailed message header visible or invisible to the user.
14. The method of claim 5 , wherein displaying the content of a conversation includes displaying a plurality of the sub-forms when the conversation includes a plurality of messages, and wherein the plurality of message redirecting control affordances in each of the displayed sub-forms includes an affordance for producing a reply form to prepare a message to the message sender and/or any of the primary and secondary message recipients.
15. A method for processing messages, comprising:
at a computer system having one or more processors and memory storing programs executed by the one or more processors:
receiving a plurality of messages associated with a user associating each of the plurality of messages with a respective conversation, wherein each conversation comprises a set of one or more related messages; and
formatting, for display at a client:
a conversation view including content of a selected conversation that is associated with a plurality of messages, the content including one or more viewed or read messages displayed in a compacted mode and an unviewed or unread message displayed in an expanded mode, wherein when a respective message is displayed in compacted mode, at least a first portion of a message body of the respective message is displayed and a second portion of the message body of the respective message is not displayed in the conversation view; and
a conversation view including a message body of each of the messages associated with the selected conversation for display at the client in response to detecting selection of an expand-all affordance while the one or more messages are displayed in the compacted mode.
16. The method of claim 15 , further including providing a plurality of sub-forms, each sub-form corresponding to a respective message in a conversation, and each sub-form having a plurality of display modes, including a compacted display mode and an expanded display mode; and wherein the plurality of provided sub-forms include at least one sub-form in the expanded display mode and at least one sub-form in a display mode other than the expanded display mode.
17. The method of claim 16 , wherein a sub-form includes a concise message header, a detailed message header, a message body and a plurality of message redirecting control affordances.
18. The method of claim 17 , wherein the concise message header includes an identifier of the message sender and a list of identifiers of primary message recipients.
19. The method of claim 18 , further including identifying any of the message sender and the primary message recipients when the associated message comprises a first participation in the conversation by the message sender or the primary message recipient.
20. The method of claim 18 , wherein the identifier of a new conversation participant is highlighted when the associated message comprises a first participation in the conversation by the new conversation participant.
21. The method of claim 18 , further including replacing the identifier of the user as the message sender or one of the primary message recipients with a predefined character string or predefined icon.
22. The method of claim 21 , wherein the predefined character string or predefined icon comprises a self-referencing identifier in a particular language.
23. The method of claim 17 , wherein the concise message header includes an identifier of the message sender and the sub-form includes a portion of text from the corresponding message.
24. Memory storing one or more programs for execution by a client computer, the one or more programs comprising instructions to:
receive a plurality of messages associated with a user;
wherein each of the plurality of messages is associated with a respective conversation, and comprises a set of one or more related messages;
display, in a conversation view, content of a selected conversation that is associated with a plurality of messages, the content including one or more viewed or read messages displayed in a compacted mode and an unviewed or unread message displayed in an expanded mode, wherein when a respective message is displayed in compacted mode, at least a first portion of a message body of the respective message is displayed and a second portion of the message body of the respective message is not displayed in the conversation view; and
while displaying the one or more messages in the compacted mode, respond to detecting selection of an expand-all affordance by displaying in the conversation view a message body of each of the messages associated with the selected conversation.
25. The memory of claim 24 , wherein the instructions for displaying the content of a conversation includes instructions for displaying a plurality of sub-forms, each sub-form corresponding to a respective message in the conversation, and each sub-form having a plurality of display modes, including a compacted display mode and an expanded display mode; and wherein the plurality of displayed sub-forms include at least one sub-form in the expanded display mode and at least one sub-form in a display mode other than the expanded display mode.
26. The memory of claim 25 , further including instructions for providing a third display mode including a hidden display mode.
27. The memory of claim 25 , further including instructions wherein the user may toggle between the compacted mode and the expanded mode for a respective message by clicking in a concise message header area, the concise message header including an identifier of the message sender and a portion of the message.
28. The memory of claim 25 , wherein a sub-form includes a concise message header, a detailed message header, a message body and a plurality of message redirecting control affordances.
29. The memory of claim 28 , wherein the concise message header includes an identifier of the message sender and a list of identifiers of primary message recipients.
30. The memory of claim 29 , further including instructions for highlighting the identifier of a new conversation participant when the associated message comprises a first participation in the conversation by the new conversation participant.
31. The memory of claim 30 , wherein the highlighting is one or more selected from the list consisting of: bolding, underlining, font color, font size, background color, and font type.
32. The memory of claim 29 , further including instructions for highlighting the identifier of any of the message sender and the primary message recipients when the associated message comprises a first participation in the conversation by the message sender or the primary message recipient.
33. The memory of claim 29 , further including instructions for replacing the identifier of the user as the message sender or one of the primary message recipients with a predefined character string or predefined icon.
34. The memory of claim 33 , further including instructions for providing the predefined character string or predefined icon comprises a self-referencing identifier in a particular language.
35. The memory of claim 28 , wherein the concise message header includes an identifier of the message sender and the sub-form includes a portion of text from the corresponding message.
36. The memory of claim 28 , wherein the instructions for displaying the sub-form includes instructions for providing an affordance for rendering the detailed message header visible or invisible to the user.
37. The memory of claim 28 , wherein the instructions for displaying the content of a conversation includes instructions for displaying a plurality of the sub-forms when the conversation includes a plurality of messages, and wherein the instructions for providing the plurality of message redirecting control affordances in each of the displayed sub-forms includes instructions for providing an affordance for producing a reply form to prepare a message to the message sender and/or any of the primary and secondary message recipients.
38. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing one or more programs for execution by a computer system, the one or more programs comprising instructions to:
receive a plurality of messages associated with a user;
associate each of the plurality of messages with a respective conversation, wherein each conversation comprises a set of one or more related messages; and
format, for display at a client:
a conversation view including content of a selected conversation that is associated with a plurality of messages, the content including one or more viewed or read messages displayed in a compacted mode and an unviewed or unread message displayed in an expanded mode, wherein when a respective message is displayed in compacted mode, at least a first portion of a message body of the respective message is displayed and a second portion of the message body of the respective message is not displayed in the conversation view; and
a conversation view including a message body of each of the messages associated with the selected conversation for display at the client in response to detecting selection of an expand-all affordance while the one or more messages are displayed in the compacted mode.
39. The computer readable storage medium of claim 38 , further including instructions for providing a plurality of sub-forms, each sub-form corresponding to a respective message in a conversation, and each sub-form having a plurality of display modes, including a compacted display mode and an expanded display mode; and wherein the plurality of provided sub-forms include at least one sub-form in the expanded display mode and at least one sub-form in a display mode other than the expanded display mode.
40. The computer readable storage medium of claim 39 , wherein the instructions for providing the sub-form includes instructions for providing a concise message header, a detailed message header, a message body and a plurality of message redirecting control affordances.
41. The computer readable storage medium of claim 40 , wherein the instructions for providing the sub-form includes instructions for providing an identifier of the message sender and a list of identifiers of primary message recipients in the concise message header.
42. The computer readable storage medium of claim 41 , further including instructions for identifying any of the message sender and the primary message recipients when the associated message comprises a first participation in the conversation by the message sender or the primary message recipient.
43. The computer readable storage medium of claim 40 , wherein the instructions for providing the sub-form includes instructions for providing an identifier of the message sender in the concise message header and for providing a portion of text from the corresponding message in the sub-form.
44. The computer readable storage medium of claim 41 , further including instruction for highlighting the identifier of a new conversation participant when the associated message comprises a first participation in the conversation by the new conversation participant.
45. The computer readable storage medium of claim 41 , further including replacing the identifier of the user as the message sender or one of the primary message recipients with a predefined character string or predefined icon.
46. The computer readable storage medium of claim 45 , wherein the predefined character string or predefined icon comprises a self-referencing identifier in a particular language.
47. A client computer for processing messages, comprising:
memory;
one or more programs stored in the memory and executed by the client computer, wherein the one or more programs comprise instructions for:
receiving a plurality of messages directed to a user;
wherein each of the plurality of messages is associated with a respective conversation, and comprises a set of one or more related messages;
displaying, in a conversation view, content of a selected conversation that is associated with a plurality of messages, the content including one or more viewed or read messages displayed in a compacted mode and an unviewed or unread message displayed in an expanded mode, wherein when a respective message is displayed in compacted mode, at least a first portion of a message body of the respective message is displayed and a second portion of the message body of the respective message is not displayed in the conversation view; and
while displaying the one or more messages in the compacted mode, responding to detecting selection of an expand-all affordance by displaying in the conversation view a message body of each of the messages associated with the selected conversation.
48. A system for processing messages, comprising:
memory;
one or more processors;
one or more programs stored in the memory and executed by the one or more processors, wherein the one or more programs include instructions for:
receiving a plurality of messages associated with a user;
associating each of the plurality of messages with a respective conversation, wherein each conversation comprises a set of one or more related messages; and
formatting, for display at a client:
a conversation view including content of a selected conversation that is associated with a plurality of messages, the content including one or more viewed or read messages displayed in a compacted mode and an unviewed or unread message displayed in an expanded mode, wherein when a respective message is displayed in compacted mode, at least a first portion of a message body of the respective message is displayed and a second portion of the message body of the respective message is not displayed in the conversation view; and
a conversation view including a message body of each of the messages associated with the selected conversation for display at the client in response to detecting selection of an expand-all affordance while the one or more messages are displayed in the compacted mode.