Dynamic integration of web sites
View Patent ↗A method for displaying information includes identifying computer-readable service code at a service site, which code, when read by a client computer via a network, causes the computer to display at least one service page containing service information. Some service code is selected for inclusion in a service component containing at least some service information that corresponds to the selected code. A pointer is generated, indicating a location at which the service component is accessible to a remotely located client computer via the network, allowing the client computer to display a host page containing host information. An invocation of the pointer by the client computer is received at the location when the client computer accesses the host page. The selected service code is then conveyed to the client computer, such that responsive to the selected service code, the client computer displays the service component on the host page.
1. A method for displaying information, comprising:
identifying computer-readable code at a first Web site, which code, when read by a client computer, causes the computer to display at least a first Web page, the code comprising one or more links to resources at the first Web site;
selecting at least a portion of the code for inclusion in a Web page component, the selected portion comprising at least one of the links;
inserting a pointer in a second Web site, the pointer indicating a component server, separate from the first Web site, from which the Web page component is accessible;
responsively to an invocation of the pointer by the client computer, reading the selected code from the first Web site and modifying the at least one of the links so as to create a modified link, which permits the client computer to use at least one of the resources while accessing the Web page component via the component server; and
conveying the selected code, including the modified link, to the client computer so as to cause the client computer to display the Web page component.
2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one of the links comprises a hyperlink.
3. The method according to claim 2 , wherein identifying the computer-readable code comprises identifying the code corresponding to multiple Web pages to be included in the Web page component, including first and second Web pages, the hyperlink comprising a link from the first Web page to the second Web page.
4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one of the links comprises a reference to a form.
5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the at least oneof the resources comprises at least one of a Web page and an image.
6. The method according to claim 1 , wherein modifying the at least one of the links comprises changing the at least one of the links from a relative link to an absolute link.
7. The method according to claim 1 , wherein modifying the at least one of the links comprises changing the at least one of the links so as to point to a location associated with the component server.
8. The method according to claim 1 , wherein modifying the at least one of the links comprises changing the at least one of the links so as to point to a location separate from the component server.
9. The method according to claim 1 , wherein inserting the pointer comprises inserting the pointer in a second Web page, which is accessible by the client computer at the second Web site, and wherein conveying the selected code causes the client computer to display the Web page component on the second Web page.
10. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the pointer comprises a hyperlink.
11. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the pointer comprises a script line.
12. Apparatus for serving a Web page component based on computer-readable code provided at a first Web site on a network, which code, when read by a client computer, causes the computer to display at least a first Web page, the code including one or more links to resources at the first Web site, the apparatus comprising:
a network interface, for communicating with the network; and
a component server, which is separate from the first Web site and is adapted to receive an indication of at least a portion of the code at the first Web site that has been selected for inclusion in the Web page component, the selected portion comprising at least one of the links,
wherein the component server is adapted, responsively to an invocation by the client computer of a pointer to the component server in a second Web site, to read the selected code from the first Web site and to modify the at least one of the links so as to create a modified link, which permits the client computer to use at least one of the resources while accessing the Web page component via the component server, and to convey the selected code, including the modified link, to the client computer so as to cause the client computer to display the Web page component.
13. The apparatus according to claim 12 , wherein the at least one of the links comprises a hyperlink.
14. The apparatus according to claim 13 , wherein the selected portion of the code corresponds to multiple Web pages at the first Web site, including first and second Web pages, and the hyperlink comprises a link from the first Web page to the second Web page.
15. The apparatus according to claim 13 , wherein the at least one of the links comprises a reference to a form.
16. The apparatus according to claim 13 , wherein the at least one of the resources comprises at least one of a Web page and an image.
17. The apparatus according to claim 13 , wherein the component server is adapted to change the at least one of the links from a relative link to an absolute link.
18. The apparatus according to claim 13 , wherein the component server is adapted to modify the at least one of the links so as to point to a location associated with the component server.
19. The apparatus according to claim 13 , wherein the pointer comprises at least one of a hyperlink and a script line.
20. A computer software product, comprising a computer-readable medium in which program instructions are stored, which instructions, when read by a computer server, cause the server to receive a selection from computer-readable code available at a first Web site, which code, when read by a client computer, causes the client computer to display at least a first Web page, the code comprising one or more links to resources at the first Web site, the selection indicating at least a portion of the code to be included in a Web page component, the selected portion comprising at least one of the links,
wherein the instructions further cause the server, responsively to an invocation by the client computer of a pointer to the component server in a second Web site, to read the selected code from the first Web site and to modify the at least one of the links so as to create a modified link, which permits the client computer to use at least one of the resources while accessing the Web page component via the component server, and to convey the selected code, including the modified link, to the client computer so as to cause the client computer to display the Web page component.
21. The method according to claim 1 , wherein modifying the at least one of the links comprises creating the modified link at a component server, which is separate from the first Web site and from the client computer, and wherein conveying the selected code comprises conveying the modified link from the component server to the client computer for use by the client computer in accessing the at least one of the resources at the first Web site.