System and method for managing contacts within an online stationery system
View Patent ↗A system and method are described for managing a contacts database within an online stationery service. For example, a system implemented within an online stationery service according to one embodiment comprises: a stationery service contacts manager to manage a set of contacts data within a stationery service contacts database in response to user input; a stationery personalization engine providing an end user with a set of selectable stationery templates, the stationery personalization engine receiving an indication that an end user has selected a particular one of the stationery templates, and generating personalized stationery with the selected template based on user input; the stationery service contacts manager providing address information for each of a set of user-selected contacts to receive a the personalized stationery by non-electronic mail; and a print module to generate a print job to print the personalized stationery and envelopes containing the address information for the user-selected contacts, the print module transmitting a link to an external print service for uniquely identifying the print job, the external print service accessing the link from the online stationery service using the link; wherein the external print service mails the printed stationery in the printed envelopes on behalf of the end user.
1. A system implemented within an online stationery service, the system comprising at least one memory for storing program code and at least one processor for processing the program code to execute:
a stationery service contacts manager to manage a set of contacts data within a stationery service contacts database in response to user input;
a stationery personalization engine configured to provide an end user with a set of selectable stationery templates, the stationery personalization engine receiving an indication that an end user has selected a particular one of the stationery templates, and generating personalized stationery with the selected template based on user input;
the stationery service contacts manager configured to provide address information for each of a set of user-selected contacts to receive a the personalized stationery by non-electronic mail;
a contacts management graphical user interface (GUI) interfaced with or integrated within the stationery service contacts manager, the contacts management GUI configured to display a listing of contacts, a plurality of contacts from the listing of contacts concurrently selectable via a mouse or other cursor control device, the contacts management GUI further comprising a first graphical element to indicate to the online stationery service that the end user wishes to send stationery to all of the selected contacts within the listing of contacts,
wherein the stationery personalization engine is invoked upon selection of the first graphical element to allow the user to personalize stationery directed to each of the selected contacts,
wherein after the user has personalized stationery, the stationery service contacts manager responsively provides address information for each of the plurality of selected contacts to receive the personalized stationery by non-electronic mail,
wherein the contacts management GUI further comprises a contact details region generated in response to user selection of a particular contact, the contact details region including upcoming relevant dates associated with that contact and prior purchase history associated with that contact, the prior purchase history indicating stationery previously purchased for that contact on the online stationery service; and
a print module to generate a print job to print the personalized stationery and envelopes containing the address information for the user-selected contacts, the print module transmitting a link to an external print service for uniquely identifying the print job, the external print service accessing the link from the online stationery service using the link;
wherein the external print service mails the printed stationery in the printed envelopes on behalf of the end user.
2. The system as in claim 1 further comprising:
a contacts management graphical user interface (GUI) interfaced with or integrated within the stationery service contacts manager, the contacts management GUI comprising a household selection element to merge a plurality of user-specified contacts into a household, wherein the household comprises a logical grouping of contacts residing at the same address.
3. The system as in claim 1 , further comprising:
a second graphical element to merge each of the concurrently selected contacts into a household, the household comprising a logical grouping of contacts residing at the same address.
4. The system as in claim 1 , further comprising:
a third graphical element comprising a drop-down menu having a list of contact groups, each of the contact groups including contacts sharing a specified characteristic, wherein selection of a contact group merges each of the concurrently selected contacts into a the selected contact group.
5. The system as in claim 1 , wherein the contacts management GUI comprises a reminder region to remind the end user of upcoming dates relevant to contacts stored within the user's contacts list.
6. The system as in claim 5 wherein the reminder region comprises upcoming birthdays of contacts within the contacts list.
7. The system as in claim 5 wherein the reminder region is displayed within a household window, the household window displaying all contacts within a selected household, wherein the reminder region contains upcoming dates relevant to contacts within the household.
8. The system as in claim 5 wherein the reminder region comprises chronological listing of upcoming dates and, for each date, an indication of the contact, an indication of the relevance of the date, and a link to personalize stationery relevant to the date, wherein selection of the link invokes the stationery personalization engine to provide the end user with options for personalizing stationery for the specified contact on the specified date.
9. The system as in claim 1 further comprising address confirmation logic for confirming an address of one or more of the contacts using an online address confirmation service.
10. The system as in claim 1 further comprising address confirmation logic for automatically requesting an address confirmation from one or more contacts selected within the user's contacts list, the address confirmation logic generating an email message to be sent to each of the selected contacts to request confirmation of the contact's address.
11. The system as in claim 10 further comprising:
a graphical user interface (GUI) for specifying a personalized message to be sent with each of the email messages to each of the contacts and a default message to be sent with each of the email messages.
12. The system as in claim 10 wherein the address confirmation logic embeds a link in each of the email messages, the link pointing to a network location within the online stationery service in which the contact's address information is stored, the link usable by the contact to update the contact's address information on the online stationery service.
13. The system as in claim 1 further comprising:
reminder generation logic to automatically send to the end user a reminder email containing a listing of upcoming relevant dates associated with each contact within the end user's contacts database.
14. The system as in claim 13 wherein the reminder generation logic embeds links in the email for each of the relevant dates, wherein selection of the link invokes the stationery personalization engine to provide the end user with options for personalizing stationery for the specified contact on the specified date.
15. The system as in claim 14 wherein the link comprises a hyperlink directing the user's Web browser to the online stationery service.