Method for client-side personalization
View Patent ↗A method or data processing system readable medium can be used for communications between a user and a network site. In one embodiment, the user may request personalization information including personalization rule(s) from the network site. The user can generate personalization logic based on the personalization information. In this manner, the user has better control over his or her personal information. The server computer at the network site may benefit because it does not have to generate the personalization logic for the user. Accordingly, the server computer at the network site may be able to accommodate more users or can respond to them faster.
1. A method of communicating with a client data processing system comprising:
receiving at a server a first communication from the client data processing system over a network, wherein the first communication comprises a request for a personalization rule;
sending from the server to the client data processing system the personalization rule; and
receiving a second communication from the client data processing system, wherein the second communication comprises a network address for a network site and user information corresponding to the personalization rule;
constructing a web page in accordance with the personalization rule; and
sending the web page from the sever to the client data processing system, wherein the first communication comprises at least one of:
minimum information needed for an HTTP communication;
a linguistic language information;
a time-zone information;
an IP address; and
an information regarding a territory where the client data processing system is located, wherein the territory has a population of at least approximately 1,000 people.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second communication, and not the first communication, comprises at least one of:
a name of a user of the client data processing system;
a physical street address of the user;
a mailing address of the user;
an age of the user;
a race of the user;
a religion of the user;
an income of the user;
a consumer item preference of the user;
a consumer brand preference of the user;
a color preference of the user;
an animal preference of the user; and
a cookie.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein receiving the first communication comprises receiving a request for personalization logic information that can be used to construct data consistent with the personalization logic information.
4. A method of communicating with a network site comprising:
sending a first communication to the network site over a network, wherein the first communication comprises a request for a personalization rule;
receiving at a client data processing system from the network site the personalization rule;
sending a second communication from the client data processing system to the network site, wherein the second communication comprises a network address for the network site and a user information for a user corresponding to the personalization rule;
using a browser having a browser preference on the client data processing system to access a network, wherein using occurs during a first time period; and
before using the browser to access the network after the first time period, changing the browser preference before sending the first communication.
5. The method of claim 4 , wherein sending the first communication comprises requesting personalization logic information that can be used to construct data for the user consistent with the user information, wherein the personalization rule is at least part of the personalization logic information.
6. The method of claim 4 , further comprising removing a cookie from a data processing system of the user before sending the first communication, wherein the cookie originated from the network site during a prior visit.
7. The method of claim 4 , further comprising setting all preferences for a browser file to their settings when the browser file was first installed on the client data processing system.
8. The method of claim 4 , wherein the user information is stored in a file on a data processing system of the user; and
the user information, is sent over the network solely by using a browser on the data processing system when sending the second communication that is received by the network site.
9. A system for communicating with a client data processing system comprising:
a client data processing system coupled to a network;
a server computer coupled to the network and configured to:
receive a first communication from the client data processing system, wherein the first communication comprises a request for a personalization rule;
send the personalization rule to the client data processing system; and
receive a second communication from the client data processing system that includes a request for a web page and personalization logic corresponding to the personalization rule;
construct the web page according to the personalization logic received from the client data processing system and send the constructed web page to the client data processing system, wherein the first communication comprises the minimum information needed for an HTTP communication and at least one of:
a linguistic language information;
a time-zone information;
an IP address; and
an information regarding a territory where the data processing system is located.
10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the second communication comprises at least one of:
a name of a user of the client data processing system;
a physical street address of the user;
a mailing address of the user;
an age of the user;
a race of the user;
a religion of the user;
an income of the user;
a consumer item preference of the user;
a consumer brand preference of the user;
a color preference of the user;
an animal preference of the user; and
a cookie.
11. The system of claim 9 , wherein the server computer is configured to receive the user information in a file transmitted by a web browser on the client data processing system.
12. A system for communicating with a network site comprising:
a client data processing system configured to:
send a first communication to the network site over a network, wherein the first communication comprises a request for a personalization rule;
receive from the network site the personalization rule;
send a second communication to the network site, wherein the second communication comprises a network address for the network site and a user information for a user corresponding to the personalization rule;
use a browser having a browser preference on the client data processing system to access a network, wherein using occurs during a first time period; and
before using the browser to access the network after the first time period, change the browser preference before sending the first communication.
13. The system of claim 12 , wherein sending the first communication comprises requesting personalization logic information that can be used to construct data for the user consistent with the user information, wherein the personalization rule is at least part of the personalization logic information.
14. The system of claim 12 , wherein the client data processing system is further configured to:
remove a cookie from the client data processing system before sending the first communication, wherein the cookie originated from the network site during a prior visit.
15. The system of claim 12 , wherein the client data processing system is further configured to:
set all preferences for a browser file to settings of the client data processing system when the browser file was first installed on the client data processing system.
16. The system of claim 12 , wherein the user information is stored in a file on the client data processing system; and
the user information, is sent over the network solely by using a browser on the client data processing system when sending the second communication that is received by the network site.