Annotation of digital items in a shared list
Techniques are described for user-controlled annotation and sharing of one or more digital items. Examples of digital items that may be shared with other users include digital representations of graphic images, photographs, audio segments, songs, video segments, movies, and text (such as lists of favorites (e.g., a list of favorite books, a list of favorite movies, and a list of favorite places to visit)). A user may make a digital item available to other users of a computer network, such as an instant messaging system, a chat environment, or a subscription-based computer network. User-entered annotations, such as textual comments, may be associated with a digital item, and a user can select which other users can view and/or change all, or some, of the annotations.
1. A method, performed at least in part by at least one hardware processor, for sharing digital items with communication identities, the method comprising:
generating a first user interface including a list of digital items, a list of communication identities, individual controls for each communication identity, and group controls for all communication identities;
receiving, from the first user interface and including a first control of the group controls, first instructions to grant each communication identity in the list of communication identities access to a digital item in the list of digital items;
in response to the first instructions, enabling each communication identity of the group to access the digital item by generating a second user interface including a link to the at least one digital item for each communication identity;
receiving, from the first user interface and including a first control of the individual controls, second instructions to grant a first communication identity in the list of communication identities access to view an annotation associated with the digital item;
in response to the second instructions, enabling, by the at least one hardware processor, the first communication identity to view the annotation associated with the digital item by generating a selection item on the second user interface for displaying the annotation to the first communication identity;
receiving, from the first user interface and including the first control of the individual controls, third instructions to deny a second communication identity in the list of communication identities to view the annotation associated with the digital item;
in response to the third instructions, denying, by the at least one hardware processor, the second communication identity access to view the annotation associated with the digital item, while still enabling the second communication identity to access the digital item based on the first instructions, by sending instructions to not display the generated selection item to the second communication identity and instructions to display the generated selection item to the first communication identity;
receiving, from the first user interface and including the first control of the individual controls, fourth instructions to grant the first communication identity in the list of communication identities a delegation of authority, wherein the delegation of authority permits the first communication identity to enable a third communication identity access to view an annotation associated with the digital item;
in response to the fourth instructions, enabling, by the at least one hardware processor, the first communication identity to control whether the third communication identity can view the annotation associated with the digital item;
enabling the third communication identity to authorize one or more communication identities to access the digital item;
storing the first, second, third, and fourth instructions in a database;
enabling the authorized communication identities to access the digital item; and
determining whether the authorized communication identities have viewed and annotated the digital item and storing said determination in a database.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein one or more of the communication identities of the group are enabled to annotate the digital item.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein one or more of the communication identities of the group are able to exchange instant messages with other communication identities of the group.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein one or more of the communication identities of the group are enabled to specify a text comment to be associated with the digital item.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the digital item comprises at least one of an image, a photograph, an audio segment, a video segment, or text.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein presence information is provided to at least one communication identity to indicate an online or offline status of a user of another communication identity.
7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising providing categories of communication identities for display, wherein each category is associated with one or more communication identities.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the digital item includes a list of multiple digital items.
9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising causing the digital item and the annotation to be displayed simultaneously.
10. A system for sharing digital items with communication identities, the system comprising:
a storage device that stores a plurality of instructions; and
at least one processor that executes the plurality of instructions to cause the at least one processor to:
display a first user interface including a list of digital items, a list of communication identities, individual controls for each communication identity, and group controls for all communication identities;
receive, from the first user interface and including a first control of the group controls, first instructions to grant each communication identity in the list of communication identities access to a digital item in the list of digital items;
in response to the first instructions, enable each communication identity of the group to access the digital item by generating a second user interface including a link to the digital item for each communication identity;
receive, from the first user interface and including a first control of the individual controls, second instructions to grant a first communication identity in the list of communication identities access to view an annotation associated with the digital item;
in response to the second instructions, enable, by the at least one hardware processor, the first communication identity to view the annotation associated with the digital item by generating a selection item on the second user interface for displaying the annotation to the first communication identity;
receive, from the first user interface and including the first control of the individual controls, third instructions to deny a second communication identity in the list of communication identities to view the annotation associated with the digital item;
in response to the third instructions, deny, by the at least one hardware processor, the second communication identity access to view the annotation associated with the digital item, while still enabling the second communication identity to access the digital item based on the first instructions, by sending instructions to not display the generated selection item to the second communication identity and instructions to display the generated selection item to the first communication identity;
receiving, from the first user interface and including the first control of the individual controls, fourth instructions to grant the first communication identity in the list of communication identities a delegation of authority, wherein the delegation of authority permits the first communication identity to enable a third communication identity access to view an annotation associated with the digital item; and
in response to the fourth instructions, enabling, by the at least one hardware processor, the first communication identity to control whether the third communication identity can view the annotation associated with the digital item;
enabling the third communication identity to authorize one or more communication identities to access the digital item;
storing the first, second, third, and fourth instructions in a database;
enabling the authorized communication identities to access the digital item; and
determining whether the authorized communication identities have viewed and annotated the digital item and storing said determination in a database.
11. The system of claim 10 , wherein one or more of the communication identities of the group are enabled to annotate the digital item.
12. The system of claim 10 , wherein one or more of the communication identities of the group are able to exchange instant messages with other communication identities of the group.
13. The system of claim 10 , wherein one or more of the communication identities of the group are enabled to specify a text comment to be associated with the digital item.
14. The system of claim 10 , wherein the digital item comprises at least one of an image, a photograph, an audio segment, a video segment, or text.
15. The system of claim 10 , wherein presence information is provided to at least one communication identity to indicate an online or offline status of a user of another communication identity.
16. The system of claim 10 , wherein the plurality of instructions further include instructions that cause the at least one processor to: provide categories of communication identities for display, wherein each category is associated with one or more communication identities.
17. The system of claim 10 , wherein the digital item includes a list of multiple digital items.
18. The system of claim 10 , wherein the plurality of instructions further include instructions that cause the at least one processor to: cause the digital item and the annotation to be displayed simultaneously.
19. A non-transitory computer readable medium that stores a plurality of instructions, the plurality of instructions being executable by at least one processing system to cause the at least one processing system to:
display a first user interface including a list of digital items, a list of communication identities, individual controls for each communication identity, and group controls for all communication identities;
receive, from the first user interface and including a first control of the group controls, first instructions to grant each communication identity in the list of communication identities access to a digital item in the list of digital items;
in response to the first instructions, enable each communication identity of the group to access the digital item by generating a second user interface including a link to the digital item for each communication identity;
receive, from the first user interface and including a first control of the individual controls, second instructions to grant a first communication identity in the list of communication identities access to view an annotation associated with the digital item;
in response to the second instructions, enable, by the at least one hardware processor, the first communication identity to view the annotation associated with the digital item by generating a selection item on the second user interface for displaying the annotation to the first communication identity;
receive, from the first user interface and including the first control of the individual controls, third instructions to deny a second communication identity in the list of communication identities to view the annotation associated with the digital item;
in response to the third instructions, deny, by the at least one hardware processor, the second communication identity access to view the annotation associated with the digital item, while still enabling the second communication identity to access the digital item based on the first instructions, by sending instructions to not display the generated selection item to the second communication identity and instructions to display the generated selection item to the first communication identity;
receiving, from the first user interface and including the first control of the individual controls, fourth instructions to grant the first communication identity in the list of communication identities a delegation of authority, wherein the delegation of authority permits the first communication identity to enable a third communication identity access to view an annotation associated with the digital item; and
in response to the fourth instructions, enabling, by the at least one hardware processor, the first communication identity to control whether the third communication identity can view the annotation associated with the digital item;
enabling the third communication identity to authorize one or more communication identities to access the digital item;
storing the first, second, third, and fourth instructions in a database;
enabling the authorized communication identities to access the digital item; and
determining whether the authorized communication identities have viewed and annotated the digital item and storing said determination in a database.