Graphical user interface for filtering a population of items

1. A system comprising one or more computer processors configured for:

receiving a selection of at least one criterion of available criteria in a library of criteria to be applied to a population as a filter;

accepting an indication of a first tier of the filter to which the selected criterion is to be associated;

accepting an input to move the selection criterion from the first tier to be applied to a second tier of the filter;

identifying a list of items of interest to apply the filter to, based on the available criteria;

displaying a graphical representation of the filter, including a graphical representation of the selection criterion being associated with the first tier of the filter and a graphical representation of the selection criterion being moved from the first filter to be applied to the second tier of the filter.

2. The system of claim 1 , comprising a computer processor configured for including the selected criterion into the first tier such that a graphical representation of the selected criterion is merged with a graphical representation of the first tier in the graphical representation of the filter.

3. The system of claim 1 , comprising a computer processor configured for:

applying a Boolean OR to those criteria on a same tier of the filter; and

applying a Boolean AND to those criteria residing on different tiers of the filter.

4. The system of claim 1 , comprising a computer processor configured for:

displaying a representation of the list of items of interest.

5. The system of claim 1 , comprising a computer processor configured for:

receiving an indication of one of the tiers of the filter;

identifying, in response to the receiving, a group of items satisfying the filter at the indicated tier; and

displaying the group of items.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein available criteria comprise criteria derived from a community of investors.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein available criteria comprises user customizable filter criteria.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the current set of criteria comprises at least in part a collection of criteria received from a plurality of users in an on-line community.

9. The system of claim 1 , comprising a processor configured to generate a graphical representation of the multi-tiered query to be displayed to a user.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the processor configured to generate the graphical representation of the multi-tiered query is responsive to receipt of the selections of the criteria and the receipt of the selection of the tier.

11. The system of claim 1 , wherein the graphical representation of the filter comprises a horizontal bar with a groove; and a graphical representation of the criterion comprises a peg puzzle piece that matches the groove of the horizontal bar and that is capable of being coupled to the groove.

12. The system of claim 11 , wherein the computer processor is configured to receive input relating to a drag and drop operation; and to couple the peg puzzle piece to the groove or remove the peg puzzle piece from the groove based on the drag and drop input.

13. A system comprising one or more computer processors configured for:

defining a library of available criteria to be used in filtering a population of items to identify a list of items of interest, each criterion having a graphical representation;

receiving a selection of at least one criterion of the available criteria to be applied to the population as a filter;

accepting an indication of a tier of the filter to which the selected criterion is to be associated;

accepting an additional tier to be added to the filter by pre-pending, inserting, or appending the additional tier to the filter;

identifying a list of items of interest to apply the filter to based on the available criteria; and

displaying a graphical representation of the filter, including a graphical representation of the selection criterion being associated with the tier of the filter and a graphical representation of the selection criterion being moved from the filter to be applied to the additional tier of the filter.

14. The system of claim 13 , comprising a computer processor configured for including the selected criterion into the indicated tier such that a graphical representation of the selected criterion is merged with a graphical representation of the indicated tier in the graphical representation of the filter.

15. The system of claim 13 , comprising a computer processor configured for:

applying a Boolean OR to those criteria on a same tier of the filter; and

applying a Boolean AND to those criteria residing on different tiers of the filter.

16. The system of claim 13 , comprising a computer processor configured for displaying a representation of the list of items of interest.

17. The system of claim 13 , comprising a computer processor configured for:

receiving an indication of one of the tiers of the filter;

identifying, in response to the receiving, a group of items satisfying the filter at the indicated tier; and

displaying the group of items.

18. The system of claim 13 , wherein available criteria comprise criteria derived from a community of investors.

19. The system of claim 13 , wherein available criteria comprises user customizable filter criteria.

20. The system of claim 13 , comprising one or more computer processors configured for moving a criterion from a first tier to a second tier responsive to an action of a user with respect to the graphical representation of the filter.

21. The system of claim 13 , wherein the current set of criteria comprises at least in part a collection of criteria received from a plurality of users in an on-line community.

22. A system comprising one or more computer processors configured to:

define a library of available criteria to be used in filtering a population of items to identify items of interest, each criterion having a graphical representation;

receive selections of criteria to be applied to data as a multi-tiered query;

receive a selection, for at least one criterion of the criteria, of a tier of the multi-tiered query to which the at least one criterion is to be applied;

construct the multi-tiered query utilizing the criteria and the received selection of a tier;

receive an indication of a tier level;

construct a query using the indicated tier level and all prior tier levels;

display a graphical representation of the filter while the filter is constructed; and

move a criterion from a first tier in the multi-tiered query to a second tier in the multi-tiered query responsive to an action of a user with respect to a graphical representation of the multi-tiered query.

23. The system of claim 22 , comprising a computer processor configured to receive selections of a plurality of tiers to which the criteria are to be applied.

24. The system of claim 22 , wherein the processor configured to receive the selection of the criteria is responsive to a user selection of graphical representations of the criteria.

25. The system of claim 22 , wherein the processor configured to receive the selection of the tier of the multi-tiered query is responsive to a placement of a graphical representation of the at least one criterion relative to a graphical representation of the multi-tiered query.

26. The system of claim 25 , further comprising a processor configured to remove a criterion from the multi-tiered query responsive to an action of a user with respect to the graphical representation of the multi-tiered query.

27. The system of claim 22 , comprising a processor configured to identify a list of items satisfying the multi-tiered query.

28. The system of claim 22 , comprising a processor configured to display a graphical representation of the multi-tiered query while the multi-tiered query is constructed.

29. The system of claim 22 , wherein the criteria is selected from a collection of criteria received from a plurality of users in an on-line community.

30. The system of claim 22 , wherein the processor configured to receive the selection of the tier is configured to receive an input associated with a graphical representation of the received tier.

31. The system of claim 22 , comprising:

a processor configured to apply a Boolean OR to criteria on a common tier of a graphical representation of the multi-tiered query; and

a processor configured to apply a Boolean AND to different tiers of the graphical representation of the multi-tiered query.

32. The system of claim 22 , comprising a processor configured to display data responsive to the criteria and the multi-tiered query.