VISUAL EDITING TOOL BUFFER REGION

摘要

A website construction tool allows website construction via an interactive graphical user interface (GUI) using containers and modules defining predetermined website constructs from a robust assortment of common and popular rendering formats and content source definition for individual webpages, and arranges the individual pages for navigation. A user selects from the predefined constructs by selecting modules for generating code, corresponding to the desired content, source and rendering format. Pointing device positioning locates the on-screen location by generating a container dedicated to the desired content. Webpage structure, or page flow, is generated by insertion of navigation controls and page insertions for navigating between pages in the deployed site. The predetermined constructs, therefore, provide templates of complex rendering formats allowing for content insertion without burdening the user with development of the constructs so rendered. Constructed websites may be hosted by the development entity, further relieving the user from website maintenance.

主权项

1. A method for displaying items for use in connection with construction of a website by a user, comprising the steps of:
providing a developmental website comprising a developmental website workspace region for construction of the developmental website by the user; providing a viewable display region for display of a developmental website workspace region and user controls, the developmental website being larger than the space provided by the display region; providing a plurality of user-selectable user control items in a predetermined docking region of the display region accessed by the user to construct the developmental website, the predetermined docking region being of a horizontal dimension smaller than the display region so as to define a scrolling space for movement of a selected user control item to a lower area of the display region so as to invoke a scrolling operation; in response to selection by the user of one of the plurality of user control items in the predetermined docking region, displaying a user-draggable representation of the item in the display region; displaying a retracted image version of the plurality of user control items in the predetermined docking region during user dragging of the user-draggable representation of the item; in response to a user command to release a drag operation, inserting a website construction functionality represented by the selected user control item in the developmental website workspace region at a predetermined location; in response to dragging of the selected user control item into the scrolling space, scrolling the developmental website upwardly so as to expose additional area of the developmental website for construction of the website; in response to display of a lowermost extent of the developmental website, halting the scrolling of the developmental website so as to permit user viewing of the bottom of the developmental website; in response to display of a lowermost extent of the developmental website, displaying a buffer region beneath said lowermost extent in the display region