Categorizing electronic messaging communications

摘要

Electronic messaging communications, including Instant Messaging messages, are organized into particular categories, as selected by the users providing the messages. This enables messages of a particular category to be displayed at a recipient of the messages, while other messages are masked from view. It also facilitates the capturing of certain related messages to the exclusion of others.

主权项

1. A computer-implemented method of categorizing electronic messaging conversations, said method comprising:
establishing separate electronic messaging conversations between a first user and a second user, the separate electronic messaging communications employing different categories of a plurality of categories, the establishing comprising, for each separate electronic messaging conversation of the separate electronic messaging conversations:
independently initiating the electronic messaging conversation by an initiating user of the first user and the second user independent of any existing electronic messaging conversation involving the initiating user; andresponsive to the independently initiating the electronic messaging conversation:
presenting to the initiating user one option to associate, for the first user and the second user, the electronic messaging conversation with an existing category to be selected from a list of one or more existing categories of the different categories, the one or more existing categories each having associated therewith one or more previously initiated separate electronic messaging conversations between the first user and the second user in which the list of the one or more existing categories is presented to the initiating user for selection therefrom, and in which one or more electronic messaging conversations associated with the selected category are displayed in a conversation window of the initiating user and are grouped together in sequence in that conversations associated with other categories are not included in the group of the one or more electronic messaging conversations;presenting to the initiating user another option to associate, for the first user and the second user, the electronic messaging conversation with a new category to be provided by the initiating user, wherein the new category is other than the one or more existing categories;choosing by the initiating user the one option or the another option in selecting a category with which the independently initiated electronic messaging conversation is to be associated for the first user and the second user; andautomatically associating, for the first user and the second user, said independently initiated electronic messaging conversation with the selected category.