System and method for optimizing content links between applications

Abstract

Systems and methods of the present disclosure relate to a method for optimizing interface efficiency. The method includes determining a persistent insertion point within an input field of a first application. The method includes receiving a first input from a user, the first input selecting a linkable entity of an interface of a second application. The first input indicates an instruction to provide an action menu associated with a linkable entity. The method includes providing an action menu, the action menu including selectable action elements corresponding to actions, and the selectable action elements describing actions that add links directed to linkable entities to a first application. The method includes generating a link element of the linkable entity in response to a second input selecting the selectable action element. The link element is located at a persistent insertion point.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure generally relates to optimizing content links between applications. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to maintaining persistent insertion points within an application for linking content accessed in different applications. Background Art

[0002] Creating content, such as a research paper, study, or article, often requires creating bibliographic material. However, creating this bibliographic material conventionally requires a cumbersome process in which the user navigates between applications multiple times to transfer information.

[0003] For example, for a user to conventionally create bibliographic material, the user must navigate from a content creation application (e.g., a text editor, a video editor, etc.) to a second application (e.g., a search engine) that can locate linkable entities (e.g., relevant Internet sources, etc.) for the bibliographic material. Next, the user copies information describing the linkable entities (e.g., a web address, etc.) and then must return to the content creation application to create the bibliographic material using the copied information. Therefore, systems and methods that optimize the process of linking content between applications are desirable. Summary of the invention

[0004] Aspects and advantages of embodiments of the present disclosure will be set forth in part in the following description, or may be learned from the description, or may be learned through practice of the embodiments.

[0005] An example aspect of the present disclosure relates to a computer-implemented method for optimizing interface efficiency via persistence across applications. The method includes determining a persistent insertion point within an input field of a first application. The method includes receiving a first input from a user, the first input selecting at least one linkable entity of one or more linkable entities of an interface of a second application, wherein the first input indicates an instruction to provide an action menu associated with the at least one linkable entity. The method includes providing an action menu, the action menu including a selectable action element corresponding to an action, wherein the selectable action element describes an action of adding a link to the first application, the link being linked to the at least one linkable entity. The method includes generating a link element for the at least one linkable entity in response to a second input from the user selecting the selectable action element, wherein the link element is located at a persistent insertion point within the input field of the first application.

[0006] Another example aspect of the present disclosure relates to a computing system for optimizing interface efficiency via persistence across applications. The computing system includes one or more processors. The computing system includes one or more non-transitory computer-readable media, which store instructions that cause the computing system to perform operations when executed by the one or more processors. These operations include determining a persistent insertion point within an input field of a first application. These operations include receiving a first input from a user, the first input selecting at least one linkable entity of one or more linkable entities of an interface of a second application, wherein the first input indicates an instruction to provide an action menu associated with the at least one linkable entity. These operations include providing an action menu, the action menu including a selectable action element corresponding to an action, wherein the selectable action element describes an action of adding a link to the first application, the link being linked to the at least one linkable entity. These operations include generating a link element for the at least one linkable entity in response to a second input from a user selecting the selectable action element, wherein the link element is located at a persistent insertion point within the input field of the first application.

[0007] Another example aspect of the present disclosure relates to one or more non-transitory computer-readable media that store instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause a computing system to perform operations. These operations include determining a persistent insertion point within an input field of a first application. These operations include receiving a first input from a user that selects at least one of the one or more linkable entities of an interface of a second application, wherein the first input indicates an instruction to provide an action menu associated with the at least one linkable entity. These operations include providing an action menu that includes a selectable action element corresponding to an action, wherein the selectable action element describes an action of adding a link to the first application, the link being linked to the at least one linkable entity. These operations include generating a link element for the at least one linkable entity in response to a second input from a user that selects the selectable action element, wherein the link element is located at a persistent insertion point within the input field of the first application.

[0008] Other aspects of the disclosure relate to various systems, apparatuses, non-transitory computer-readable media, user interfaces, and electronic devices.

[0009] These and other features, aspects and advantages of various embodiments of the present disclosure will be better understood with reference to the following description and appended claims.The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate example embodiments of the present disclosure and, together with the description, serve to explain the relevant principles. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0010] A detailed discussion of the embodiments for those skilled in the art is set forth in this specification with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0011] Figure 1 Depicted is a block diagram of an example computing system 100 that performs interface efficiency optimization via persistence across applications according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0012] Figure 2 An interface of a first application including a location of a persistent insertion point is depicted according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0013] Figure 3 An interface of a second application including a linkable entity is shown according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0014] Figure 4 An interface of a second application including a linkable entity according to some other embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0015] Figure 5 An interface of a first application including link elements of linkable entities according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0016] Figure 6 An interface of a first application according to some other embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0017] Figure 7 An interface of a second application according to some other embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0018] Figure 8 A flow chart of an example method performed according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure is depicted.

[0019] Reference numerals that are repeated across multiple drawings are intended to denote like features in various implementations. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0020] Overview

[0021] In general, the present disclosure relates to optimizing content links between applications. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to maintaining a persistent insertion point within an application for linking content accessed in different applications. For example, a user can type content into an input field of a content creation application (e.g., a text input box of a browser-based text editor). After typing the text content, a persistent insertion point can be determined within the input field (e.g., the last position of the cursor within the field, a portion of the text content highlighted by the user, etc.). Then, the user can provide input that selects a linkable entity within the interface of a second application. For example, a user can navigate from a text editor application to a search engine application to type in a query related to the content of the input field (e.g., a query for references to a document, etc.). The search engine can retrieve linkable entities (e.g., search results) in response to the query and provide them to the user within its interface. A first input from the user can select one or more of these linkable entities (e.g., a touch and hold input to a touch screen, etc.).

[0022] Once a selection is made, an action menu may be provided to the user that includes selectable action elements corresponding to the action (e.g., a pop-up menu, etc.). Specifically, the selectable action element may describe an action of adding a link to the first application that is linked to the linkable entity selected by the user. The user may select the selectable action element, and a link element (e.g., a hyperlink, bibliographic material describing the linkable entity, etc.) of the linkable entity may be generated at a persistent insertion point within an input field of the first application. Following the aforementioned example, a hyperlink pointing to the linkable entity may be generated at the location of the persistent insertion point. In this way, the user is not forced to navigate back and forth between applications, but may quickly and efficiently locate the linkable entity and create a link element within a separate application without any additional navigation.

[0023] Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a variety of technical effects and benefits. As an example technical effect and benefit, by reducing the number of navigation actions required by the user, the system and method of the present disclosure significantly reduce the resource consumption (e.g., memory, power, storage, computing cycles, etc.) associated with such navigation actions. As another example technical effect and benefit, embodiments of the present disclosure significantly improve user efficiency by removing required navigation actions, and thus provide a technical contribution to content creation workflows. As another example technical effect and benefit, embodiments of the present disclosure help users perform technical tasks by means of a continuous and / or guided human-computer interaction process, particularly by reducing the number of interactions performed by users in order to link content between documents. As another example technical effect and benefit, embodiments of the present disclosure are transparent to users who link content between documents, such as compared to, for example, copying and pasting hyperlinks pointing to linkable entities via a clipboard, and may not interfere with content stored in the clipboard when doing so.

[0024] Referring now to the accompanying drawings, example embodiments of the present disclosure will be discussed in greater detail.

[0025] Example Apparatus and Systems

[0026] Figure 1 A block diagram of an example computing system 100 is depicted that performs interface efficiency optimization via persistence across applications according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure. The system 100 includes a user computing device 102 and a server computing system 130 .

[0027] The user computing device 102 may be any type of computing device, such as, for example, a personal computing device (e.g., a laptop or desktop computer), a mobile computing device (e.g., a smartphone or tablet computer), a gaming console or controller, a wearable computing device, an embedded computing device, or any other type of computing device.

[0028] The user computing device 102 includes one or more processors 112 and a memory 114. The one or more processors 112 may be any suitable processing device (e.g., a processor core, a microprocessor, an ASIC, an FPGA, a controller, a microcontroller, etc.) and may be one processor or a plurality of processors operatively connected. The memory 114 may include one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media, such as RAM, ROM, EEPROM, EPROM, flash memory devices, magnetic disks, etc., and combinations thereof. The memory 114 may store data 116 and instructions 118 that are executed by the processor 112 to cause the user computing device 102 to perform operations.

[0029] In some implementations, the user computing device 102 may store or include one or more models 120. For example, the model 120 may be or may otherwise include various machine learning models, such as a neural network (e.g., a deep neural network) or other types of machine learning models, including nonlinear models and / or linear models. The neural network may include a feedforward neural network, a recurrent neural network (e.g., a long short-term memory recurrent neural network), a convolutional neural network, or other forms of neural networks. Some example machine learning models may utilize attention mechanisms, such as self-attention. For example, some example machine learning models may include a multi-head self-attention model (e.g., a Transformer model).

[0030] In some implementations, one or more models 120 may be received from the server computing system 130 via the network 180, stored in the user computing device memory 114, and then used or otherwise implemented by the one or more processors 112. In some implementations, the user computing device 102 may implement multiple concurrent instances of a single model 120.

[0031] In some embodiments, the model 120 can be used to determine a persistent insertion point within an input field, or to determine an application in which a user wishes to generate a link element. For example, a user may navigate between multiple applications executed within various tabs of a web browser application executed on the user computing device 102. The machine learning model 120 can process input to generate an output indicating which of these applications should include a persistent insertion point. For example, the machine learning model can process data describing a user context history, previous actions of the user and / or other users, content typed into an application by a user or otherwise presented by an application, and the like. Therefore, it should be broadly understood that the machine learning model 120 can be trained using any type of data associated with the user, other users, and / or applications between which the user navigates.

[0032] Following the foregoing example, a user may navigate between a search engine application, a text editor application, and a photo editing application. Model 120 may process data indicating text content typed into the text editor application to generate an output indicating that the user wishes to generate a link element within an input field of the text editor application. Based on the output, a persistent insertion point may be determined within the input field of the text editor application.

[0033] Additionally or alternatively, one or more models 140 may be included in or otherwise stored and implemented by a server computing system 130 that communicates with the user computing device 102 according to a client-server relationship. For example, the models 140 may be implemented by the server computing system 140 as part of a web service. Thus, one or more models 120 may be stored and implemented at the user computing device 102, and / or one or more models 140 may be stored and implemented at the server computing system 130.

[0034] The user computing device 102 may also include one or more user input components 122 that receive user input. For example, the user input component 122 may be a touch-sensitive component (e.g., a touch-sensitive display screen or a touchpad) that is sensitive to the touch of a user input object (e.g., a finger or a stylus). The touch-sensitive component may be used to implement a virtual keyboard. Other example user input components include a microphone, a traditional keyboard, or other devices by which a user can provide user input.

[0035] The server computing system 130 includes one or more processors 132 and memory 134. The one or more processors 132 may be any suitable processing device (e.g., a processor core, a microprocessor, an ASIC, an FPGA, a controller, a microcontroller, etc.) and may be one processor or a plurality of processors operatively connected. The memory 134 may include one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media, such as RAM, ROM, EEPROM, EPROM, flash memory devices, magnetic disks, etc., and combinations thereof. The memory 134 may store data 136 and instructions 138 that are executed by the processor 132 to cause the server computing system 130 to perform operations.

[0036] In some implementations, the server computing system 130 includes or is otherwise implemented by one or more server computing devices. Where the server computing system 130 includes multiple server computing devices, such server computing devices may operate according to a sequential computing architecture, a parallel computing architecture, or some combination thereof.

[0037] As described above, the server computing system 130 may store or otherwise include one or more models 140. For example, the model 140 may be or may otherwise include various machine learning models. Example machine learning models include neural networks or other multi-layer nonlinear models. Example neural networks include feedforward neural networks, deep neural networks, recurrent neural networks, and convolutional neural networks. Some example machine learning models may utilize attention mechanisms, such as self-attention. For example, some example machine learning models may include a multi-head self-attention model (e.g., a transformer model).

[0038] The network 180 may be any type of communication network, such as a local area network (e.g., an intranet), a wide area network (e.g., the Internet), or some combination thereof, and may include any number of wired or wireless links. In general, communications over the network 180 may be conducted via any type of wired and / or wireless connection using a variety of communication protocols (e.g., TCP / IP, HTTP, SMTP, FTP), encodings or formats (e.g., HTML, XML), and / or protection schemes (e.g., VPN, secure HTTP, SSL).

[0039] Figure 1 An example computing system that can be used to implement the present disclosure is shown. Other computing systems may also be used. For example, in some implementations, the user computing device 102 may include a model trainer and an associated training data set. In such implementations, the model 120 may be both trained and used locally at the user computing device 102. In some of such implementations, the user computing device 102 may implement the model trainer to personalize the model 120 based on user-specific data.

[0040] Example interface layout

[0041] Figure 2 Depicted are interfaces 202A and 202B of a first application 204 including locations of persistent insertion points 210 and 214 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. Specifically, interface 202A shows an interface of application 204 executed by a user device 205 (e.g., a smart phone, etc.), wherein a user is utilizing a browser-based text editing application 204. As depicted, the user has entered text content into an input field 206 (e.g., a text input field) of the text editing application 204. An input element 208 (e.g., a cursor) indicates the last location where the user last entered text content into the input field 206.

[0042] A persistent insertion point 210 can be determined within an input field 206 of an application 204. The persistent insertion point 210 can point to a location within the input field and can persist across applications. Specifically, the persistent insertion point 210 can be utilized after a user navigates from a first application to a second application. For example, a device 205 (e.g., Figure 1The operating system of the user computing device 102 of the embodiment of the present invention can determine the persistent insertion point 210 so that when the user has navigated to an application different from the application 204, the persistent insertion point 210 can be utilized. By way of another example, the persistent insertion point 210 can be provided to a cloud system associated with the application 204 and / or a second application to which the user navigates. Specifically, if both the first application and the second application are provided by a service provider (e.g., a provider of a browser-based software suite, etc.), the persistent insertion point 210 can be provided to a remote server of the service provider by the user computing device 205 executing the application 204. Once the user navigates to the second application provided by the service provider, the persistent insertion point 210 can be provided to the user computing device 205 by the remote server of the service provider.

[0043] In some embodiments, persistent insertion point 210 can be the last position of input element 208 within input field 206 of first application 204, or otherwise indicate the last position of input element 208 within input field 206 of first application 204. For example, as depicted in interface 202A, persistent insertion point 210 can be the last position of input cursor 208 within text input field 206, or otherwise indicate the last position of input cursor 208 within text input field 206. Thus, in some cases, persistent insertion point can be referred to as a selected cursor position within the first application.

[0044] Alternatively, in some embodiments, the persistent insertion point can be located at the selected portion of the input field that the user has selected or otherwise indicated. For example, interface 202B includes application 204 and a text input field of interface 202A. However, interface 202B also depicts a portion 212 of the input field that the user has selected or otherwise indicated (e.g., the content within the input field). For example, the user can use a highlight function of the operating system of the device 205 that executes application 204 to select a portion of the text content 212 that the user previously entered. Persistent insertion point 214 can be determined at the location of the selected portion of the text content 212 within input field 204. The user can then navigate to a second application to perform research corresponding to the portion of the selected text content.

[0045] It is worth noting that although the embodiments of the present disclosure are shown as browser-based applications executed on a smart phone device, they are not limited to such use cases. Instead, the first and second applications of the present disclosure can be any type of application executed using a computing device. For example, the first application can be a text editing application stored and executed on a laptop computing device, and the second application can be a browser-based search engine running within a browser application stored and executed by the laptop computing device. Alternatively, the first and second applications of the present disclosure can run in two corresponding tabs of a web browser stored and executed on a user computing device (e.g., a smart phone device, a wearable computing device, an augmented reality (AR) computing device, etc.).

[0046] Figure 3 Interfaces 302A and 302B of a second application 304 including a linkable entity 308 are shown according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. The second application 304 may be linked to Figure 2 The first application 204 is also composed of Figure 2 In some embodiments, the application 304 may be executed within a second instance or tab of a browser application executed by the user computing device 205, and Figure 2 The first application 204 can be executed within a first instance or tab of a browser application.

[0047] In some embodiments, the user can enter the Figure 2 The interface 202 of the first application 204 is depicted navigating to the interface 302 of the second application 304. The navigation input can indicate an instruction to navigate from the first application 204 to the second application 304. For example, the navigation input can be a touch input from a user that selects a different tab of a browser application. For another example, the navigation input can be a voice search query input to a virtual assistant application. For another example, the navigation input can be an image search query input to a virtual assistant application.

[0048] The interface of the second application 304 may include one or more linkable entities 306. Specifically, in the depicted example of interface 302A, the second application is a search engine application that has retrieved multiple linkable entities 306A-306E (e.g., search results) in response to a query from a user. However, it is worth noting that linkable entities are not limited to results from a search engine application. Instead, linkable entities 306 may include any entity that can be linked to or otherwise referenced. In some embodiments, linkable entities 306 may be or otherwise include a website or web document. For example, linkable entity 306 may include search results retrieved in response to a query, the search results including a link to the website and information describing the website. Additionally or alternatively, in some embodiments, linkable entity 306 may include some other forms of media or content (e.g., video, document, book, live broadcast, video recording, etc.). For example, linkable entity 306 may include an online video uploaded to a video sharing website. For another example, linkable entity 306 may include a digitized excerpt from an e-book or book. For another example, linkable entity 306 may include an image. In some examples, the linkable entities may be retrieved from multiple sources, some of which may be particularly relevant to the user (eg, from the user's history, the user's favorites, etc.).

[0049] A first input 308 may be received from a user, the first input selecting at least one of the linkable entities 306 displayed in the interface 302A. The first input may be an input indicating that a menu of actions corresponding to the selected linkable entity should be provided. Following the depicted example, the first input 308 may be a touch input (e.g., a touch and hold input) to a touch screen of the computing device 205, the touch input selecting the linkable entity 306B. By way of another example, the first input 308 may be an input selecting the linkable entity 308B, the input provided by the user via a peripheral input device (e.g., a mouse, a digital pen, an augmented reality device, etc.) connected to the computing device 205 executing the second application 304. By way of another example, the first input 308 may be a voice input to a virtual assistant application, the voice input indicating the selection of the linkable entity 308B.

[0050] Once computing device 205 has received the first input from the user, computing device 205 may provide an action menu. Example interface 302B illustrates an example action menu 310 provided within or superimposed on the interface of second application 304. Action menu 310 may include selectable action element 312. Additionally, in some embodiments, action menu 310 may also include selectable action elements other than selectable action element 312 (e.g., selectable action elements 313A-313C).

[0051] Specifically, the optional action element 312 can be associated with Figure 2 The action of adding a link to the first application 204 corresponds to and describes Figure 2 306B. In the example depicted, after the user selects linkable entity 306B, selectable action element 312 of action menu 310 can correspond to the action of adding a link to the first application 204, the link being linked to at least one linkable entity 306 selected by the user. Following the depicted example, after the user selects linkable entity 306B, selectable action element 312 of action menu 310 can correspond to the action of adding a link to the first application, the link being linked to linkable entity 306B. Furthermore, as depicted, selectable action element 312 can describe the action or otherwise indicate the action to the user.

[0052] The user may provide a second input 314 that selects the selectable action element 312. The second input 314 may be provided as described with respect to the first input 308. In response to the second input, the computing device 205 may generate a link element of at least one linkable entity 306B, linking the entity 306B to the selectable action element 312. Figure 5 This is described in more detail.

[0053] Figure 4 4 shows interfaces 402A and 402B of a second application 304 including a linkable entity 308 according to some other embodiments of the present disclosure. Specifically, the interface 302A of the second application 304 may include information such as Figure 3 402A. However, in some embodiments, the user can select multiple linkable entities 306. In some embodiments, as depicted in interface 402A, first input 404 can include multiple inputs that select multiple linkable entities 306 and then indicate to the computing device that an action menu 406 should be provided, which action menu corresponds to the multiple selected linkable entities 306. For example, first input 404 can first select linkable entities 306A-306D (e.g., by highlighting the linkable entities, etc.). Then, first input 404 can indicate that an action menu 406 corresponding to the selected linkable entities 306A-306D should be provided (e.g., using a peripheral device connected to the computing device to click on the highlighted area, providing a touch and hold input to the highlighted area on a touch screen of the computing device, etc.).

[0054] Example interface 402B shows an action menu 406 for a plurality of linkable entities 306A-306D selected by a user. Figure 3 As depicted, action menu 406 includes a selectable action element 408 that describes an action of adding a link to the first application, the link being linked to at least one linkable entity 306A-306D.

[0055] Figure 5502A-502C of a first application including link elements of linkable entities according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. In response to a user selecting a selectable action element 314 / 408 of a linkable entity 306A-306E, as shown in FIG. Figure 3 and Figure 4 As shown in , computing system 205 can generate link element 504 for at least one linkable entity selected by the user. Link element 504 can be any interface element or content (e.g., hyperlink, footnote, endnote, parenthetical reference, reference, etc.) within the input field of the first application.

[0056] In some embodiments, link element 504 may include a reference element indicating a location of bibliographic information 506 describing the linkable entity. Generating link element 504 for at least one linkable entity may include generating link element 504 and bibliographic information 506 describing the linkable entity. Reference element 504 may be located at a persistent insertion point within the input field, while bibliographic information 506 may be generated at a location different from the persistent insertion point.

[0057] In some embodiments, an interface of the first application can be provided to the user, the interface including an input field of the first application. Specifically, as depicted in example interface 502A, link element 504A can include reference element 504A (e.g., footnote element) indicating the location of bibliographic information 506A describing the linkable entity. Following the depicted example of interface 502A, footnote element 504A can indicate that bibliographic information 506A is located at footnote 15.

[0058] Additionally or alternatively, in some embodiments, link element 504 may be a footnote element. For example, as depicted in example interface 502B, link element 504B may include a reference element (e.g., a footnote element) that indicates the location of bibliographic information 506B describing the linkable entity. Following the depicted example of interface 502B, footnote element 504B may indicate that bibliographic information 506B is located at footnote 14.

[0059] Notably, bibliographic information 506 can be generated according to various citation formats selected by the user. For example, the user can indicate (e.g., via a settings menu associated with the first and / or second application) that bibliographic information 506 should be generated according to the Modern Language Association (MLA) format. Thus, information can be extracted from the linkable entity and the bibliographic information 506 can be generated according to the selected format using that information.

[0060] In some embodiments, linkable element 504 includes a hyperlink. A hyperlink may include a link pointing to a linkable entity and a textual content describing the linkable entity. For example, as described in example interface 502C, link element 504C may include a hyperlink pointing to a linkable entity previously selected by a user. In some embodiments, a hyperlink may include an additional textual content describing a linkable entity. For example, if a persistent insertion point is located at the last position of an input element, a hyperlink may include an automatically generated textual content describing a linkable entity. The textual content may be extracted from the linkable entity or otherwise determined (for example, via the metadata associated with the linkable entity, the textual content included in the linkable entity, etc.). Alternatively, as described in example interface 502C, if a persistent insertion point is located at a part of the textual content selected by the user, the selected textual content may be used as the textual content of a hyperlink.

[0061] In some embodiments, the linkable entity may be or otherwise include a document, and the link included in the hyperlink to the linkable entity may link to a location within the document. For example, the linkable entity may be a web document including multiple pages. The link may link to a specific page such that interaction with the hyperlink opens the document at the linked page.

[0062] In some embodiments, after the link element is generated, the interface of the first application may be automatically provided to the user. Alternatively, in some embodiments, the interface of the first application may not be automatically provided, but the user may decide to navigate back to the first application instead. In some embodiments, whether the interface of the first application is automatically provided to the user may be controlled by a user-configurable setting.

[0063] Figure 6 602A and 602B of a first application 604 according to some other embodiments of the present disclosure are shown. Specifically, the example interface 602A includes the following information: Figure 2 204, user computing device 205, input field 206, and persistent insertion point 208 are depicted. However, as shown, interface 602A of application 204 may receive navigation input 604. Navigation input 604 may indicate an instruction to navigate from first application 204 to a second application, and may include instructions such as those regarding Figure 4 For example, navigation input 604 may include an input to open an action menu 604 that includes selectable action elements. In some embodiments, as shown in example interface 602B, action menu 604 may include selectable search element 606 that allows a user to enter a search query to a second application. By entering the search query into the selectable search element, navigation input 604 may be completed, allowing the user to navigate to the second application.

[0064] Figure 7 702A and 702B of a second application 704 according to some other embodiments of the present disclosure are shown. Specifically, once a user enters a query into a selectable search element 606 (e.g., Figure 6 As described above), the user can be provided with the interface 702A of the second application 704 and the modified interface 602A of the first application 604 at the same time. As depicted, in some embodiments, the second application 704 can be a search engine application.

[0065] The second application 704 can retrieve a plurality of linkable entities 706 (e.g., search results) in response to the user's query. As depicted in example interface 702B, an action menu 708 can be provided to the user, and at least one of the linkable entities 706 can be selected via a second input from the user 710, such as with respect to Figure 3 and Figure 4 In this way, the interface of the second application 704 can be displayed simultaneously with the interface 602A of the first application 604, thus allowing the user to generate a link element within the input field of the interface 602A without any additional navigation input, thereby further increasing the speed and efficiency of the interface for the user.

[0066] Example Method

[0067] Figure 8 Depicted is a flow chart of an example method performed according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure. Figure 8 The steps performed in a specific order are depicted for the purpose of illustration and discussion, but the method of the present disclosure is not limited to the specific order or arrangement shown. Various steps of method 800 may be omitted, rearranged, combined, and / or adapted in various ways without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0068] At 802, a computing system (e.g., Figure 1 Specifically, the computing system determines the persistent insertion point within an input field of the first application. In some embodiments, the persistent insertion point comprises a last position of an input element within the input field of the first application. In some embodiments, the input element comprises an input cursor, and the input field of the first application comprises a text input field. In some embodiments, the persistent insertion point comprises a selected portion of the input field. In some embodiments, the input field comprises a text input field containing text content, and the persistent insertion point comprises a selected portion of the text content.

[0069] In some embodiments, prior to step 802, the computing system receives a navigation input indicating an instruction to navigate from the first application to the second application. In response to the navigation input, the computing system may provide the user with an interface of the second application. In some embodiments, the second application includes a search engine application, the navigation input includes a search query from the user, and the interface of the second application is superimposed on the interface of the first application.

[0070] At 804, the computing system receives a first input from a user. Specifically, the computing system receives a first input from the user that selects at least one linkable entity of one or more linkable entities of an interface of a second application. The first input may indicate an instruction to provide an action menu associated with at least one linkable entity. In some embodiments, the link element includes a hyperlink that includes text content and a link to the linkable entity, and the text content describes the linkable entity.

[0071] In some embodiments, the linkable entity comprises a document, and the link to the linkable entity links to a location within the document. In some embodiments, a first application is executed within a first instance or tab of a web browser, and a second application is executed within a second instance or tab of the web browser. Additionally or alternatively, in some embodiments, the first application comprises a content editor application, and the second application comprises a search engine application.

[0072] In some embodiments, the one or more linkable entities include one or more corresponding search results responsive to a search query from a user.

[0073] At 806, the computing system provides an action menu that includes a selectable action element corresponding to the action. Specifically, the computing system provides an action menu that includes a selectable action element corresponding to the action, and the selectable action element describes an action of adding a link to the first application, the link being linked to at least one linkable entity.

[0074] At 808, the computing system generates a link element. Specifically, in response to a second input from a user selecting a selectable action element, the computing system generates a link element for the at least one linkable entity. The link element can be located at a persistent insertion point within an input field of the first application. In some embodiments, the computing system can provide an interface of the first application, the interface including the input field of the first application. For example, in response to generating a link element for at least one linkable entity, the computing system can automatically provide an interface of the first application, the interface including the input field of the first application.

[0075] In some embodiments, the link element includes a reference element indicating a location of bibliographic information describing the linkable entity. Generating the link element for at least one linkable entity includes generating the link element and the bibliographic information describing the linkable entity. The reference element can be located at a persistent insertion point within the input field, and wherein the bibliographic information is generated at a location different from the persistent insertion point.

[0076] In some embodiments, the reference element includes a footnote element or an endnote element, and the bibliographic information includes a footnote or an endnote, respectively. Additionally or alternatively, in some embodiments, the link element includes a bracket reference. In some embodiments, the linkable entity includes multimedia content and / or text content. The hyperlink can be linked to at least one subset of the linkable entity.

[0077] Additional public content

[0078] The technology discussed herein relates to servers, databases, software applications, and other computer-based systems, as well as the actions taken and the information sent to and from such systems. The inherent flexibility of computer-based systems allows for a variety of possible configurations, combinations, and partitioning of tasks and functions between and among components. For example, the processes discussed herein can be implemented using a single device or component or multiple devices or components working in combination. Databases and applications can be implemented on a single system or distributed across multiple systems. Distributed components can operate sequentially or in parallel.

[0079] Although the subject matter has been described in detail with respect to various specific example embodiments of the subject matter, each example is provided by way of explanation, rather than limitation of the present disclosure. Those skilled in the art, after understanding the foregoing, can easily produce changes, modifications, and equivalents of such embodiments. Therefore, the present disclosure does not exclude such modifications, changes, and / or additions to the subject matter that will be readily understood by those of ordinary skill in the art. For example, a feature shown or described as part of one embodiment can be used together with another embodiment to produce yet another embodiment. Therefore, the present disclosure is intended to cover these changes, changes, and equivalents.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for optimizing interface efficiency via persistence across applications, comprising: Determining, by a computing system including one or more computing devices, a persistent insertion point within an input field of a first application; receiving, by the computing system, a first input from a user, the first input selecting at least one linkable entity of one or more linkable entities of an interface of a second application, wherein the first input indicates an instruction to provide a menu of actions associated with the at least one linkable entity; providing, by the computing system, an action menu, the action menu comprising selectable action elements corresponding to actions, wherein the selectable action elements describe an action of adding a link to the first application, the link being linked to the at least one linkable entity; as well as In response to second input from the user selecting the selectable action element, a link element is generated by the computing system for the at least one linkable entity, wherein the link element is located at the persistent insertion point within the input field of the first application. 2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the method further comprises providing, by the computing system, an interface of the first application, the interface comprising the input field of the first application.

3. A method as claimed in claim 2, wherein providing the interface of the first application includes automatically providing the interface of the first application by the computing system in response to generating the link element for the at least one linkable entity, the interface including the input field of the first application. 4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the persistent insertion point comprises a last position of an input element within the input field of the first application. 5 . The method of claim 4 , wherein the input element comprises an input cursor and the input field of the first application comprises a text input field.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the link element comprises a hyperlink, the hyperlink comprising text content and a link to the linkable entity, wherein the text content describes the linkable entity.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the linkable entity comprises a document; and Wherein the link pointing to the linkable entity links to a location within the document.

8. The method of claim 5, wherein the link element comprises a reference element indicating a location of bibliographic information describing the linkable entity; and wherein generating the link element for the at least one linkable entity comprises generating, by the computing system, the link element and the bibliographic information describing the linkable entity, wherein the reference element is located at the persistent insertion point within the input field, and wherein the bibliographic information is generated at a location different from the persistent insertion point.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein: The reference element comprises a footnote element or an endnote element; and The bibliographic information includes footnotes or endnotes, respectively.

10. The method of claim 5, wherein the linking element comprises a parenthetical reference.

11. The method of claim 5, wherein the linkable entity comprises: Multimedia content; or Text content; and Wherein the hyperlinks link to at least a subset of the linkable entities.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the persistent insertion point comprises a selected portion of the input field.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the input field comprises a text input field, the text input field comprises text content, and wherein the persistent insertion point comprises a selected portion of the text content.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the first application is executed within a first instance or tab of a web browser, and wherein the second application is executed within a second instance or tab of the web browser.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the first application comprises a content editor application, and wherein the second application comprises a search engine application.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein: Before receiving the first input from the user, the method includes: receiving, by the computing system, a navigation input indicating an instruction to navigate from the first application to the second application; and In response to the navigation input, the interface of the second application is provided to the user by the computing system.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein: The second application includes a search engine application; The navigation input comprises a search query from the user; and The interface of the second application is superimposed on the interface of the first application.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the one or more linkable entities include one or more corresponding search results responsive to the search query from the user.

19. A computing system for optimizing interface efficiency via persistence across applications, comprising: one or more processors; one or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the computing system to perform operations comprising: determining a persistent insertion point within an input field of the first application; receiving a first input from a user, the first input selecting at least one linkable entity of one or more linkable entities of an interface of a second application, wherein the first input indicates an instruction to provide an action menu associated with the at least one linkable entity; providing an action menu, the action menu comprising selectable action elements corresponding to actions, wherein the selectable action elements describe an action of adding a link to the first application, the link being linked to the at least one linkable entity; and In response to second input from the user selecting the selectable action element, a link element is generated for the at least one linkable entity, wherein the link element is located at the persistent insertion point within the input field of the first application.

20. The computing system of claim 19, wherein the operations further comprise providing an interface of the first application, the interface comprising the input field of the first application.

21. The computing system of claim 20, wherein providing the interface of the first application comprises automatically providing the interface of the first application in response to generating the link to the at least one linkable entity, the interface comprising the input field of the first application.

22. One or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause a computing system to perform operations comprising: determining a persistent insertion point within an input field of the first application; receiving a first input from a user, the first input selecting at least one linkable entity of one or more linkable entities of an interface of a second application, wherein the first input indicates an instruction to provide an action menu associated with the at least one linkable entity; providing an action menu, the action menu comprising selectable action elements corresponding to actions, wherein the selectable action elements describe an action of adding a link to the first application, the link being linked to the at least one linkable entity; as well as In response to second input from the user selecting the selectable action element, a link element is generated for the at least one linkable entity, wherein the link element is located at the persistent insertion point within the input field of the first application.

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