Computer conferencing system for selectively linking and unlinking

Abstract

An apparatus and method for lining public and private pages in a conferencing system is disclosed. In a computer conferencing system having a plurality of participants coupled by a communication medium, a process for linking public and private pages comprises the steps of: 1) collecting public meeting information generated by any of the plurality of participants, the public meeting information including at least one public page of annotations; 2) collecting private meeting information from a local participant in which the meeting manager is resident, the private meeting information being different from the public meeting information, the private meeting information not accessible to the plurality of conference participants other than the local participant, the private meeting information including at least one private page of annotations; and 3) selectively linking the private page with the public page, the private page being implicitly accessed when the linked public page is explicitly accessed. The process further includes the steps of: 1) maintaining a public page list representing a plurality of public pages, the step of maintaining a public page list further including a step of linking the plurality of public pages together in the public page list; 2) maintaining a private page list representing a plurality of private pages, the step of maintaining a private page list further including a step of linking the plurality of private pages together in the private page list; and 3) linking pages of said public page list with pages of said private page list.