Abstract: A method and apparatus for displaying an options page for client application in a network environment. Instead of hard coding the options page within the client application, the options page is stored on a server computer and may be updated dynamically without modifying the client application. In one aspect, the user requests to view the options page using menu commands generated by the client application. In response to the user request, the client application launches a browser, if needed, and passes the current settings for the options page to the browser along with an address pointing to the location of the options page on a server computer. The browser connects to the server computer specified in the URL, requests the page associated with the address, and passes the user settings to the server computer.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for displaying an options page for client application in a network environment. Instead of hard coding the options page within the client application, the options page is stored on a server computer and may be updated dynamically without modifying the client application. In one aspect, the user requests to view the options page using menu commands generated by the client application. In response to the user request, the client application launches a browser, if needed, and passes the current settings for the options page to the browser along with an address pointing to the location of the options page on a server computer. The browser connects to the server computer specified in the URL, requests the page associated with the address, and passes the user settings to the server computer.

Abstract: A system and method for reducing browser latency in customized web page production through caching in one or more client-stored tokens a compressed representation of a core set of user information preferences. Compression can be achieved in part by using bit flags to represent preference elections, where default preferences can be omitted to reduce token size. Multiple compressible regions may also be incorporated into a token so that mutually exclusive preferences can be stored in different regions, increasing the likelihood of compressed regions. To further reduce token size, multiple bit flags can be treated as defining a single character within the token. Thus, preferences may include stock selections, weather, news, sports, or other interests, where each preference is assigned a bit position in a series, and the series then interpreted as one or more characters.