This was originally posted on the old web site but is worth revisiting.

Disclaimer: As with any internet site that allows public posting, there are no controls for the words that may appear on the website. Although only four gallery images are visible on the home page, the content is not censored or filtered. To avoid these postings, bypass the home page and go straight to the create page; also avoid the gallery images. Wordle’s author has received numerous letters from teachers encouraging him to build a version of Wordle that will censor content, but the current version does not do so.

Wordle (www.wordle.net/create) is a Java-based tool that takes text input and turns it into graphical “word clouds.” Word clouds are not linear like traditional text; instead they spread the words around and adjust the text size based on the number of times a word appears within the text input. To make the example word cloud at left, I made a list of words and phrases that I associate with the library. To vary the size I copied some words and pasted them to appear in the list more often than other words..

After clicking Go, the Java tool loads. The newly created word cloud appears with random layout, color scheme, and font. Learning how to modify is best done through experimentation. Variations in font, layout, and color reveal a rich assortment of possible word clouds. To virtually throw the words in the air and see how they land, simply click Layout →Re-layout with current settings. This will take the currently defined settings and revise the arrangement of the words. It’s not unusual to re-layout your word cloud multiple times to see if you can find a better arrangement.

Keeping Wordle Creations

Wordle, as a Java-coded application, cannot write changes to local media, according to Wordle’s author, Jonathan Feinberg. Although any word clouds designed by Wordle are free to use (“You may get rich off it. Just tell people how you made the image, or, if you're using one from the gallery, where you got it,” he explains), getting the word cloud can be tricky. Lots of screen capture utilities exist, but the most basic method is to use the Print Screen button on your keyboard and paste the image into another program. After pasting the screen print, you will need to cut the excess screen content from around your word cloud. In Micrsoft Word, for example, this means using the Picture Toolbar and the Crop tool. In Paint this means using the select tool and cutting the selection.

Wordle Tip: Use the tilde symbol, “~”, to force Wordle to keep multiple word phrases together as a single text string (“The~Lord~of~the~Rings” would appear as “The Lord of the Rings” on a word cloud).