Web 2.0 - How to use Wordle

What is Wordle ?

Wordle is a program used for creating “word clouds” out of any text we choose.

Wordle extracts common words such as ‘a’ and ‘the’ from the paragraph you use.

We decide the way the word cloud is presented (the colour, direction of word placement,

organization of words etc.)

We can then save your word cloud for individual use, or allow others to view and comment on it, or

Print-Screen save it using Photoshop.

Where’s Wordle ?

Wordle is NOT at : www.wordle.com !

The wordle site is actually at :

http://www.wordle.net/

You can start using Wordle straight away, and do not have to supply an email address or join up.

To go straight to the create a Wordle page, simply link to here: http://www.wordle.net/create

Home Page

View other users' work for inspiration

Creating a Word Cloud

Write, or paste a paragraph of text in the word box.

Then click “Go” and watch the cloud form.

Customizing a Cloud

Choose what language you want your word cloud to appear in.

Choose your word font

Choose a colour scheme for your

Wordle.

Choose a layout for your words.

Customizing a Cloud (Details of Options)

Randomizing

By Selecting ‘Randomize’ you are allowing Wordle to choose the layout, colour, language and font of your

word cloud. You may continuously choose

‘randomize’ until you find a style that best suits you.

Word Count

Select ‘ language’ on your toolbar, and then scroll down to ‘show word counts’. This screen will then pop up, and

allow you to see the number of times a word was used in your

cloud.

Things to watch out for !

Wordle will take out unnecessary words, such as connecting words( ex. the, then, after etc.) However, Wordle will not

notice subtle differences in the same word, and therefore treat that word as two separate subjects.

Things to watch out for !

Wordle will separate word groupings. However, we may want to keep them together in a group.

To group words, we can use the tilda ~ symbol (located on the top left of the keyboard) like this: Passy's~World~of~ICT and Google~Blogger etc

Things to watch out for !

The first time you try to use Wordle to create a cloud, it might fail straight away with a Java applet error message.

What causes this problem is usually :

- The computer’s “Firewall” software is blocking wordle - The Internet Browser is not set up to allow Java to run.

There is good information on fixing both of these problems on the Wordle FAQ’s page at: http://www.wordle.net/faq

Eg. I found that I had to turn my McAfee Firewall off, make a Wordle, then turn the Firewall back on again permanently, and everything has been fine ever since.

It is highly recommended that everyone read the FAQ page anyway, because it has lots of useful information about the possibilities and limitations of Wordle.

Capturing a Wordle Image

Once you have created your Wordle you can save it to their Gallery, and Wordle also provides you some HTML code for embedding it into your blog post or web page.

Unfortunately this only embeds a thumbnail, which is too small to clearly see all the words. Dragging this thumbnail to increase size results in an image with blurred text.

The best option is to take a screenshot of your Wordle using a screen capture program, or just the PC’s Print Screen button, and then take this into an image editor like Paint, Photoshop, or Fireworks, then crop and save the image.

The saved jpg or png image can then be inserted into a Blog the same way images usually are inserted and uploaded.

Wordle Blog - written by its creator

Use the blog for opinions and information on Wordle.

http://blog.wordle.net/

See how effective Wordle is for people in different professions.

Add comments of your own, and voice your own thoughts.

Wordle Gallery at http://www.wordle.net/gallery

View other

people's work

Wordle Examples

Wordle Examples

Wordle of Bible Book of Numbers

Wordle – Religious Example

More Examples

Very Long Speeches like President Obama’s first Presidential Address, and Prime Minister Rudd’s “Sorry Speech” to Indigenous Australians can be “Wordled” :

More Examples

President Obama’s first Presidential Speech:

Useful Links

The links below are to some useful examples and further information about using Wordle:

http://www.slideshare.net/JenniferW/wordle-ideas

http://www.slideshare.net/rjensen/twenty-five-interesting-ways-to-use-wordle-in

http://www.slideshare.net/ChemEdLinks/chemistry-course-wordle-pages-presentation

http://www.slideshare.net/djd/shakespeare-sonnets-by-doug-using-wordle-presentation

Credits

Around 60% of this presentation was created from “Digital Maverick’s” Slideshare at : http://www.slideshare.net/digitalmaverick/how-to-use-wordle-presentation

Various modifications and additions were then carried out by “BPW” at “Passy World”.