Wordle is a free web-based tool for creating "word clouds" from text that users provide. The words that appear most often are made more prominent than those used less, creating an analytic piece of artwork. Membership is not required to create a word cloud.

To create a word cloud, users begin by provided a selection of text. Text can either be typed manually, pulled from a URL with an Atom or RSS feed, or drawn from any del.icio.us user's tags. After the text is submitted, Wordle generates a word cloud containing all or most of the words that appear in the text selection. The words range in size according to how many times they appear in the text. The user has the capability of personalizing their word cloud by changing the font, color, language, layout, and by designating the amount of words that appear in the cloud. The word cloud can be printed out or shared online via an embedded link.

Wordle does a great job in giving the user the ability to personalize their word cloud. It also illustrates visually the most frequently used words throughout a given text. This was particularly useful during a class I took last semester: An assignment a professor assigned called for us to avoid using the words "I," "me" or "my" in the text. As long as you have copy and paste, Wordle is a much quicker way of measuring personal pronouns than, say, doing ctrl + f and counting the results.

The tool is limited in the types of text it can import, however. Unlike TAPoR, Wordle only allows users to import text from Websites that have an Atom or RSS feed. Furthermore, Wordle does not allow users to upload text from documents stored on their computers. Unfortunately, Wordle also doesn't do much more than provide a visual depiction of your most frequently used words. While there are certain advantages (as discussed above) there isn't any analysis that can come otherwise. Basically, it's a neat tool that has a low ceiling but offers a unique look into what you're writing.

* edited by Bobby Karalla