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How to 'cheat' with Wordle (the word cloud website)

By now lots of us have likely heard something about www.Wordle.net, the website that lets you build a "word cloud" like the one below which is made of words used in a post. The most used words appear larger and seldom used words appear as smaller.

While that is a very cool application to add some color and visual interest to a post, there may be occasions where you want words other than the most used ones to appear larger and more prominent.

There's a very easy way to make that happen by simply 'cheating' when you paste your word cloud in to Wordle to transform it. In this example I'm deliberately only using the words "Knoxville Real Estate" and "Jim Lee, Realtor" one time to illustrate my point.

Here's the normal Wordle with all the words in this post as you see it.

knoxville tn homes for sale provided by knoxville area realtor jim lee

Now let's suppose for whatever reason you want the keywords I mentioned above to appear more prominently in your word cloud.

Simply by adding them multiple times ( I added each one 6 times) you can dramatically alter the output of your Wordle world cloud should you have a reason to want to.

Here's the same word cloud as above with the added keywords mentioned above.

knoxville tn real estate, knoxville real estate, and knoxville homes for sale

And to capture the above Wordle files I used MWSnap, a free screen capture utility that has a lot more functionality than simply using the print screen key on your keyboard and it's my favorite price, FREE!

BTW, even though MWSnap is freeware someone had to work to develop it. I made a contribution to that person from the site I downloaded it from.

Happy cheating. ;)

PS, I saved the above images as .JPG files which also gives you the option to insert (slip) your own keywords in the image description and title when you insert the file into your post.

Jim Lee, CRS, ABR, GRI, ACRE, NAR Certified e-PRO Trainer
*****************************************************************
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Realty Executives Associates, Knoxville, Tennessee
See all Knoxville area Realtor listings at: www.KnoxvilleHomeCenter.com
(865) 693-3232, My Personal Toll Free # 1-800-662-2488 ext. 163
mailto:Jim@JimLee.com

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Posted by Jim Lee, Knoxville Tennessee Realtor® on 11/08/2009 12:38 PM

Comments (57)

Blogs for Real Estate Agents in the Technology and Tools Channel

wordle, word clouds, jim lee knoxville realtor

Originally posted at: Knoxville Tennessee real estate: How to 'cheat' with Wordle (the word cloud website)

Post is included in group: Out Of The Box!
Post is included in group: Online Real Estate Agent Marketing
Post is included in group: Making Real Estate Better with Technology

57 Comments on How to 'cheat' with Wordle (the word cloud website)

NOV

Jim, Pretty interesting stuff. And I love the visuals to illustrate the difference when a keyword is used multiple times.

Thanks, it's just something that jumped into my head and then out onto my screen. ;)

Normally I'm opposed to cheating but I don't believe this rises to that level.

Thanks for sharing this...I must live on Mars, as this is new to me! Appreciated!

Jim, Great information, this is the first I have seen this application, THANKS

Jim, thanks for sharing. I've never come across wordle before. I'm going to give it a try.

I hate to admit it, but I'm new to Wordle, so thanks for the info! I was wondering where the bloggers got the word clouds!

Hi Jim ! I love Wordle. I used it to make birthday cards for people using this method. You come up with your list of words to use and then enter them in proportion to how you want them to appear. Fun stuff!

Liz

PS - Marian Pierre-Louis from Medway Mass had a great post the other day about how we all have ActiveRain tag clouds. Who knew?

Take your blog url and add "/tags" after it.

Like this: http://activerain.com/blogs/knoxville/tags

Head Jim...

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. For the longest time I've been trying to figure how some Blogger's do that. Now that the cat is out of the bag I bet we we RainWordle everywhere :)

TLW...ROAR!

Jim,

This looks like fun!

Thanks for sharing.

Bill

Thanks for the post. I'm going to check it out right now!

Woot! Thanks Jim this will be fun to play around with. Not sure I am logged in on BB in car. Missy Caulk

Hi Jim, I learned about two new applications from you today. I had seen those "wordles" but didn't know how they were made and I didn't know about MWSnap because I have a snipping tool on my PC. Nevertheless, it's always good to have alternatives. Thanks for sharing.

Jim,

Thanks so much for sharing your information. This is what I like about ActiveRain and the people who contribute to the site, a wealth of information and a nice variety of topics. Thanks again!

Trent Dalrymple

Thanks for the tip....I love wordle and think I need to go make a new one....Kelly

I haven't used Wordle in a while but thats good to know. :) Thanks

Jim....that's great information to keep in mind. Thanks

Very cool Jim. I stopped by because I'm a cheater. Finding new ways to cheat ia always a good thing.

Now I have to think through ways that I can use a "Tag Cloud" in my biz.

I have never seen that application used before. It does look like a great tool to use now and then.

Jim,

It looks like you may have over loaded their sight!

Bill

Here's one for you BB. I just added Broker Bryant Tutas Poinciana Florida 6 times to your AR page and here's the result.

broker bryant and tutas town realty poinciana florida

That's neat. I like the birthday card oncept, too. Bookmarking this. Have you tried SnagIt yet?

Whoa Head Jim...

I hope it's okay with you that I just stole that from you. I like to cheat too :)

TLW...ROAR!

I use SnagIt also Cheryl but did I mention MWSnap is FREE? ;)

You're more than welcome to use it TLW; I created for you and hubby.

Thanks for the tip about how to overcome a hurdle on Wordle.

I stopped to read the blog post because of the word "CHEAT". I don't plan on using the actual application - but, I'm open to suggestions as to how it would enhance my blog, web site, or, otherwise help me sell houses.

Gregory, this app could add visual interest and create some buzz on your blog and/or website. That could help you sell houses.

YMMV

Interesting, I've never heard of this. Looks like fun. Thank you for the great tip. Sounds like a lot of people already play around with this. I'm off to wordle

I love this! I've never heard of wordie before. Can't wait to try it out. Thanks for sharing this with us :)

never even knew this existed... learn something every day on Active Rain with all you folks Thanks!

Jim, I just tried Wordie.net I'm hooked! I'm going to make something fun for my new office that opens next week. I have a huge space with nothing to hang. A "wordie" picture will be PERFECT! I'm so excited. Thanks so much again for sharing...looking forward to creating my masterpiece :)

Just so I am clear - this doesn't actually "do" anything - right? It is just fun?

I've never heard of Wordle before, but it looks pretty cool! I think I will use #30's idea.

Jim - I never heard of this website before, it's very cool and thanks for sharing how to "cheat."

This looks like a fun toy to play with. I'll have to give it a rip.

Lise, would you call adding visual interest and pizazz to your blog, website, or even emails not "anything"?

Here's a blog post I put one in.Lots of additinal opportunities to add keywords to the descriptive tags in the .JPG files also as you paste them in. Will help with SEO.

Worlde is what you make it, a toy or a useful tool.

Jim - I played around with Wordle for some project (can't remember now what it wass - DUH) and since it didn't give me exactly what I was looking for I created one PhotoShop - LOL. I have to check out FREE MWSnap. Thanks. ~Rita

I'm cuious as to the uses to this other than to make visuals. Is it to understand how often the keywords are used?

There's always more cool things to learn about on the net! Thanks for sharing!

Jim - Love this idea! Thanks for sharing the cheat! ;)

NOV

Something else to try! hmm!

Very cool. More great information. Now to implement it! Thanks again!

Thanks for the information. I will add it to my toolbox.

thanks for the tip! I have never known how to do this before and have already spent 30 minutes playing!!

Very cool tool. I haven't heard of this before but I seen a lot more images like these lately.

Hey...interest post today. I've not heard of this before.

Patricia/Seacoast NH

This is so cool! Thanks for sharing, I am off to check it out now.

You cheater! lol~ :-))

Seriously though, I can see where copying a blog post and pasting it into wordle could really help one see if the word cloud in their post is sending the right message and focus based on their word content.

When I used my last couple posts to test the theory, the biggest cloud word wasn't a word at all, I guess I use this one way too much!! haha~

:-)

oh well, that's my signature and at least you know I'm happy! :-)

Thanks Brad,

BTW, are we still having the AR paid bloggers get together at Ruths Chris Friday night at 8:00?

I need the limo to pick me up around 7:15 at the Embassy Suites.

See you then. ;) (I'm happy too)

Never heard of wordle so now this is on my list of places to visit today, and if I have to cheat ( Sorry manipulate!) then I will.

Hi Jim, Are you picking TLW and I up at the airport for the paid bloggers get together? I think we need to talk to the guys about getting a little bit of a raisse. What do think?

Tag clouds are a great way for people who process information visually to get a good look at their content. Thanks for sharing this tool, Jim!

The AR limo should be available when your flight gets in; I'll ask the driver to come pick you guys up too.

Should be a fun evening of great food, great wine, and blogger/AR talk.

I think a modest increase in our usual stipends would be in order; let's bring it up for discussion.

Jim,

At first glance I skipped over your blog. I keyed in on "Cheat." I glad I took a second look at it. I will definitely check it out.

NOV

really kool stuff jim thanks for sharing...i like cheating...well knowing more than the next person

NOV

Very cool, Jim. Thank you. I think you could make some pretty catchy note cards with that too!

NOV

Oh great...I stumble on this as I am shutting down for the night... There goes my plans to clean :-)

Off to Wordle and to play around with the FREE ideas. Thanks Jim !

NOV

Thanks Jim - very interesting!

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