In this hub you will learn a fun and simple way to create beautiful word clouds that you can use as images on your sites, blogs and hubs. In addition to providing you with an illustrated guide on how to make the word clouds, I'll also suggest a number of creative ways to use them and showcase wordles sent from readers like yourself.

First take a look at the word cloud that I created for hubpages. It is right below this sentence.

Pretty cool, hubpage word cloud, isn't it? If you are anything like me, you are probably thinking, wow, how do I do that?!?!

Warning: Before you start, this is really very addictive. Be warned!

Step 1: Go to the wordle website. Wordle is described as a toy for generating "word clouds" from text that you provide. It is a free application designed by Jonathan Feinberg a "Senior Software Engineer" at IBM Research.

When you arrive at the wordle site you will see a simple interface with a short description similar to the one above. You will also see a link inviting you to create your own. Below the create your own link, are the most recently created wordles. It is fascinating to see how often these wordles are being created. You can click on any wordle to see an enlarged version or you can visit the gallery. Here is a screen shot of the first page.

Are you ready to create your own? Ok, so click on the link - Create your own.

You will get a screen which provides you with several options for creating text.

See the screen shot below.

Step 3. Ok here is where the fun starts. You can use a text source for your wordle text. For the hubpages wordle above I used the Hupbages user guide as my source of inspiration. I copied and pasted sections of it and typed in additional words.

Important: As hubpages was my topic, I wanted it to be larger than the other words in the word cloud. So just like a keyword, I made sure to enter the word "hupbages" , more often than other words.

Step 4: Click submit.

Step 5: Once you click submit you will get a screen with a word cloud of your content. You can click randomize as often as you like and a new image will appear with different colors and layouts.

IMPORTANT: It is very tempting to see all of them before you decide which one you want. The problem is that, they don't always reappear the way you saw them the first time. The way to solve this problem is to use your keyboard. Click on your print screen key and paste the image from your computer to a photo editor application. For this hub I used the paint application.

Step 6: Saving your image.

• In order to save your image to be used in your site, blog or hub, you have to use your print screen function , to cut and save as jpeg. If you use a screen-capture or other image representation of the Wordle on this page, you must attribute the image to http://wordle.net/ ( Images of Wordles are licensed creative commons.org)
• Save to the gallery so that you can access it as well from wordle.net if you choose.
• When you click , save to gallery, you will get a code that you can embed in your blog. The result will be a smaller thumbnail of your wordle.

The FAQ section includes a list of ways that you can use your wordle creations for free, for any use, such as t-shirts, bags, posters, logos, as long as you attribute the following:

Images created by the Wordle.net web application are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 United States License.

Here are my additional suggestions:.

• As an introduction to a topic of study : As an English language trainer, I created a wordle which contained answers to a topic we were going to study. I screened the image on a powerpoint slide and invited the class to guess the questions for the answers displayed in the wordle.
• As a backdrop image for a presentation: I showed this application to a group that I teach in HP. I would describe myself as a web 2.0 addict, but I have absolutely no idea what these guys do in R&D, programming etc. I was thrilled with THEY got excited about wordle. One of them used it in his Powerpoint presentation that day and got amazing feedback!! :) I am now called the English teacher GEEK!!
• As a card: Copy and paste your poem in to wordle text space and it will create a visual of your poem. Print this on a card and in then include the real version of the poem or anything else you like inside.
• Brainstorm for a CV or resume: Copy or paste character traits or strengths into a wordle. This could also be given as a personal gift to a client or friend.
• As a project for students: Students could be invited to create a wordle as a cover page for their projects, about themselves, etc

How to create a beautiful wordle was my first contribution to hubpages. I hope you enjoyed reading it and have fun using your wordles.

Collaborative Wordles: Invitation to hub readers: If you create a wordle that you would like to share, please send it to me and I will include it in this hub with a link back to you!

To learn more about my personal collaborative efforts please visit Friends and Flags an international learning project that I launched in 1999. I have put it on hold for this year, as I try to raise funds for it. Perhaps I will have some luck earning dollars writing hubs. Any advice is most welcome!

Collaborative Wordles: Invitation to hubbers

If you create a wordle that you would like to share,please send it to me and I will include it in this hub with a link back to you!

Thank you to Marilyn from Home'n Biz Blend for contributing the wordle on the right!

Tami teaches 10th and 12th grade English in Israel and describes her lesson plan as follows:

My students don't know me yet. I am going to divide the into groups of 4 or 5 students each. Each group will get a printed copy of the wordle and will have to write as many questions as possible for each word they see in the wordle.

Then I will go over the answers with the whole class and the groups will get points for each related questions as well as extra points for correct grammar.

That way it's fun, competitive and I introduce myself. I will also show them on the computer how to make a wordle and ask them to bring one for the following lesson. Again the pupils try to write questions for which the answer is a word. I will laminate their wordles and have wonderful decorations for my classroom.

Tami Nakar, Israel