www.itowler.com

One of the great things about using a CMS like Drupal is that you can add new "features" to a site by installing a module.  I was (and still am) using the Tagadelic module, which creates a list of the blog topics that I have.  The terms in the list are then scaled in size based on the number of blog posts that have been flagged with that term.  If you look to your right, You can see that the term "Genealogy" is big, and the term "pi Day" is not.  I obviously write much more about genealogy than I do Pi day.

The latest module that I installed is called Cumulus.  It expands on the Tagadelic idea, and makes the list more 'interactive".  With cumulus, instead of the list just being listed, it is in a cloud format, that rotates and moves based on what you mouse is doing.  If you hold your mouse near the top of the cloud all the terms will scoll "up", if you have you  mouse to the left side of the cloud the entire cloud will scroll left.  You get the idea.  To slow the list down or stop it from moving, just hold your mouse close to the center of the cloud.  Lastly, to select a term, and see all the blogs tagged with that term, just click on a term and away you go!

In Tagadelic, the font size increased the more the term was used.  In Cumulus, the font size increases, but also gets darker in color.

I plan to keep both the Tagadelic block and the new Cumulus block active for a while, and maybe down the road I will disable the Tagadelic block.  I am not sure about this yet, it might be nice to have both there....Cumulus for looks and fun, and Tagadelic for a straight forward use.

My only gripe about tagadelic is that the install could be a little tricky for someone that is new to drupal.  The module functions as a "Block" in drupal, so you have to go t the Block admin page, and enable the module, then edit its settings.  This is not that hard to figure out, but if you are new to drupal, it might take you a bit to figure it out.  An update to the readme file that is included would help, in my opinion.  Other than that this a fun little module that works great!

Cumulus is a fun little module that adds a little more to the standard listing of terms, and would add to many websites.  Let me know what you think.