Oscraps

Tagxedo users alert

hoodsmom

hoodsmom

Guess Who!
I thought I posted this today, but I guess I forgot to hit the post button.

The Tagxedo (word cloud) web app depends on the Silverlight plug-in. I believe that the current version of Firefox will be the last major browser to support the Silverlight plug-in. My understanding is that FF 52, due for release in March, will no longer support Silverlight or other NPAPI plug-ins. Assuming the developer keeps the Tagxedo.com website up, here's what you need to do to keep using Tagxedo. Download a copy of the current version of FF from Mozilla's website and save it. When FF 52 is released, you can reinstall the old version of FF for use only when plug-ins are needed. Understand that after FF 52 is released, FF 51 will have security vulnerabilities because it won't be getting security updates, so be careful and surf only to sites you are pretty sure are safe. If you are geeky and paranoid, you can try Firefox ESR (Google is your friend), which will support plug-ins until sometime in 2018 and will get security updates. I tried it and there were issues with my extensions (Firefox ESR, now at v. 45, is **meant** to be "older" than the current version (51) so it had problems with extensions I had updated). Unless you are really worried about security, I didn't see the advantage of using Firefox ESR vs. just being very careful when you surf with FF 51. But I did download FF ESR for safekeeping. If you are very attached to your FF extensions, you may also want to duplicate your current profile for use when using FF 51 in the future.
 
ninigoesdigi

ninigoesdigi

O sO silly
My bad! :giggle:
So sorry for the mistake. I got lost in the technicality and because I didn't know what it was about I thought it was spam, some kind of commercial of sort lol. I should have asked before I did anything! Will be more careful next time ;)
Thanks for the info!
 
hoodsmom

hoodsmom

Guess Who!
Word Clouds - Tagxedo and beyond

I contributed to a couple of tutorials explaining how to continue using Tagxedo now that Silverlight support is nearly non-existent:

  • wikihow dot com/Create-a-Word-Cloud-at-Tagxedo.Com
  • wikihow dot com/Use-Firefox-ESR-or-Firefox-51-to-Access-Websites-Requiring-Silverlight-or-Java

I think Tagxedo is still the best free word cloud generator for digi-scrapping, especially if you're doing artsy scrapping and putting artsy fonts in carefully-crafted clipping masks. But, seeing that the handwriting may be on the wall for Tagxedo (Firefox ESR will lose Silverlight support in early 2018 and is the only major browser to get safety updates that also supports Silverlight), I've been on the prowl for alternatives and here are a couple:


  • wordclouds dot com - can do almost everything that Tagxedo can
    • Can only use one font at a time and is limited to Google web fonts, so can't upload your own fonts
    • Is relatively poor at space filling of shapes
    • Does not save your "history," i.e., if you like something, save it to your computer right away
    • Creations are free for both personal and commercial use and can be saved as svgs
    • Somewhat more intuitive than Tagxedo. Will run, per developer, on any browser, tablet or phone

  • Android app Word Cloud <play dot google dot com/store/apps/details?id=ice.lenor.nicewordplacer.app> Nicely done although features limited. Size limited to 1200 px square, so not great for digital scrapbooking, but creations are free for any use and would be OK for such things as greeting cards and mugs. Requires Android 5+ (I successfully side-loaded onto my Kindle Fire 5th gen.) P.S. if you ever need to side-load something on a Kindle but don't have an Android phone, go to this website <apps.evozi dot com/apk-downloader/> Enter the url of the app from the Google Play store and the site will generate a link for the apk. The site has occasionally had maintenance problems, but usually works.
 
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