Keith S.

The best new feature in WordPress 2.3 is the integration of tagging into the core of WordPress. However, the tag cloud widget & functions that are included leaves a lot to be desired. So, with time on my hands, I decided to whip up my own version of the tag cloud that lets you configure the tag cloud with all the customizations (well, almost, see below) the tag cloud template tag allows.
You can find the plugin home page (and leave comments) <a href="http://keithsolomon.net/ctc/" rel="nofollow ugc">here</a>.
<h3>NOTE</h3>
Development on this plugin has STOPPED! I am looking for someone to take it over. Find more info <a href="http://wp.me/p4xrG-7q" rel="nofollow ugc">here</a>
<h3>Upgrade</h3>
I suggest using the built-in WordPress plugin update feature, but to manually upgrade, follow these instructions: 
1. Deactivate the plugin in the WordPress admin menu. 
2. Delete the existing <code>tag-cloud.php</code> file from the <code>/wp-content/plugins</code> folder. 
3. Upload the <code>tag_cloud</code> folder to the <code>/wp-content/plugins/</code> directory. 
4. Activate <code>Configurable Tag Cloud</code> through the ‘Plugins’ menu in WordPress and add the widget to your sidebar. 
5. (Optional) Add <code>ctc()</code> template tag to your theme. Can be configured either via the Options menu, or via parameters in the template tag.

Configurable Tag Cloud (CTC)

Display a tag cloud customized with your preferences in the sidebar.

nuvuscripts

Ghost Tags. An Animating Tag Cloud Widget!
View all our premium WordPress Plugins and Themes: http://nuvuthemes.com
Download Premium version that allows you to set the amount of Tags shown – with support: http://nrcstudios.info/index.php/ghost-tags
Requires WordPress 3.0+ and PHP 5.
<ul>
<li>Use web fonts to set alternating font-styles for each tag.</li>
<li>Adds spice to your otherwise not so spicy blog.</li>
<li>Displays all used or associated Tags on your site.</li>
<li>Cycles through all tags in an alternating carousel motion.</li>
<li>Clickable links to search terms in cloud.</li>
</ul>
View Demo: http://ghostcloud.nrcstudios.info
Download Premium version that allows you to set the amount of Tags shown – with support: http://nrcstudios.info/index.php/ghost-tags
Update 3-5-2012: jQuery script loading changed to fix conflict issues.
Please consider a donation if you use this free widget http://nrcstudios.info. 
-Thank You
<h3>Arbitrary section</h3>
<h3>Loading jQuery before plugins</h3>
The correct way to load jQuery into your theme is to load it prior to all plugins being loaded. Having said this know that the plugin loads jQuery seperately in case your theme is not set to load jQuery. To load jQuery from the theme instead of the plugin do the following changes to your theme and plugin files.
Step One: Open your themes functions.php file and add the following code anywhere on the page: 
if( !is_admin()){ 
wp_deregister_script(‘jquery’); 
wp_register_script(‘jquery’, (“http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1/jquery.min.js”), false, ‘1.7.1’); 
wp_enqueue_script(‘jquery’); 
}
Step Two: Open the ghost-tags.php file and comment out or delete the echo script line on line 19 by adding two backslashes before it (“//”))
// echo “<script type=’text/javascript’ src=’https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.7.1/jquery.min.js’></script> ” ;
*Step Three: Upload the saved files to your server.
This will load jQuery into your theme before any plugins get loaded on the page thus eliminating the need for each plugin to load jQuery. 
When each plugin loads different versions of jQuery on the page this creates compatability issues and will cause your plugins to not work correctly. I seriously suggest the users of FlickrShow to use this method of including jQuery on the page.

Configurable Tag Cloud (CTC) vs Ghost Tags