This post gives an overview of the new features included in the SP Term Cloud 1.0.3 update. Its delayed from April 1st so its not confused with any April Fools Day posts (i'll have to leave my SharePoint User Throttling product post for another year...)
Display Templates
The SP Term Cloud web part collects term usage, stores it in an XML format and renders the terms using a XSL display template. There are now 8 display templates that come installed with the web part. This includes 2 new templates in the 1.0.3 update: Squares and Columns.
You can choose to use your own template by selecting 'XSL Style Sheet:' from the drop down and from 1.0.3 open the XSL Editor to enter and edit your own XSL template.
Squares
The Squares template is inspired by a Metro-esque CSS style, it displays terms in alphabetical order with the usage count in the square. It uses a fluid layout so the squares will wrap to the width your web part layout allows.
You can check out a demo of the Squares template on the SP Term Cloud Office365 demo site.
Columns
The Columns template is another fluid column layout that renders terms alphabetically. For those that find tag clouds too busy it provides a clean, ordered alternative that the eye can quickly scan.
You can check out a demo of the Columns template on the SP Term Cloud Office365 demo site.
Result display options
When you click on a term in the SP Term Cloud web part the most recently modified document/items labelled with the term are shown. These results can be displayed on a separate page, loaded into the current page or from 1.0.3 displayed in SharePoint dialog. An example result dialog using the new table result style (also available from 1.0.3) is shown below.
The results styles can be modified for your specific requirements in the itemsview.xslt file in the TermCloudAssetsSite folder in the Master Page gallery.
For more information on the web part and to download a trial check out the product page.