Big Words

2026-05-07 · Source: Simon Willison's Weblog · Field: Technology & Digital — Software Development & Engineering · Depth: Fundamental Awareness, quick

Summary

Simon Willison released "Big Words" on May 7, 2026, a web-based tool designed to generate simple, customizable text slides from URL query string arguments. This utility was developed to integrate with Willison's existing macOS presentations tool, which exclusively accepts URLs for content. Users can specify text, text color, background color, gradient options (including a second color and angle), font, weight, size (in vmin), and text effects like italic, uppercase, or drop shadow directly through the URL. The tool also provides an interactive form, accessible via double-click or double-tap, for easy modification of these slide settings.

Key takeaway

For creative technologists building presentation tools or dynamic web content, Big Words demonstrates a practical method for generating customizable visual elements via URL parameters. You can adapt this query string approach to allow other applications to dynamically render and display content, simplifying integration and reducing the need for complex APIs. Consider how URL-based configuration can streamline your own content generation workflows.

Key insights

A web tool generates customizable text slides via URL query parameters for presentation integration.

Principles

• URL-driven content enables flexible integration.
• Query strings can define visual presentation.

Method

Generate a slide by constructing a URL with query parameters for text, colors, font, size, and effects. Modify settings via an in-page form.

In practice

• Create presentation slides from URLs.
• Embed custom text displays in web apps.

Topics

• Big Words Tool
• Web-based Presentations
• Slide Customization
• Query String Control
• macOS Presentation Integration

Code references

• simonw/tools

Best for: Software Engineer, Creative Technologist

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Editorial summary, takeaway, and curation by AIssential. Original article published by Simon Willison's Weblog.