Introduction: Word of the Day Display With IoT
In this Instructable, I’ll show you how you can build a «Word of the Day Display» using NodeMCU Wi-Fi module and a Dot Matrix Display. Instead of word of the day, you can display anything you want (text) from the whole internet, after going through this tutorial. If this is your first time using a Wi-Fi module, then also this tutorial will hep you, as I have covered from the start all the way to the end.
Let’s get into it.
Step 1: Watch the Video.
In the video I have covered all the steps necessary to build this project. I have also covered an in depth explanation of the code used in the project which is also useful for a beginner, and otherwise not possible to explain in written format.
So make sure you watch that before moving on.
Step 2: Prepare Arduino IDE to Work With NodeMCU Wi-Fi Module.
First time working on a Wi-Fi module is not always a cake walk for most of the users (me too). Therefore, it is recommended to start step by step with it.
I’ll suggest this Instructables class for every beginner. The author bekathwia has done a great job on explaining how to start with this module. I myself utilized the same source for getting acquainted with the module.
So, if you are a beginner go through that class, then only you can work your way out in the coming steps.
Step 3: Test the Dot Matrix Display.
Connect the Dot Matrix to Wi-Fi module as follows:
DMD — NodeMCU
Vcc — 3.3V
Gnd — Gnd
Clk — D5
Din — D7
CS — D8
Now to check Dot Matrix Display, add MD Parola and MD_MAX72XX libraries to Arduino library.
But before using it, go to Arduino libraries folder, open MD_MAX_72XX library folder, then go to docs and open any HMTL file, then determine the type of Dot Matrix Display you have (click here to learn more). Mine is FC_16. After this, go to “src” folder and open MD_MAX72XX.h file. Modify the header file according to the module you have and then save it. Now you can check your module
Open test sketch and upload it. The dot matrix should display some patterns followed by their titles, which can also be seen in the Serial Monitor.
Step 4: Prepare ThingHTTP.
1. Open Mozilla Firefox (Chrome didn’t work for me).
2. Choose your website (I used Dictionary.com).
3. Right click on the word you are interested, select inspect element.
4. Copy XPath of the code highlighted.
5. Go to Thingspeak.com
6. Go to apps, and then select ThingHTTP.
7. Create new ThingHTTP, name it something, provide the URL of the page where you copied XPath from, paste XPath previously copied to parse string, save the ThingHTTP.
Take a note of the API generated.
Watch the video for proper understanding and the need for doing this.
Step 5: Test the Module.
Open the sketch attached in this step and edit the Wi-Fi SSID, Pass Key and the API key and upload it
After uploading, open serial monitor, if the output looks something like the one I have attached in this step then the module is working fine and you can move on to the final step.
You can also use any different website if you want, check out this.
Step 6: Final Sketch.
Do the same connections as in step 3. The final code is attached in this step.
Edit the Wi-Fi SSID, Pass Key (leave blank inside quotes if Wi-Fi is open) and API and upload it to the module.
Once it has connected to Wi-Fi and fetched the data, it will then disconnect and display the word and the meaning in the DMD (watch the in built LED to determine the status, blinking — attempting to connect to Wi-Fi, solid blue — connected, off — disconnected). Disconnecting from Wi-Fi saves power but it also has a disadvantage, you will need to restart the module to fetch new data.
But for applications like these, I don’t really think it is a good idea to keep connected to Wi-Fi, however you can easily do that after a few tweaking in the program. It’s all up to you.
Step 7: Done!
That’s it!
Feel free to comment any tips or doubts, I’ll be more than happy to help you.
Thanks for reading, consider subscribing, and if you liked this project, check out our YouTube channel, we have a lot of those 
See you in the next Instructable.
Be the First to Share
Recommendations
Your browser does not support the video tag.
Expand your vocabulary by learning a new word every day with this PyPortal-powered display!
Using the Wordnik API and the Adafruit PyPortal, we’ll display Wordnik’s Word of the Day, a daily curated word picked by the Wordnik website. With CircuitPython and the on-board WiFi, the PyPortal Word of the Day display dynamically loads JSON formatted data from the Wordnik API. Each day a new word, its part of speech, definition and an example sentence will appear on the display with just a couple touches, ready for your brain to soak it up!
The Wordnik API has a one week waiting period for free API keys
Parts
You can pick up an Adafruit PyPortal and a USB cable (if needed). If you like, you can mount the PyPortal in the Adafruit laser-cut acrylic stand. All these parts are bundled in AdaBox 011 if you’d like to buy them together.
Instead of AdaBox 011, you can buy parts separately:
PyPortal, our easy-to-use IoT device that allows you to create all the things for the “Internet of Things” in minutes. Make custom touch screen interface…
This here is your standard A to micro-B USB cable, for USB 1.1 or 2.0. Perfect for connecting a PC to your Metro, Feather, Raspberry Pi or other dev-board or…
Optional
PyPortal is our easy-to-use IoT device that allows you to create all the things for the “Internet of Things” in minutes. Create little pocket…
This guide was first published on Apr 29, 2019. It was last
updated on Apr 29, 2019.
This page (Overview) was last updated on Apr 10, 2019.
Text editor powered by tinymce.
Don’t like opening a dictionary app to discover a word of the day?, and Instead, if you want to look up a new phrase on a widget or through notification, then you’re in the right place.
Learning a new word every day is one of the good habits that help us build up our thesaurus over time, so we tend to remember it longer.
There are hundreds of free vocabulary builder apps lurking in digital stores, but digging out the best app takes a tedious amount of time.
And it’s getting even more difficult to discover such apps with a widget. So considering this fact, after hours of testing and digging, we’ve rounded up some of the best apps to learn a new word a day.
Which are the best word a day apps (With Widgets)
Word of the Day – Vocabulary Builder
It’s an amazing app to learn a new word a day and practice it with daily quizzes. You can save words or read them later at a tap of a button.
It has a classy user interface decluttered with tools so that users don’t be overwhelmed.
The app shows a full definition of a phrase with a verb, adjective, noun, synonyms, antonyms, pictures, and more.
Besides, you can see the previous phrase that you’ve missed to catch up on.
Best of all, the widget is just easy to pull out to be a part of your phone’s lock screen, allowing you to see a new word daily at a glance.
However, to know the meaning of a word, you still have to click and see a definition.
Most of the phrases that it displays range from intermediate to advance levels. It collects phrases from Oxford, Merriam-Webster, thesaurus, and many other trusted sources.
It is a free app but demands a single payment to remove ads.
Free | Homescreen Widget | For advanced English learners
Merriam-Webster
It’s one of the best American dictionaries that can make you a better lexicon. Since 1828, Merriam Webster has been publishing paperback dictionaries, and finally, in 2019, it launched its homespun app.
This app is available for free, and anybody can download it regardless of the country they live in.
So, it has the a-z dictionary, a daily English phrase, and quiz games all draped into a single app.
Every word has its own detailed definition, carrying adjectives, adverbs, verbs, nouns, synonyms, antonyms, related words, examples, phrasal verbs, and did you know facts?
In addition, for as low as $6 a year, you can gain more in-depth knowledge of words, with access to Meriam’s medical, kids, and legal dictionaries. Try out its free trial and cancel it (if you want to) at anytime.
To spice things up a bit, add a shortcut to ask Siri for a “word of the day”. It notifies you whenever a new phrase comes out.
To summarize, Merriam-Webster is legitimate and, thus far, the most trusted dictionary app for expanding one’s vocabulary.
Free | Supports Apple watch, iOS, Web| android | Siri support
Dictionary.com LLC
It’s one of the largest leading digital dictionaries, stacking up a shipload of content. Not only does it have millions of English words, but it also emphasizes making English grammar better.
Whether you write a journal or are a college student, this app is going to help you polish up your thesaurus.
Along with mugging up a new word every 24 hours, you will learn a new synonym and play quizzes and puzzles all the way through.
While Dictionary.com and Thesaurus are part of each other, you’ll get even more details on words by just switching from one tab to another. You can listen to the pronunciation, bookmark words, and share them socially.
Even though it has an abundance of free stuff already, you may want to remove ads, unlock the offline dictionary, and get definitions and synonyms even without WIFI. It all starts with just a one-time $5 fee.
Free | Apple watch, iOS | Android | Web | Supports Widget | Offline
Daily Word – Word Of The Day
It’s a minimalistic app with run of mill features that gears you towards learning a new word a day. If you merely want to learn a new English word every day, then this is the best option to go for.
Its user interface is quite easy to get the hang of. You’ll find every tool and option right before your eyes in a dark and light theme mode.
Moreover, you can go edge to edge and animate from switching from one window to another.
This daily English word app also allows you to receive daily word notifications. As it’s solely an Android application, you can set a widget as usual.
There is no sign up needed or any in-app purchases. It is fully free and ad-less.
It fetches its words from none other than a gigantic Merriam-Webster dictionary through an API.
So it only shows a bite-sized definition of words compared to the original source that contains in-depth descriptions.
However, you’d find the link to Merriam Webster at the bottom of every page if you’re looking for a detailed explanation of words.
Free | For Android | supports notification and widgets
Word A Day: Learn a new word everyday
This application is the ultimate solution to enhance your vocabulary every day. It’s so lite that it has no other options around other than a new phrase.
If you aim to learn only a single word a day with bite-sized information, don’t look any further.
The only downside to using this app is that it doesn’t have the option to save words. So, you’ve got to jot down words on paper to memorize them.
You can use its translate app and get everything written translated into several languages. Besides, the app has pronunciation audio that will help you utter a phrase the right way.
Unlike similar apps, it is solely dedicated to delivering a new English term every day, being exported from the major sources. It is free but includes ads.
Free | for Android | Supports a widget
Word of the day by biggiko
Another word of the day app for advanced English learners It is straightforward to use and includes a widget. It lets you pick random words that you want to learn.
Also, you can set a notification at any specific time and receive a new word daily. It has a large list of words liked by other users, which you can discover in the Popular Words tab.
When it comes to details, you won’t find it quite comprehensive when learning a new word for a well-defined explanation.
It just shows the basic details with a definition. Anyway, when scrolling down to the bottom, you find a link to look up on Google for far more broader details. This is all it offers for free.
The app peels off ads and has more to offer when you shell out nearly $10 a year, or you can test drive all the premium features for 3 days.
Free | for Android | widget | Supports notification
Knudge.me
Kludge.me is undeniably the best app for English learners who want to supercharge their vocabulary. Whether it is a user interface, features, or content quality, it ticks all the boxes.
It may help you develop phrasal verbs, idioms, grammar, writing, and reading speed. It has an amazing way of teaching grammar that hooks users for so long.
For reading, it has games like Word Checker, Jelly Fizz, Reader’s Digest, Sea Voyage, and Polarity. It includes games for improving your writing as well.
What’s more, you can challenge a friend by sharing the code, or join an existing challenge with the tap of a button. It allows you to personalize the difficulty level of vocabulary and other courses.
It certainly doesn’t support a widget, but you get notified with six words daily. However, you can set the frequency to 1 if you are not willing to learn more than a single word.
To solidly learn what you have learned, it takes a personalized quiz, and you earn more knowledge credits for every right answer.
On the whole, Knudge.me is an intuitive app that helps users bolster their vocabulary and grammar. To have access to a whole lot of premium features, go for the $5 monthly or $25 yearly plans.
The premium features allow you to play more games, add notes, access offline content, and much more.
Freemium | Available for Android and iPhone, Amazon | Android | Notification feature | Offline support
Vocabulary Builder by Rishabh
As the name suggests, it’s another effective word of the day app that allows you to learn a new English word every day. It has a clean user interface that makes it easier to navigate around tools.
Using this app, you can ramp up your vocab quite easily without worrying about taking notes.
It lets you save new words to the starred tab so that you can have a look at what you’ve learned.
Along with getting a daily word, you can scroll down the previous words. In addition, you can randomize words in the random tab.
This app has a widget that you can stick around on a homepage and check daily phrase with a verb, adjective, and bite-sized meaning.
Best of all, it has all kinds of quizzes to test your word knowledge. Surprisingly, the app has garnered over a million downloads so far with a 4.5+ rating.
Free | For Android | Supports widget and notification.
Vocabulary by Monkey Taps
Building a vocabulary has never been easier. This app provided you with the best tools that would catapult you into becoming an articulate English speaker.
It has got a responsive user interface and a bunch of amazing features.
To learn a new word a day with this app, set a widget around a phone’s screen and have a quick glance at it anytime.
The other way around is to check them manually by clicking on the app. Best of all, you can set up how often the widget will update or set up a reminder.
The app allows you to save new words into collections, add your own phrases, share them, and look back over the past vocabulary. Moreover, you can use it as a dictionary to search for new terms.
It has a host of premium features that include an expanded library of categories, themes, no ads, and no watermarks. After the upgrade, it unlocks adjectives, nouns, verbs, and even Spanish phrases.
Free | For Android, iphone | widget | Supports Reminder.
Wrapping up
Thanks for stopping by and reading this article. We’ve put together some of the best word of the day apps that support widgets and notification reminders.
These apps are specifically designed for English learners, Still, a few apps may have support for other languages, like Spanish or French.
Word of the Day API
Small Node app to display a «Word of the Day» with a submit form to add words with a defined language.
Requirements
Before installing and running this app you will need the following other components installed:
- MongoDB
- NodeJS
Installation
To install the app run the following command:
npm install -g word-of-the-day-api
To run the app run the following command:
If you want to run the app in the background you can configure to run at server start by following this guide (Linux):
Install and Start Services
CAUTION: Scripts for Development Only Below!
api-get-all.sh: Get all words existing in database.api-get-single.sh: Get a single word defined by input. Example:sh api-get-single.sh forest.api-get-wotd.sh: Get current word of the day.api-remove-single.sh: Remove a single word defined by input. Example:sh api-remove-single.sh forest.api-reset.sh: Reset current database and fill it with sample data.api-setround.sh: Set current active rotation round for Word of the Day rotation.api-settings-delete.sh: Delete current settings.api-settings-get.sh: Get current settings.api-settings-reset.sh: Reset current settings to default.
Improvements
Structure
- Clone word-of-the-day for the web client
- Install the API to run the WOTD API (npm i -g word-of-the-day-api)
- Run the API service (wotd run)
- Run the web client, or connect to the API from another webapp
A set of 72 words to use as a ‘word of the day’ in class. Designed with Year 6 in mind to help with the word meaning aspect of reading and to increase the range of vocabulary used in written work. Children have the challenge to use the dictionary to look up the meaning of the word (another NC objective) and then write it into a sentence.
Also includes a backing sheet to stick the words onto each day.
Reviews
Something went wrong, please try again later.
This resource hasn’t been reviewed yet
To ensure quality for our reviews, only customers who have purchased this resource can review it
Report this resourceto let us know if it violates our terms and conditions.
Our customer service team will review your report and will be in touch.