wordpress random tag issue - php

Question

I am having issue with a wordpress Tag CLoud Plugin.
I want to show random tags but i am confused how to do this.
the codes are given below.
I want to show random tags. like if i select to show just 5 tags and when each time i refrest the screen the tags should appear randomly.
function widget_tagcloud($args){
$option_value = retrieve_options($opt_val);
extract($args);
echo $before_widget;
echo $before_title;
echo $option_value['title'];
echo $after_title;
global $wpdb;
$tags_list = get_terms('post_tag', array(
'orderby' => 'count',
'hide_empty' => 0
));
if(sizeof($tags_list)!=0){
$max_count = 0;
if(!empty($option_value['height'])) $canvas_height = $option_value['height'];
else $canvas_height = "250";
if(!empty($option_value['width'])) $canvas_width = $option_value['width'];
else $canvas_width = "250";
foreach($tags_list as $tag) if($tag->count > $max_count) $max_count = $tag->count;?>
<div id="myCanvasContainer">
<canvas width="<?php echo $canvas_width;?>" height="<?php echo $canvas_height;?>" id="myCanvas">
<p>Tags</p>
</canvas>
</div>
<div id="tags">
<ul style="
font-family: <?php if(!empty($option_value['font_name'])) echo $option_value['font_name'];
else echo "Calibri";?>;
height:
<?php
if(!empty($option_value['height'])) echo $option_value['height'];
else echo "250";
?>px;
width:
<?php
if(!empty($option_value['width'])) echo $option_value['width'];
else echo "250";
?>px;
background-color: #<?php if(!empty($option_value['bg_color'])) echo $option_value['bg_color'];
else echo "FFF";?>;
">
<?php
if(empty($option_value['no_of_tags'])) $option_value['no_of_tags'] = 15;
if(empty($option_value['txt_color'])) $option_value['txt_color'] = "000";
if(empty($option_value['max_font_size'])) $option_value['max_font_size'] = 40;
if(empty($option_value['min_font_size'])) $option_value['max_font_size'] = 3;
$i=1;
foreach($tags_list as $tag){
if($i <= $option_value['no_of_tags']){
$font_size = $option_value['max_font_size'] - (($max_count - $tag->count)*2);
if($font_size < $option_value['min_font_size']) $font_size = $option_value['min_font_size'];
echo '<li><a href="'.$_SERVER['PHP_SELF'].'?tag='.$tag->slug.'"
style="font-size:'.$font_size.'px;color: #'.$option_value['txt_color'].';">'
.$tag->name.'</a></li>';
$i++;
}
}
echo '</ul></div>';
}
else echo "No tags found";
echo $after_widget;
}

Answer 1

Accordind to your code: (this part especially)
$tags_list = get_terms('post_tag', array(
'orderby' => 'count',
'hide_empty' => 0
));
The tags which you get are ordered by count , therefore - they are not randomly picked.
You can try and use the next code:
$tags_list = get_terms('post_tag', array(
'number' => 5,
'orderby' => 'none',
'hide_empty' => 0
));
And if that doesn't work , build a customized query using the RAND function of mysql.
EDIT: based on your code , you can do is even easier by using the shuffle() php function.
Just replace:
$max_count = 0;
With:
$max_count = 5;
shuffle($tags_list);