HTML Text Fields

HTML Text Fields

Text fields are small rectangles that allow a user to simply input some text and submit that information to the web server.

This information is usually then processed through a server side scripting language such as PHP, PERL, or ASP.

HTML Text Field Size

We can control the size of the text area by specifying the size attribute. The example below provides 3 different sizes for your text fields. The default size is around 20 characters long.

<input type="text" size="5" />

<input type="text" size="15" />

<input type="text" size="25" />

 

Changing the size attribute changes the size of the display of the text field on our site.

HTML Text Field Maxlength

Without specifying a maxlength attribute, the viewer is able to type as many characters as they wish into the text field (even if you specify a size). To limit the number of characters a user can type into your fields, always specify a maxlength, generally this should match the size of your field.

<input type="text" size="5" maxlength="5" />

<input type="text" size="15" maxlength="15" />

<input type="text" size="25" maxlength="25" />

 

HTML Text Field Value

Using the value attribute, we could pre-populate our text fields with some information. Later on as you develop your skills with a scripting language such as PHP, this will become more useful as you will be able to pre-populate text fields for returning users through the use of session variables.

<input type="text" size="5" maxlength="5" value="30000" />

<input type="text" size="15" maxlength="15" value="Coading" />

<input type="text" size="25" maxlength="25" value="Hi Script Tutorials!" />