Text in HTML Field to disappear when clicked?

Question

I can easily create a html input field that has text already in it. But when the user clicks on the input field the text doesn't disappears but stays there. The user then has to manually remove the text to type. How can I create an input field where when the user clicks on the input field box the text then disappear?

Answer 1

What you want to do is use the HTML5 attribute placeholder which lets you set a default value for your input box:

<input type="text" name="inputBox" placeholder="enter your text here">

This should achieve what you're looking for. However, be careful because the placeholder attribute is not supported in Internet Explorer 9 and earlier versions.

Answer 2

To accomplish that, you can use the two events onfocus and onblur:

<input type="text" name="theName" value="DefaultValue"
  onblur="if(this.value==''){ this.value='DefaultValue'; this.style.color='#BBB';}"
  onfocus="if(this.value=='DefaultValue'){ this.value=''; this.style.color='#000';}"
  style="color:#BBB;" />

Answer 3

try this one out.

<label for="user">user</label>
<input type="text" name="user" 
onfocus="if(this.value==this.defaultValue)this.value=''"    
onblur="if(this.value=='')this.value=this.defaultValue" 
value="username" maxlength="19" />

hope this helps.

Answer 4

This is as simple I think the solution that should solve all your problems:

<input name="myvalue" id="valueText" type="text" value="ENTER VALUE">

This is your submit button:

<input type="submit" id= "submitBtn" value="Submit">

then put this small jQuery in a js file:

//this will submit only if the value is not default
$("#submitBtn").click(function () {
    if ($("#valueText").val() === "ENTER VALUE")
    {
        alert("please insert a valid value");
        return false;
    }
});

//this will put default value if the field is empty
$("#valueText").blur(function () {
    if(this.value == ''){ 
        this.value = 'ENTER VALUE';
    }
}); 

 //this will empty the field is the value is the default one
 $("#valueText").focus(function () {
    if (this.value == 'ENTER VALUE') {
        this.value = ''; 
    }
});

And it works also in older browsers. Plus it can easily be converted to normal javascript if you need.

Answer 5

Use the placeholder attribute. The text disappears when the user starts typing. This is an example of a project I am working on:

<div class="" id="search-form">
    <input type="text" name="" value="" class="form-control" placeholder="Search..." >
</div>

Answer 6

Simple as this: <input type="text" name="email" value="e-mail..." onFocus="this.value=''">

Answer 7

How about something like this?

<input name="myvalue" type="text" onfocus="if(this.value=='enter value')this.value='';" onblur="if(this.value=='')this.value='enter value';">

This will clear upon focusing the first time, but then won't clear on subsequent focuses after the user enters their value, when left blank it restores the given value.