Formatting a specific portion of the content within the placeholder

I need to adjust the CSS style for a specific part of a placeholder, not the entire placeholder text.

For example, if my placeholder text is: "Where (example: New York)"

<label>Search:</label>
<textarea placeholder="Where (example: New York)" required="required">
</textarea>

Is it possible to make only (example: New York) italicized?

To see how to format all placeholders, refer to this link

Answer №1

Perhaps... with caution.

In certain browsers, it is possible to style the :before pseudo element on the placeholder, but it's not recommended to do so directly in the placeholder attribute itself:

::-webkit-input-placeholder {
   color: #ABABAB;
   font-style: italic;
}
:-moz-placeholder { /* Firefox 18- */
   color: #ABABAB;
   font-style: italic;
}
::-moz-placeholder {  /* Firefox 19+ */
   color: #ABABAB;
   font-style: italic;
}
:-ms-input-placeholder {  
   color: #ABABAB;
   font-style: italic;
}
/* prepend the 'Search' prefix */
::-webkit-input-placeholder:before {
    content: "Search ";
    font-style: normal;  
}
:-moz-placeholder:before {
    content: "Search ";
    font-style: normal;  
}
::-moz-placeholder:before {
    content: "Search ";
    font-style: normal;  
}
:-ms-input-placeholder:before {
    content: "Search ";
    font-style: normal;  
}
<textarea placeholder="(example: brown fox)" required="required"></textarea>

While this technique may work in Chrome, results can vary. It's important to note that styling placeholders in this way may not be universally supported and goes against best practices as they are meant to provide users with guidance rather than purely aesthetic enhancements.

It's advisable to refrain from extensively modifying placeholders beyond basic font and color adjustments.

For more information, visit: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTML/Element/input#attr-placeholder.

An effective form design incorporates the use of label, placeholder, and title attributes to clearly communicate input expectations. Modern browsers leverage the title attribute when prompting users to correct invalid field entries. Consider this example:

<form>
    <label>Search:
        <input name="searchterms" 
               type="search" 
               placeholder="keyword/s" 
               required="required" 
               title="Space-separated keywords only" />
    </label>
    <input type="submit" value="go" />
</form>

Answer №2

Consider the purpose and significance of placeholders. Many UI experts emphasize that placeholders are distinct from labels. Labels like "Search" should be separate from the input field, while placeholders serve as sample inputs or formats rather than instructions. Using placeholders in a label-like manner can lead to the information disappearing as soon as the user interacts with the field.

For example, if you have an input field for a phone number, the label should read "Phone Number," while the placeholder could be something like "212-555-1234." In your specific case, "Search" would be the label, and "brown fox" would be the placeholder text. If you do decide to italicize the entire placeholder (although it may not be necessary), you can easily achieve this using placeholder pseudo-elements.

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