HTML - Retain placeholder text while user inputs

My input is structured like this:

<input value="My text" placeholder="Placeholder">

Typing in the input causes the placeholder text to disappear, which is expected.

However, I am looking to keep the placeholder text visible as a background behind the text that the user inputs:

In addition, I would like to have the ability to change the background text using JavaScript.

Answer №1

A more efficient solution achieved with ease effect using CSS. See the code snippet here: http://jsfiddle.net/csdtesting/wbqq129q/

  • Before inputting any text:

  • While entering text:

Code:

#login {
  font-size: 12px;
  margin: 0 auto;
  width: 700px;
}
#login li {
  float: left;
  list-style: none;
  margin-left: 30px;
  position: relative;
}
#login li:first-child {
  margin-left: 0;
}
label {
  line-height: 40px;
  position: absolute;
  right: 120px;
  top: 0;
  bottom: 0;
  -moz-transition: 0.3s right ease;
  -ms-transition: 0.3s right ease;
  -o-transition: 0.3s right ease;
  -webkit-transition: 0.3s right ease;
  transition: 0.3s right ease;
  z-index: 0
}
input {
  color: transparent;
  font-size: 12px;
  height: 35px;
  -moz-border-radius: 3px;
  -webkit-border-radius: 3px;
  border-radius: 3px;
  -moz-transition: 0.3s all ease;
  -ms-transition: 0.3s all ease;
  -o-transition: 0.3s all ease;
  -webkit-transition: 0.3s all ease;
  transition: 0.3s all ease;
}
input[type="email"],
input[type="password"] {
  border: 1px solid #ccc;
  height: 35px;
  padding: 0 10px;
  width: 240px;
  position: relative;
  -moz-box-shadow: inset 0 0 10px rgba(0, 0, 0, .06);
  -webkit-box-shadow: inset 0 0 10px rgba(0, 0, 0, .06);
  box-shadow: inset 0 0 10px rgba(0, 0, 0, .06);
  z-index: 2;
}
input[type="email"] {
  color: rgba(47, 130, 194, .8);
}
/* Placeholder */

input[type="email"]:-moz-placeholder {
  color: rgba(47, 130, 194, .6);
}
input[type="email"]:-ms-input-placeholder {
  color: rgba(47, 130, 194, .6);
}
input[type="email"]::-webkit-input-placeholder {
  color: rgba(47, 130, 194, .6);
}
/* Label */

input[type="email"] + label {
  color: rgb(47, 130, 194);
}
input:focus + label {
  right: 10px;
}
input[type="email"]:focus,
input[type="password"]:focus {
  background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, .8);
}
/* Submit */

input[type="submit"] {
  background-color: #333;
  background: -moz-linear-gradient(bottom, #333, #444);
  background: -ms-linear-gradient(bottom, #333, #444);
  background: -o-linear-gradient(bottom, #333, #444);
  background: -webkit-linear-gradient(bottom, #333, #444);
  background: linear-gradient(bottom, #333, #444);
  border: 1px solid #222;
  color: #fff;
  cursor: pointer;
  height: 35px;
  width: 110px;
}
<form id="login">
  <ul>
    <li>
      <input id="email" name="email" placeholder="Your Email" title="Your Email" type="email" required />
      <label for="email">Your Email</label>
    </li>
  </ul>
</form>

Answer №2

It's challenging to come up with a practical use case for such behavior since it could potentially hinder user input.

One possible approach would be to utilize the input::after method, although this feature is currently not supported by any browser (credit to @JukkaK.Korpela).

Alternatively, you can achieve a similar effect using a wrapper element and a data attribute like so:

<div class="placeholder" data-placeholder="my placeholder">
    <input value="My text" />  
</div>

Applying the following CSS styling:

.placeholder
{
    position: relative;
}

.placeholder::after
{
    position: absolute;
    left: 5px;
    top: 3px;
    content: attr(data-placeholder);
    pointer-events: none;
    opacity: 0.6;
}

Resulting in:

Check out the jsFiddle demo here.


If you find that significant adjustments are needed to enhance the appearance, you may want to consider utilizing the wrapping <div> element as an input field look-alike:

<div class="editable" data-placeholder="my placeholder">
    <input type="text" value="my Text" />
</div>

CSS:

.editable
{
    position: relative;
    border: 1px solid gray;
    padding: 3px;
    background-color: white;
    box-shadow: rgba(0,0,0,0.4) 2px 2px 2px inset;
}

.editable > input
{
    position: relative;
    z-index: 1;
    border: none;
    background-color: transparent;
    box-shadow: none;
    width: 100%;
}

.editable::after
{
    position: absolute;
    left: 4px;
    top: 5px;
    content: attr(data-placeholder);
    pointer-events: none;
    opacity: 0.5;
    z-index: 1;
}

View Demo 3 (with mocked <input />) here.

Explore Demo 2 (with contenteditable) here.

Answer №3

If you want to achieve a similar effect, consider implementing the following code:

HTML structure:

<div class="container">
  <input type="text">
  <span class="placeholder-text">Enter text here</span>
</div>

CSS styling:

.container {
  position: relative;
}

input {
  font-size: 16px;
  height: 50px;
}

.placeholder-text {
  position: absolute;
  font-size: 20px;
  pointer-events: none;
  left: 5px;
  top: 5px;
  transition: 0.2s ease all;
}

input:focus ~ .placeholder-text {
  top: -15px;
  font-size: 14px;
}

Check out the demo on JSFiddle

Answer №4

.box {
  border: 1px solid;
  border-radius: 10px;
  padding: .25rem 1rem 1rem;
  color: #555;
  font-family: sans-serif;
  display: flex;
  flex-direction: column;
  width: max-content;
}

.wrapper {
  position: relative;
  width: 450px;
}

.wrapper * {
  font-size: 1.25rem;
  letter-spacing: 2px;
  font-family: monospace;
  padding: .125rem .25rem;
  display: flex;
  width: calc(100% - 1rem);
}

input {
  width: 4000px;
  border: 0;
}

.placeholder {
  position: absolute;
  pointer-events: none;
  left: 0;
  top: 0;
  width: min-content;
}
<div class="box">
  <h2>Short Homepage Headline</h2>
  <p>Use up tp 30 characters</p>
  <div class="wrapper">
    <input type="text">
    <span class="placeholder">
      ______________________________
    </span>
  </div>
</div>

What do you think of the functionality, use case scenario, and overall design?
(attempting to address some of the issues mentioned earlier)

  1. Would a character limit of 30 underscores in the placeholder text be sufficient?
  2. Uniform font size, monospace style, and consistent letter spacing for all elements?

https://i.sstatic.net/RyN6A.png

This could serve as a useful tool for headline writers to monitor character count without using JavaScript. It provides insight into how the headline fits within the template's constraints, although the limit is flexible.

Answer №5

To achieve this, you can utilize the 'onchange' handler. Develop a function that appends the remaining placeholder text to what the user has typed and positions the cursor at the end of the input.

Below is some conceptual javascript/pseudocode, though untested and incomplete:

userTextLength: 0, 
placeholder: "xx/yy/zz",
onchange: function() {
  boxText = document.querySelector('#elem').value;
  if (boxText.length === 1) { 
    this.userTextLength++;
    placeholder = boxText.slice(userTextLength);
    userText = boxText.slice(0, userTextLength);
    document.querySelector('#elem').innerHTML = userText + placeholder;
  }
  if (boxText.length < placeholder.length) { 

  }
  else { 
    this.userTextLength += 1;
    userInput = 
  }
}

I did not address cursor focusing here, which would require an 'onfocus' event utilizing the userTextLength property to determine its placement. For guidance on how to do this, check out this helpful answer on Stack Overflow.

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