Using Buttons to Insert HTML Tags Into Form

[Antithesis]

I would like to know if the following is possible using PHP.

I have a form that inserts into MySQL. The resulting display is comparable to a typical 'message board'. I would like to know how to have a few buttons under the textarea that will insert some basic HTML tags into the text area, such as bold, italics, a href for links, etc.

Any help is, of course, appreciated!

Thanks!
Jesse
http://www.ourstrangeworld.com

[Weedpacket]

Not in PHP, because PHP runs on the server and you want something to run on the client. That means Javascript.

[ucbones]

http://www.interactivetools.com/products/htmlarea/

[Antithesis]

Wow... that wasn't a very thought out question for me to ask, was it?

Hee hee... sorry guys, and thanks!

Antithesis
http://www.ourstrangeworld.com

[mvidberg]

This does not call for a php solution, but rather javascript... here is some that will do the trick for you, in both IE and Netscape/Mozilla!

<script>
function insertAtCursor(myField, myValue) {
//IE support
if (document.selection) {
myField.focus();
sel = document.selection.createRange();
sel.text = myValue;
}
//MOZILLA/NETSCAPE support
else if (myField.selectionStart || myField.selectionStart == '0') {
var startPos = myField.selectionStart;
var endPos = myField.selectionEnd;
myField.value = myField.value.substring(0, startPos)
+ myValue
+ myField.value.substring(endPos, myField.value.length);
} else {
myField.value += myValue;
}
}
</script>

Example usage:

<input type="button" value="Bold" onClick="insertAtCursor(document.formName.fieldName, '<B>');">