HTML vs Textarea Linebreaks

[F_SH]

Hello

Not sure if this is a PHP query or not but I suspect PHP is the answer...

I have a beautiful site with a handy news-updating textarea. The idea is that the user can type some article, which will be stored in a database to be regurgitated to any other users.

The problem is that the way textareas handle line breaks is not the way HTML does. Consequently, any linebreaks the author has entered (via the 'return' key) to the textarea is disregarded on the HTML, creating an ugly mass of text.

Since I'm trying to make this site as user-friendly as possible, I'm avoiding instructions that say to use "<br />" as the line break. What I want is for the textarea's linebreaks to be converted to <br />s. I would use a simple strreplace() function but I don't know what the character for a line break is, if there even is one...

Any ideas?

Also, a CSS question: normally textareas are sized by column and row counts. Is there a way to make them sized like everything else, ie, a {width: 50%;} sort of thing?

[halojoy]

hello

this is a bit of my work of developing nice and simple blog script
I have a DEMO online, if anybody is interested

textarea input is processed with a couple of operations
before is stored in simple text file
and Ready for use, in HTML Output format

( makes it fast to use later - no php processing
just include HTML Code, when display blog )

this works for me:

<?php

// Add textarea entry to halojoy blog flat file
// halojoy July 2005

$contents = "entry is empty";

$text = trim($_POST['text']);
if( empty($text) || $text=="text") {
$message = "Add Your Text. Can use HTML Tags.";
}

else {

$text = nl2br( $text );
$contents = "<p>\r\n$text\r\n</p><hr>\r\n\r\n";

// store $contents in flat file here
// fwrite append to blog file.txt

$message = "Entry added. Another entry?";

}  // End add entry

// setup form code with textarea and submit button + link back HOME
$form = '<form method="post" action="">'."\r\n";
$form .= '<textarea name="text" cols="60" rows="10">text</textarea></p>'."\r\n";
$form .= "<p><input type='submit' value='SUBMIT' />&nbsp;\n<input type='reset' value='Reset' />&nbsp;\n<input type='submit' name='index' value='BACK to Index' />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;\n<b><font color='red'>" . $message . "</font></b></p>"."\r\n";
$form .= '</form>'."\r\n";

// Display page with textarea form
// and also last Entry resulting contents

// include( "./inc/header.php" );
echo $form;
echo "<hr>";
echo $contents;
// include( "./inc/footer.php" );

exit; // wait for input

?>

[Rodney_H_]

F*SH wrote:

Also, a CSS question: normally textareas are sized by column and row counts. Is there a way to make them sized like everything else, ie, a {width: 50%;} sort of thing?

Yes. You can use CSS to help you define/design form elements. I read a great book a little while ago about CSS written by Eric Meyer, who has a site with projects from the book. You can download an example of his use of CSS and form elements here or you can check out an article from sitepoint

You can do exactly as you have suggested:
<style type="text/css" media="all">
textarea { width: 50%;}
</style>

😃

[halojoy]

Rodney H. wrote:

Yes. You can use CSS to help you define/design form elements. I read a great book a little while ago about CSS written by Eric Meyer, who has a site with projects from the book. You can download an example of his use of CSS and form elements here or you can check out an article from sitepoint

You can do exactly as you have suggested:
<style type="text/css" media="all">
textarea { width: 50%;}
</style>

😃

Yes, true

and also change background color and font color and whatever font size and font family

If I am not toally wrong ... also like this
( at least i have managed to set custom style to my FORM elements )

using:
in tag style setting
<textarea style="background:cyan; color:blue; font-style:italic">

and

<css style>
INPUT.old_fashion {
background: #66FFFF;
color: #CC0000;
}
</style>
<INPUT class="old_fashion" type="xxxx">
<textarea ...>

halojoy

[halojoy]

FISH or FOSH or FASH or FUSH or FESH or FYSH
FÅSH or FÄSH or FÖSH or FÜSH

Did this solve anything for you ....
- about using CSS in <FORM elements>
- about linebreak in submitted text

php function manual: [man]nl2br[/man]

:o :mad: 🙂 :mad: :o

[F_SH]

Yes, sorry, that looks like just the perfect function. I'll give it a go. And since it doesn't replace the standard linebreaks, I just strip them if the text is ever edited in another box.

As I suspected with the CSS. It can do everything.

Cheers guys. Sorry bout the delay, my 'net access is sketchy at best out here...