setting default value for a from text box

[jjmusicpro]

setting default value for a from text box

 

so i created a form with username firstname lastname and description.

I wanted the description field to be filled with a default value of "worker", but if they type over that, i wanted it to enter that value into db.

 

i just didnt know if the value="worker" will almost make the desciprtion box worker.

[Cep]

If your setting a default value for a specific set of data (one the user cannot customise) you really want to use a drop down menu instead.

 

If your users can customise the data in the field then you would only need to check for a blank or null value and then use an if statement like this,

 

<?php

if ($_POST['myvalue']==="") {
$myvalue = "worker";
}

?>

 

Of course you would have first validated the post variable before reaching this point.

[discomatt]

for a textarea (I'm assuming for a description field) there should not be a value attribute.

 

<textarea>Default value here</textarea>

[jjmusicpro]

yeah not text areas, these will be text box's.

 

by default i want the text box to say "worker" but also give them an option to type in whatever over that..

 

but i dont want it to pass the default text "worker"  if its been typed over.

 

I think if i used "value=worker" for a text box, regardless of what they put in, it will always be worker.

[discomatt]

Incorrect. Value will be ignored if the user typed in something different. This is really on the browser side of things though... so if it's not working for you, try using a standardized browser like FireFox, Opera, or even IE7.

[Cep]

Ah no, as discomatt says if another value is written into the textbox the default will be ignored so you can safely use the attribute value="worker" for a default value.