HTML textarea Tag

The HTML <textarea> tag is used to create a multi-line text input field in a web form. It allows users to enter and edit multiple lines of text, such as longer messages, comments, or descriptions.

Here’s an example of how the <textarea> tag can be used:

<textarea rows="4" cols="50" placeholder="Enter your message"></textarea>

In the above example, the <textarea> tag is used to create a text input field with a height of 4 rows and a width of 50 characters (columns). The rows and cols attributes determine the visible dimensions of the textarea.

The placeholder attribute provides a hint or instructional text that is displayed inside the textarea until the user starts typing. It helps provide guidance to the user about the expected input.

Unlike single-line text inputs created with the <input> tag, the <textarea> tag can contain multiple lines of text. Users can navigate within the textarea using the keyboard’s Enter key to create new lines.

To retrieve the value entered in the <textarea> using server-side processing or JavaScript, you can use the name attribute to assign a name to the textarea. For example:

<textarea name="message" rows="4" cols="50" placeholder="Enter your message"></textarea>

In this case, when the form is submitted, the value entered in the textarea will be sent to the server with the name “message”, and you can access it for further processing.

You can also style the <textarea> element using CSS to customize its appearance, such as changing the font, background color, borders, and more.

The <textarea> tag is a valuable form element for collecting and editing longer text inputs. It provides a convenient way for users to enter and edit multi-line content within web forms.