Textarea accepts several lines of text, such as feedback or a message. Its starting text is written between its opening and closing tags. We will keep the example small, so you can see how the fields work without building a whole application first.
What You Need to Know
Rows and cols suggest dimensions, but CSS controls responsive layout more flexibly. A textarea still needs a label and a name to submit a value.
A form is like a question sheet. The label asks the question, the control holds the answer, and the name tells the receiving application what that answer is called.
Example: See It in Action
Here is a simple example to experiment with. Type it, save the file, and check what the browser displays.
This is a short HTML fragment. To try it as a webpage, put it inside the body element of a complete HTML document.
<form action="/feedback" method="post">
<label for="feedback">Your feedback</label>
<textarea id="feedback" name="feedback" rows="4" cols="30">Please add more lessons.</textarea>
<button type="submit">Send</button>
</form>Let’s Understand the Example
- Textarea accepts multiple lines of text; its initial text goes between the opening and closing tags.
- Label tells people what a control is for. For connects the label to the control with the matching id.
- Action names the destination where the browser sends a form submission. A real server handler must exist there.
- Method controls how a form submits; GET makes values part of the URL, while POST sends them in the request body.
- For links a label to the input whose id matches, so clicking the label can focus the control.
- Id gives one element a unique name within the page, so a link, label, or script can point to it.
The browser can submit values with keys such as feedback. A control without a name normally contributes no entry. Whether the submission produces a result depends on the action URL and the server behind it.
What Should You See?
You should see controls for Your feedback. The example uses an input of type text and sends a POST request when submitted. If the action points to a missing server endpoint, the browser cannot complete the task.
Choose one field and predict its submitted name and value. Then change the value and check whether the browser accepts it. Do not assume that a working-looking form has a real server behind it.
Try It Yourself
- Change the default message and resize the control in the browser.
- Save your changes, open or refresh the page, and compare the result with the original example.
- Tell a friend what your change did. If you are not sure, undo it, refresh the page, and compare.
Common Beginner Mistakes
- Trying to use a value attribute to set a textarea's initial content.
- Client-side HTML validation is a helpful first check, not a security boundary. A real receiving application must validate the values again.
Key Takeaways
- Textarea accepts several lines of text, such as feedback or a message.
- Textarea accepts multiple lines of text; its initial text goes between the opening and closing tags.
- Rows and cols suggest dimensions, but CSS controls responsive layout more flexibly. A textarea still needs a label and a name to submit a value.