HTML: what's the purpose of (difference between) text within element compared to (and) that in the placeholder attribute?</a></h1> </div> <div class="grid fw-wrap pb8 mb16 bb bc-black-075"> <div class="grid--cell ws-nowrap mr16 mb8" title="2016-01-12 19:07:53Z"> <span class="fc-light mr2">Asked</span> <time itemprop="dateCreated" datetime="2017-04-18T23:07:14.730" class="fromnow">Apr 18 '17 at 23:07</time> </div> <div class="grid--cell ws-nowrap mr16 mb8"> <span class="fc-light mr2">Active</span> <time class="fromnow" title="2017-04-18T23:42:41.943" datetime="2017-04-18T23:42:41.943">Apr 18 '17 at 23:42</a> </div> <div class="grid--cell ws-nowrap mb8" title="Viewed 88 times"> <span class="fc-light mr2">Viewed</span> 88 times </div> </div> <div id="mainbar" role="main" aria-label="questions and answers"> <div id="question" class="question" data-questionid="43483647" data-ownerid="7093241" data-score="1"> <div class="post-layout"> <div class="votecell post-layout--left"> <div class="js-voting-container grid jc-center fd-column ai-stretch gs4 fc-black-200" data-post-id="43483647"> <button class="js-vote-up-btn grid--cell s-btn s-btnunset c-pointer"><svg aria-hidden="true" class="m0 svg-icon iconArrowUpLg" width="36" height="36" viewBox="0 0 36 36"><path d="M2 26h32L18 10 2 26z"></path></svg></button> <div class="js-vote-count grid--cell fc-black-500 fs-title grid fd-column ai-center" itemprop="upvoteCount" data-value="1">1</div> <button class="js-bookmark-btn s-btn s-btnunset c-pointer py4"> <svg aria-hidden="true" class="svg-icon iconBookmark" width="18" height="18" viewBox="0 0 18 18"><path d="M6 1a2 2 0 00-2 2v14l5-4 5 4V3a2 2 0 00-2-2H6zm3.9 3.83h2.9l-2.35 1.7.9 2.77L9 7.59l-2.35 1.7.9-2.76-2.35-1.7h2.9L9 2.06l.9 2.77z"></path></svg> <div class="js-bookmark-count mt4" data-value="0">0</div> </button> </div> </div> <div class="postcell post-layout--right"> <div class="s-prose js-post-body" itemprop="text"><p>If you can use placeholder="visible text", why would one need to have something within the <code><textarea></code> tags especially when the user has to manually delete this text? Is there any difference between the 2 code snippets below other than what I mentioned?</p> <pre><code><textarea name="textarea" rows="10" cols="50"> Write something here</textarea> </code></pre> <p>versus</p> <pre><code><textarea name="textarea" rows="10" cols="50" placeholder="Write something here"> </textarea> </code></pre> <p>The first code snippet is from: <a class="external-link" href="https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTML/Element/textarea" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTML/Element/textarea</a></p> <p>I saw this question[ <a href="../../questions/5021919/html-placeholder-text-in-a-textarea-form">Html placeholder text in a textarea form</a> ] as related when typing this question but I couldn't find my answer here.</p></div> <div class="mt24 mb12"> <div class="post-taglist grid gs4 gsy fd-column"> <div class="grid ps-relative"> <a href="../../questions/tagged/html" class="post-tag js-gps-track" title="show questions tagged 'html'" rel="tag">html</a> <a href="../../questions/tagged/tags" class="post-tag js-gps-track" title="show questions tagged 'tags'" rel="tag">tags</a> </div> </div> </div> <div class="mb0"> <div class="mt16 grid gs8 gsy fw-wrap jc-end ai-start pt4 mb16"> <div class="grid--cell mr16 fl1 w96"></div> <div class="post-signature grid--cell"> <div class="s-user-card s-user-card"> <time class="s-user-card--time" datetime="edited May 23 '17 at 12:09">edited May 23 '17 at 12:09</time> <a href="../../users/-1/community" class="s-avatar s-avatar32 s-user-card--avatar"> <img class="s-avatar--image" src="../../users/profiles/-1.webp" data-jdenticon-width="32" data-jdenticon-height="32" data-jdenticon-value="Community" /> </a> <div class="s-user-card--info"> <a href="../../users/-1/community" class="s-user-card--link">Community</a> <ul class="s-user-card--awards"> <li class="s-user-card--rep" title="reputation score">1</li> <li class="s-award-bling s-award-blingsilver" title="1 silver badges">1</li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> <div class="post-signature owner grid--cell"> <div class="s-user-card s-user-card"> <time class="s-user-card--time" datetime="asked Apr 18 '17 at 23:07">asked Apr 18 '17 at 23:07</time> <a href="../../users/7093241/heretoinfinity" class="s-avatar s-avatar32 s-user-card--avatar"> <img class="s-avatar--image" src="../../users/profiles/7093241.webp" data-jdenticon-width="32" data-jdenticon-height="32" data-jdenticon-value="heretoinfinity" /> </a> <div class="s-user-card--info"> <a href="../../users/7093241/heretoinfinity" class="s-user-card--link">heretoinfinity</a> <ul class="s-user-card--awards"> <li class="s-user-card--rep" title="reputation score">1,528</li> <li class="s-award-bling s-award-blinggold" title="3 gold badges">3</li> <li class="s-award-bling s-award-blingsilver" title="14 silver badges">14</li> <li class="s-award-bling s-award-blingbronze" title="33 bronze badges">33</li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="post-layout--right js-post-comments-component"> <div id="comments-43483647" class="comments js-comments-container bt bc-black-075 mt12 " data-post-id="43483647" data-min-length="15"> <ul class="comments-list js-comments-list" data-remaining-comments-count="0" data-canpost="false" data-cansee="true" data-comments-unavailable="false" data-addlink-disabled="true"> <li id="comment-74023121" class="comment js-comment " data-comment-id="74023121" data-comment-owner-id="3846106" data-comment-score="1"> <div class="js-comment-actions comment-actions"> <div class="comment-score js-comment-edit-hide"> <span title="number of 'useful comment' votes received" class="warm">1</span> </div> </div> <div class="comment-text js-comment-text-and-form"> <a name="comment74023121_43483647"></a> <div class="comment-body js-comment-edit-hide"> <span class="comment-copy">You might want the user to edit the content of a textarea instead of simply substituting it.</span> – <a href="../../users/3846106/afusco" title="474 reputation" class="comment-user ">AFusco</a> <span class="comment-date" dir="ltr"><a class="comment-link" href="../../questions/43483647/html-what-s-the-purpose-of-difference-between-text-within-textarea-element-com#comment74023121_43483647"><span title="2017-04-18T23:11:08.257 License: CC BY-SA 3.0" class="relativetime-clean">Apr 18 '17 at 23:11</span></a></span> </div> </div> </li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div id="answers"> <a name="tab-top"></a> <div id="answers-header"> <div class="answers-subheader grid ai-center mb8"> <div class="grid--cell fl1"> <h2 class="mb0" data-answercount="9">2 Answers<span style="display:none;" itemprop="answerCount">2</span></h2> </div> </div> </div> <a name="43483675"></a> <div id="answer-43483675" class="answer accepted-answer" data-answerid="43483675" data-ownerid="19068" data-score="1" itemprop="acceptedAnswer" itemscope="" itemtype="https://schema.org/Answer"> <div class="post-layout"> <div class="votecell post-layout--left"> <div class="js-voting-container grid jc-center fd-column ai-stretch gs4 fc-black-200" data-post-id="43483675"> <button class="js-vote-up-btn grid--cell s-btn s-btn__unset c-pointer"><svg aria-hidden="true" class="m0 svg-icon iconArrowUpLg" width="36" height="36" viewBox="0 0 36 36"><path d="M2 26h32L18 10 2 26z"></path></svg></button> <div class="js-vote-count grid--cell fc-black-500 fs-title grid fd-column ai-center" itemprop="upvoteCount" data-value="1">1</div> <div class="js-accepted-answer-indicator grid--cell fc-green-500 py6 mtn8"><div class="ta-center"><svg aria-hidden="true" class="svg-icon iconCheckmarkLg" width="36" height="36" viewBox="0 0 36 36"><path d="m6 14 8 8L30 6v8L14 30l-8-8v-8z"></path></svg></div></div> </div> </div> <div class="postcell post-layout--right"> <div class="s-prose js-post-body" itemprop="text"><p>A placeholder is a hint or example to help a user fill in the correct information. You might use it to say, for example, "Your full postal address, including the post code". Be careful <a class="external-link" href="http://www.456bereastreet.com/archive/201204/the_html5_placeholder_attribute_is_not_a_substitute_for_the_label_element/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">not to use it as a substitute for a label element</a>.</p> <p>The content is a default value. You might use it to put the user's current address so that they can edit it to correct a mistake without having to retype the whole thing.</p></div> <div class="mb0"> <div class="mt16 grid gs8 gsy fw-wrap jc-end ai-start pt4 mb16"> <div class="grid--cell mr16 fl1 w96"></div> <div class="post-signature grid--cell"> <div class="s-user-card s-user-card"> <time class="s-user-card--time" datetime="answered Apr 18 '17 at 23:10">answered Apr 18 '17 at 23:10</time> <a href="../../users/19068/quentin" class="s-avatar s-avatar32 s-user-card--avatar"> <img class="s-avatar--image" src="../../users/profiles/19068.webp" data-jdenticon-width="32" data-jdenticon-height="32" data-jdenticon-value="Quentin" /> </a> <div class="s-user-card--info"> <a href="../../users/19068/quentin" class="s-user-card--link">Quentin</a> <ul class="s-user-card--awards"> <li class="s-user-card--rep" title="reputation score">914,110</li> <li class="s-award-bling s-award-blinggold" title="126 gold badges">126</li> <li class="s-award-bling s-award-blingsilver" title="1,211 silver badges">1,211</li> <li class="s-award-bling s-award-blingbronze" title="1,335 bronze badges">1,335</li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="post-layout--right js-post-comments-component"> </div> </div> </div> <a name="43483959"></a> <div id="answer-43483959" class="answer " data-answerid="43483959" data-ownerid="5720436" data-score="1" itemprop="suggestedAnswer" itemscope="" itemtype="https://schema.org/Answer"> <div class="post-layout"> <div class="votecell post-layout--left"> <div class="js-voting-container grid jc-center fd-column ai-stretch gs4 fc-black-200" data-post-id="43483959"> <button class="js-vote-up-btn grid--cell s-btn s-btnunset c-pointer"><svg aria-hidden="true" class="m0 svg-icon iconArrowUpLg" width="36" height="36" viewBox="0 0 36 36"><path d="M2 26h32L18 10 2 26z"></path></svg></button> <div class="js-vote-count grid--cell fc-black-500 fs-title grid fd-column ai-center" itemprop="upvoteCount" data-value="1">1</div> </div> </div> <div class="postcell post-layout--right"> <div class="s-prose js-post-body" itemprop="text"><p>You might need to have some text between the tags if the user needs to modify it.</p> <p>For example, if you ask the user for their house number, road name, city and country and display that as an address in a textarea so that they can modify it and add any missing information since that would differ from a user to another.</p></div> <div class="mb0"> <div class="mt16 grid gs8 gsy fw-wrap jc-end ai-start pt4 mb16"> <div class="grid--cell mr16 fl1 w96"></div> <div class="post-signature grid--cell"> <div class="s-user-card s-user-card"> <time class="s-user-card--time" datetime="answered Apr 18 '17 at 23:42">answered Apr 18 '17 at 23:42</time> <a href="../../users/5720436/ouissal" class="s-avatar s-avatar32 s-user-card--avatar"> <img class="s-avatar--image" src="../../users/profiles/5720436.webp" data-jdenticon-width="32" data-jdenticon-height="32" data-jdenticon-value="Ouissal" /> </a> <div class="s-user-card--info"> <a href="../../users/5720436/ouissal" class="s-user-card--link">Ouissal</a> <ul class="s-user-card--awards"> <li class="s-user-card--rep" title="reputation score">1,519</li> <li class="s-award-bling s-award-blinggold" title="2 gold badges">2</li> <li class="s-award-bling s-award-blingsilver" title="18 silver badges">18</li> <li class="s-award-bling s-award-bling__bronze" title="36 bronze badges">36</li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="post-layout--right js-post-comments-component"> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <script src="../../static/js/stack-icons.js"></script> <script src="../../static/js/fromnow.js"></script> </body> </html>