HTML Tutorials for Beginners to Advance

HTML Basic Structure, Elements in HTML, HTML Headlines, List in HTML, Insert Images in Web Pages, Tables in HTML, HTML form design, HTML5 Elements, HTML Canvas, etc.

HTML Input Atributes


The value Attribute

The value attribute specifies the initial value for an input field:

See this example:

<form action="">
First name:<br>
<input type="text" name="firstname" value="John">
</form>

Output:

First name:

Last name:

The readonly Attribute

The readonly attribute specifies that the input field is read only (cannot be changed):

See this example:

<form action="">
First name:<br>
<input type="text" name="firstname" value="John" readonly>
</form>

Output:

First name:

Last name:

The disabled Attribute

The disabled attribute specifies that the input field is disabled.

A disabled input field is unusable and un-clickable, and its value will not be sent when submitting the form:

See this example:

<form action="">
First name:<br>
<input type="text" name="firstname" value="John" disabled>
</form>

First name:

Last name:

The size Attribute

The size attribute specifies the size (in characters) for the input field:

See this example:

<form action="">
First name:<br>
<input type="text" name="firstname" value="John" size="40">
</form>

Output:

First name:

Last name:

The maxlength Attribute

The maxlength attribute specifies the maximum allowed length for the input field:

See this example:

<form action="">
First name:<br>
<input type="text" name="firstname" maxlength="10">
</form>

Output:

First name:

Last name:

With a maxlength attribute, the input field will not accept more than the allowed number of characters.

The maxlength attribute does not provide any feedback. If you want to alert the user, you must write JavaScript code.

Note: Input restrictions are not foolproof, and JavaScript provides many ways to add illegal input. To safely restrict input, it must be checked by the receiver (the server) as well!


HTML5 Attributes

HTML5 added the following attributes for <input>:

  • autocomplete
  • autofocus
  • form
  • formaction
  • formenctype
  • formmethod
  • formnovalidate
  • formtarget
  • height and width
  • list
  • min and max
  • multiple
  • pattern (regexp)
  • placeholder
  • required
  • step

and the following attributes for <form>:

  • autocomplete
  • novalidate

The autocomplete Attribute

The autocomplete attribute specifies whether a form or input field should have autocomplete on or off.

When autocomplete is on, the browser automatically complete the input values based on values that the user has entered before.

Tip: It is possible to have autocomplete "on" for the form, and "off" for specific input fields, or vice versa.

The autocomplete attribute works with <form> and the following <input> types: text, search, url, tel, email, password, datepickers, range, and color.

See this example:

<form action="/action_page.php" autocomplete="on">
  First name:<input type="text" name="fname"><br>
  Last name: <input type="text" name="lname"><br>
  E-mail: <input type="email" name="email" autocomplete="off"><br>
  <input type="submit">
</form>

Tip: In some browsers you may need to activate the autocomplete function for this to work.


The novalidate Attribute

The novalidate attribute is a <form> attribute.

When present, novalidate specifies that the form data should not be validated when submitted.

See this example:

<form action="/action_page.php" novalidate>
  E-mail: <input type="email" name="user_email">
  <input type="submit">
</form>

The autofocus Attribute

The autofocus attribute specifies that the input field should automatically get focus when the page loads.

See this example:

Let the "First name" input field automatically get focus when the page loads:

First name:<input type="text" name="fname" autofocus>

The form Attribute

The form attribute specifies one or more forms an <input> element belongs to.

Example

<form action="/action_page.php" id="form1">
  First name: <input type="text" name="fname"><br>
  <input type="submit" value="Submit">
</form>

Last name: <input type="text" name="lname" form="form1">

The formaction Attribute

The formaction attribute specifies the URL of a file that will process the input control when the form is submitted.

The formaction attribute overrides the action attribute of the <form> element.

The formaction attribute is used with type="submit" and type="image".

See this example:

<form action="/action_page.php">
  First name: <input type="text" name="fname"><br>
  Last name: <input type="text" name="lname"><br>
  <input type="submit" value="Submit"><br>
  <input type="submit" formaction="/action_page2.php"
  value="Submit as admin">
</form>

The formenctype Attribute

The formenctype attribute specifies how the form data should be encoded when submitted (only for forms with method="post").

The formenctype attribute overrides the enctype attribute of the <form> element.

The formenctype attribute is used with type="submit" and type="image".

See this example:

<form action="/action_page_binary.asp" method="post">
  First name: <input type="text" name="fname"><br>
  <input type="submit" value="Submit">
  <input type="submit" formenctype="multipart/form-data"
  value="Submit as Multipart/form-data">
</form>

The formmethod Attribute

The formmethod attribute defines the HTTP method for sending form-data to the action URL.

The formmethod attribute overrides the method attribute of the <form> element.

The formmethod attribute can be used with type="submit" and type="image".

See this example:

<form action="/action_page.php" method="get">
  First name: <input type="text" name="fname"><br>
  Last name: <input type="text" name="lname"><br>
  <input type="submit" value="Submit">
  <input type="submit" formmethod="post" formaction="action_page_post.asp"
  value="Submit using POST">
</form>

The formnovalidate Attribute

The formnovalidate attribute overrides the novalidate attribute of the <form> element.

The formnovalidate attribute can be used with type="submit".

See this example:

<form action="/action_page.php">
  E-mail: <input type="email" name="userid"><br>
  <input type="submit" value="Submit"><br>
  <input type="submit" formnovalidate value="Submit without validation">
</form>

The formtarget Attribute

The formtarget attribute specifies a name or a keyword that indicates where to display the response that is received after submitting the form.

The formtarget attribute overrides the target attribute of the <form> element.

The formtarget attribute can be used with type="submit" and type="image".

See this example:

<form action="/action_page.php">
  First name: <input type="text" name="fname"><br>
  Last name: <input type="text" name="lname"><br>
  <input type="submit" value="Submit as normal">
  <input type="submit" formtarget="_blank"
  value="Submit to a new window">
</form>

The height and width Attributes

The height and width attributes specify the height and width of an <input type="image"> element.

Always specify the size of images. If the browser does not know the size, the page will flicker while images load.

See this example:

<input type="image" src="img_submit.gif" alt="Submit" width="48" height="48">

The list Attribute

The list attribute refers to a <datalist> element that contains pre-defined options for an <input> element.

See this example:

<input list="browsers">

<datalist id="browsers">
  <option value="Internet Explorer">
  <option value="Firefox">
  <option value="Chrome">
  <option value="Opera">
  <option value="Safari">
</datalist>

The min and max Attributes

The min and max attributes specify the minimum and maximum values for an <input> element.

The min and max attributes work with the following input types: number, range, date, datetime-local, month, time and week.

See this example:

Enter a date before 1980-01-01:
<input type="date" name="bday" max="1979-12-31">

Enter a date after 2000-01-01:
<input type="date" name="bday" min="2000-01-02">

Quantity (between 1 and 5):
<input type="number" name="quantity" min="1" max="5">

The multiple Attribute

The multiple attribute specifies that the user is allowed to enter more than one value in the <input> element.

The multiple attribute works with the following input types: email, and file.

See this example:

Select images: <input type="file" name="img" multiple>

The pattern Attribute

The pattern attribute specifies a regular expression that the <input> element's value is checked against.

The pattern attribute works with the following input types: text, search, url, tel, email, and password.

See this example:

Country code: <input type="text" name="country_code" pattern="[A-Za-z]{3}" title="Three letter country code">

The placeholder Attribute

The placeholder attribute specifies a hint that describes the expected value of an input field (a sample value or a short description of the format).

The hint is displayed in the input field before the user enters a value.

The placeholder attribute works with the following input types: text, search, url, tel, email, and password.

See this example:

<input type="text" name="fname" placeholder="First name">

The required Attribute

The required attribute specifies that an input field must be filled out before submitting the form.

The required attribute works with the following input types: text, search, url, tel, email, password, date pickers, number, checkbox, radio, and file.

See this example:

Username: <input type="text" name="usrname" required>