title: EditTextWidget
created: 201310241419
modified: 201407250837
tags: Widgets
caption: edit-text

! Introduction

The edit text widget provides a user interface in the browser for editing text tiddler fields. The editing element is dynamically bound to the underlying tiddler value: changes to the tiddler are instantly reflected, and any edits are instantly propogated.

By default, the edit text widget generates a `<textarea>` as the HTML editing element when the `text` field is edited, and a `<input type="text">` element otherwise. This behaviour can be overridden with the `tag` and `type` attributes.

! Content and Attributes

The content of the `<$edit-text>` widget is ignored.

|!Attribute |!Description |
|tiddler |The tiddler to edit (defaults to the [[WidgetVariable: currentTiddler]]) |
|field |The field to edit (defaults to `text`). Takes precedence over the `index` attribute |
|index |The index to edit |
|default |The default text to be provided when the target tiddler doesn't exist |
|class |A CSS class to be assigned to the generated HTML editing element |
|placeholder |Placeholder text to be displayed when the edit field is empty |
|focusPopup |Title of a state tiddler for a popup that is displayed when the editing element has focus  |
|tag |Overrides the generated HTML editing element tag |
|size |The size of the input field (in characters) |
|type |Overrides the generated HTML editing element `type` attribute |

! Notes

One trap to be aware of is that the edit text widget cannot be used to edit a field of the tiddler that contains it. Each keypress results in the tiddler being re-rendered, which loses the cursor position within the text field.

Instead, place the edit text widget in a [[template|TiddlerTemplates]] that references the tiddler you want to modify.

For example, if you wanted to edit the value of the "myconfig" field of the tiddler "AppSettings", you might do so by creating a separate tiddler "ChangeAppSettings" that contains the following:

```
<$edit-text tiddler="AppSettings" field="myconfig"/>
```