TextArea

TextArea enables users to add longer text to a form.

Basic Usage

To implement the TextArea component, you need to import it first:

import { TextArea } from '@react-ui-org/react-ui';

And use it:

<TextArea label="Your feedback" />

See API for all available options.

General Guidelines

• Use short and descriptive labels, ideally nouns rather than seemingly polite phrases like Please enter your message. Short labels will help your users accomplish their task faster.

• Only make the TextArea's label invisible when there is another visual clue to guide users through filling the input. Using the first option as label is not recommended either — it disappears once user makes their choice.

• When a short label is not enough, use help texts to guide users before they enter anything.

• Optionally you can pre-fill your text fields with a placeholder to give users an example of what they're expected to fill in. Just remember the placeholder disappears once a value is entered so don't put anything important there. Usually, en example value starting with “Eg.” works best.

• Use clear, calm error messages when there's a problem with what they entered. Be positive and focus on solutions to make the error message helpful.

• Ensure the height of a text area fits within mobile screen sizes.

Design Variants

To satisfy the design requirements of your project, all input fields in React UI come in two design variants to choose from: outline and filled. Both can be further customized with CSS custom properties.

<TextArea
  label="Your feedback"
/>
<TextArea
  label="Your feedback"
  variant="filled"
/>

Sizes

Aside from the default (medium) size, two additional sizes are available: small and large.

<TextArea
  label="Your feedback"
  size="small"
/>
<TextArea
  label="Your feedback"
/>
<TextArea
  label="Your feedback"
  size="large"
/>
<TextArea
  label="Your feedback"
  size="small"
  variant="filled"
/>
<TextArea
  label="Your feedback"
  variant="filled"
/>
<TextArea
  label="Your feedback"
  size="large"
  variant="filled"
/>

Full-width fields span the full width of a parent:

<TextArea
  label="Your feedback"
  fullWidth
/>
<TextArea
  label="Your feedback"
  variant="filled"
  fullWidth
/>

Input Size

The default width of all inputs is 240 px, and it can be customized with a CSS custom property. However, you can also control the size of individual text areas using the rows and cols properties. Additionally, text areas are vertically resizable by users.

👉 Remember that the cols and rows HTML attributes do not limit on how many characters the user can enter. Use the maxlength attribute to achieve that effect.

<TextArea
  label="Your feedback"
  cols={50}
  rows={6}
/>
<TextArea
  label="Your feedback"
  variant="filled"
  cols={50}
  rows={6}
/>

Invisible Label

In some cases, it may be convenient to visually hide the field label. The label remains accessible to assistive technologies.

While it may be acceptable for login screens with just a few fields or other simple forms, it's dangerous to hide labels from users in most cases. Keep in mind you should provide another visual clue so users know what to fill into the input.

<TextArea
  label="Feedback"
  isLabelVisible={false}
  placeholder="Eg. What I liked the best was…"
/>
<TextArea
  label="Feedback"
  isLabelVisible={false}
  variant="filled"
  placeholder="Eg. What I liked the best was…"
/>

Horizontal Layout

The default vertical layout is very easy to use and work with. However, there are situations where horizontal layout suits better — and that's why React UI supports this kind of layout as well.

<TextArea
  label="Your feedback"
  layout="horizontal"
/>
<TextArea
  label="Your feedback"
  layout="horizontal"
  variant="filled"
/>
<TextArea
  label="Your feedback"
  layout="horizontal"
  fullWidth
/>
<TextArea
  label="Your feedback"
  layout="horizontal"
  variant="filled"
  fullWidth
/>
<TextArea
  isLabelVisible={false}
  label="Your feedback"
  layout="horizontal"
  placeholder="Your feedback"
  fullWidth
/>
<TextArea
  isLabelVisible={false}
  label="Your feedback"
  layout="horizontal"
  placeholder="Your feedback"
  variant="filled"
  fullWidth
/>

Help Text

You may provide an additional help text to clarify how the input should be filled.

<TextArea
  label="Your feedback"
  helpText="Why would you recommend us?"
/>
<TextArea
  label="Your feedback"
  variant="filled"
  helpText="Why would you recommend us?"
/>
<TextArea
  label="Your feedback"
  layout="horizontal"
  helpText="Why would you recommend us?"
/>
<TextArea
  label="Your feedback"
  layout="horizontal"
  helpText="Why would you recommend us?"
  variant="filled"
/>
<TextArea
  label="Your feedback"
  layout="horizontal"
  helpText="Why would you recommend us?"
  fullWidth
/>
<TextArea
  label="Your feedback"
  layout="horizontal"
  variant="filled"
  helpText="Why would you recommend us?"
  fullWidth
/>

States

Validation States

Validation states visually present the result of validation of the input. You should always provide a help text for states other than valid so users know what happened and what action they should take or what options they have.

<TextArea
  label="Your feedback"
  onChange={() => {}}
  validationState="valid"
  validationText="Looks good!"
  value="Like that!"
  required
/>
<TextArea
  label="Your feedback"
  onChange={() => {}}
  validationState="warning"
  validationText="The feedback should be at least 3 characters long."
  value=".."
  required
/>
<TextArea
  label="Your feedback"
  validationState="invalid"
  validationText="Please share your feedback with us."
  required
/>
<TextArea
  label="Your feedback"
  onChange={() => {}}
  validationState="valid"
  validationText="Looks good!"
  variant="filled"
  value="Like that!"
  required
/>
<TextArea
  label="Your feedback"
  onChange={() => {}}
  validationState="warning"
  validationText="The feedback should be at least 3 characters long."
  variant="filled"
  value=".."
  required
/>
<TextArea
  label="Your feedback"
  validationState="invalid"
  validationText="Please share your feedback with us."
  variant="filled"
  required
/>

Disabled State

It's possible to disable the whole input.

<TextArea
  label="Your feedback"
  disabled
/>
<TextArea
  label="Your feedback"
  variant="filled"
  disabled
/>

Forwarding HTML Attributes

In addition to the options below in the component's API section, you can specify any HTML attribute you like. All attributes that don't interfere with the API of the React component are forwarded to the root <textarea> HTML element. This enables making the component interactive and helps to improve its accessibility.

<TextArea
  label="Address"
  autoComplete="street-address"
  minLength={3}
  maxLength={80}
/>
<TextArea
  label="Address"
  variant="filled"
  autoComplete="street-address"
  minLength={3}
  maxLength={80}
/>

👉 For the full list of supported attributes refer to:

• <textarea> HTML element attributes
• React common props

Forwarding ref

If you provide ref, it is forwarded to the native HTML <textarea> element.

API

Theming

Head to Forms Theming to see shared form theming options.