Limit Characters in JavaScript

Hey friends, today in this blog you’ll learn how to create a Tweet Box with Character Limit Highlighting in JavaScript. In the earlier blog, I have shared how to Easily Limit Input Characters in JavaScript, and in this blog, you’ll also learn to limit input characters but it will be more advanced than the previous one because in this Twitter tweet box there is a feature of character limit highlighting which was not in the previous project.

If you have a Twitter account then you definitely know what is tweet box and how it looks like. In this project [Twitter Post Share Box or Tweet Box], there is a tweet box on the web page as you can see in the preview image. There is a typing area in this box, some media icons, a characters limit counter, and a tweet button. At first, the counter will be hidden and the tweet button also disabled but once you start typing there is visible the counter, and the button also active/clickable.

There is a limit of 100 characters in this tweet box, which means you can type 1-100 length/number of characters. Once you crossed the limit then the over characters will start highlighting, the tweet button is again disabled and the counter color is also charged into red and it shows you how many characters that you have to remove to tweet or proceed.

Video Tutorial of Tweet Box in JavaScript

In the video, you have seen the demo of this tweet box and how I created it using HTML CSS & JavaScript. I hope you have understood the codes and concepts behind creating this tweet box but if you’re too beginner and you don’t know JavaScript then you may have difficulty understanding JavaScript coded otherwise HTML & CSS is too easy and I don’t think you may have difficulties understanding.

I have also tried to explain the main JavaScript line/method/events that are used on this project by written comment and in the video, I tried to explain it by sub-titles so please watch the video then you can understand the JavaScript codes easily and try to create it by yourself two or more times then definitely you’ll understand the codes and also able to create this type of share post boxes.

Main JavaScript Property & Method that is used on this project:

innerText: This innerText JavaScript property sets or returns the “rendered” text content of the specified node.

substr(): This substr() method extracts length characters from a string, counting the character from the specified position, and returns the specified number of characters. If length is undefined then this method extracts characters to the end of the string.

Tweet Box with Character Limit Highlighting [Source Codes]

To create this program [Post Share Box or Twitter Tweet Box]. First, you need to create three files, HTML File, CSS File, and JavaScript File. After creating these files just paste the following codes into your files. You can also download the source code files of this project from the given download button.

First, create an HTML file with the name of index.html and paste the given codes in your HTML file. Remember, you’ve to create a file with .html extension.

<!DOCTYPE html>
<!-- Created By CodingNepal - www.codingnepalweb.com -->
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="UTF-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
  <title>Twitter Tweet Box UI Design | CodingNepal</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="style.css">
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="https://unicons.iconscout.com/release/v3.0.6/css/line.css">
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/font-awesome/5.15.3/css/all.min.css"/>
</head>
<body>
  <div class="wrapper">
    <div class="input-box">
      <div class="tweet-area">
        <span class="placeholder">What's happening?</span>
        <div class="input editable" contenteditable="true" spellcheck="false"></div>
        <div class="input readonly" contenteditable="true" spellcheck="false"></div>
      </div>
      <div class="privacy">
        <i class="fas fa-globe-asia"></i>
        <span>Everyone can reply</span>
      </div>
    </div>
    <div class="bottom">
      <ul class="icons">
        <li><i class="uil uil-capture"></i></li>
        <li><i class="far fa-file-image"></i></li>
        <li><i class="fas fa-map-marker-alt"></i></li>
        <li><i class="far fa-grin"></i></li>
        <li><i class="far fa-user"></i></li>
      </ul>
      <div class="content">
        <span class="counter">100</span>
        <button>Tweet</button>
      </div>
    </div>
  </div>

  <script src="script.js"></script>

</body>
</html>

Second, create a CSS file with the name of style.css and paste the given codes in your CSS file. Remember, you’ve to create a file with .css extension.

@import url('https://fonts.googleapis.com/css2?family=Open+Sans:wght@400;600;700&display=swap');
*{
  margin: 0;
  padding: 0;
  box-sizing: border-box;
  font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif;
}
body{
  display: flex;
  align-items: center;
  justify-content: center;
  min-height: 100vh;
  background: #1da1f2;
}
::selection{
  color: #fff;
  background: #1da1f2;
}
.wrapper{
  background: #fff;
  max-width: 475px;
  width: 100%;
  border-radius: 15px;
  padding: 25px 25px 15px 25px;
  box-shadow: 0px 10px 15px rgba(0,0,0,0.1);
}
.input-box{
  padding-top: 10px;
  border-bottom: 1px solid #e6e6e6;
}
.input-box .tweet-area{
  position: relative;
  min-height: 130px;
  max-height: 170px;
  overflow-y: auto;
}
.tweet-area::-webkit-scrollbar{
  width: 0px;
}
.tweet-area .placeholder{
  position: absolute;
  margin-top: -3px;
  font-size: 22px;
  color: #98A5B1;
  pointer-events: none;
}
.tweet-area .input{
  outline: none;
  font-size: 17px;
  min-height: inherit;
  word-wrap: break-word;
  word-break: break-all;
}
.tweet-area .editable{
  position: relative;
  z-index: 5;
}
.tweet-area .readonly{
  position: absolute;
  top: 0;
  left: 0;
  z-index: -1;
  color: transparent;
  background: transparent;
}
.readonly .highlight{
  background: #fd9bb0;
}
.input-box .privacy{
  color: #1da1f2;
  margin: 15px 0;
  display: inline-flex;
  align-items: center;
  padding: 7px 10px;
  border-radius: 50px;
  cursor: pointer;
  transition: background 0.2s ease;
}
.privacy:hover, .icons li:hover{
  background: #e7f5fe;
}
.privacy i{
  font-size: 18px;
}
.privacy span{
  font-size: 15px;
  font-weight: 600;
  margin-left: 7px;
}
.bottom{
  display: flex;
  margin-top: 13px;
  align-items: center;
  justify-content: space-between;
}
.bottom .icons{
  display: inline-flex;
}
.icons li{
  list-style: none;
  color: #1da1f2;
  font-size: 20px;
  margin: 0 2px;
  height: 38px;
  width: 38px;
  cursor: pointer;
  display: flex;
  align-items: center;
  justify-content: center;
  border-radius: 50%;
  transition: background 0.2s ease;
}
.bottom .content{
  display: flex;
  align-items: center;
  justify-content: center;
}
.bottom .counter{
  color: #333;
  display: none;
  font-weight: 500;
  margin-right: 15px;
  padding-right: 15px;
  border-right: 1px solid #aab8c2;
}
.bottom button{
  padding: 9px 18px;
  border: none;
  outline: none;
  border-radius: 50px;
  font-size: 16px;
  font-weight: 700;
  background: #1da1f2;
  color: #fff;
  cursor: pointer;
  opacity: 0.5;
  pointer-events: none;
  transition: background 0.2s ease;
}
.bottom button.active{
  opacity: 1;
  pointer-events: auto;
}
.bottom button:hover{
  background: #0d8bd9;
}

Last, create a JavaScript file with the name of script.js and paste the given codes in your JavaScript file. Remember, you’ve to create a file with .js extension.

const wrapper = document.querySelector(".wrapper"),
editableInput = wrapper.querySelector(".editable"),
readonlyInput = wrapper.querySelector(".readonly"),
placeholder = wrapper.querySelector(".placeholder"),
counter = wrapper.querySelector(".counter"),
button = wrapper.querySelector("button");

editableInput.onfocus = ()=>{
  placeholder.style.color = "#c5ccd3";
}
editableInput.onblur = ()=>{
  placeholder.style.color = "#98a5b1";
}

editableInput.onkeyup = (e)=>{
  let element = e.target;
  validated(element);
}
editableInput.onkeypress = (e)=>{
  let element = e.target;
  validated(element);
  placeholder.style.display = "none";
}

function validated(element){
  let text;
  let maxLength = 100;
  let currentlength = element.innerText.length;

  if(currentlength <= 0){
    placeholder.style.display = "block";
    counter.style.display = "none";
    button.classList.remove("active");
  }else{
    placeholder.style.display = "none";
    counter.style.display = "block";
    button.classList.add("active");
  }

  counter.innerText = maxLength - currentlength;

  if(currentlength > maxLength){
    let overText = element.innerText.substr(maxLength); //extracting over texts
    overText = `<span class="highlight">${overText}</span>`; //creating new span and passing over texts
    text = element.innerText.substr(0, maxLength) + overText; //passing overText value in textTag variable
    readonlyInput.style.zIndex = "1";
    counter.style.color = "#e0245e";
    button.classList.remove("active");
  }else{
    readonlyInput.style.zIndex = "-1";
    counter.style.color = "#333";
  }
  readonlyInput.innerHTML = text; //replacing innerHTML of readonly div with textTag value
}

That’s all, now you’ve successfully created a Tweet Box with Character Limit Highlighting in JavaScript. If your code does not work or you’ve faced any errors/problems then please download the source code files from the given download button. It’s free and a .zip file will be downloaded and you’ve extracted it.

Tag: Limit Characters in JavaScript

Tweet Box with Character Limit Highlighting in JavaScript

Video Tutorial of Tweet Box in JavaScript

Main JavaScript Property & Method that is used on this project:

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Tweet Box with Character Limit Highlighting [Source Codes]