special signs as a 'value' in an HTML input field

Question

Hello guys,

I have actually this input field :

<input type="text" name="author" id="author" value="name* <?php echo $comment_author; ?>" size="22" tabindex="1" />

I'm using an asterisk inside 'value' in order to indicate it's a required field, because the designer needs it like that. But alas, the asterisk is not showing.

Do you know how to fix it ?

Many thanks.

Answer 1

That should work just fine. There is nothing wrong with having an asterisk (*) within an attribute value in HTML. Can you show us the generated HTML (after PHP has run on the file)?

Answer 2

Try using the HTML encoded asterisk instead...

<input type="text" name="author" id="author" value="name&#42; <?php echo $comment_author; ?>" size="22" tabindex="1" />

Answer 3

That's an annoying UI design! Put the asterisk in a Label next to the input box, not in it!

<label for="author">Name*</label>
<input type="text" name="author" id="author" value="<?php echo $comment_author; ?>" size="22" tabindex="1" />

Answer 4

Hi guys, sorry for the panic created (if any).

Here's the script that was avoiding a proper refresh. The old values (without the asterisk) were like sticky for some time, now it seems to be OK.

swapValues = [];
$("input").each(function(i){
    swapValues[i] = $(this).val();
    $(this).focus(function(){
        if ($(this).val() == swapValues[i]) {
            $(this).val("");
        }
    }).blur(function(){
        if ($.trim($(this).val()) == "") {
            $(this).val(swapValues[i]);
        }
    });
});

Thanks for all the inputs