HTML Search Box
In case you missed it, you can find more simple HTML Search Boxes in part 1. I covered the basic standard search bar and a version of it that uses default placeholder text that disappears when the text field is clicked.
On this page I'll cover two more very popular search styles and talk briefly about HTML5 search forms.
Search Bar Without a Submit Button
This one has the default placeholder text that appears in the search box but the difference for this one is that it doesn't actually need a search button.
I'm not particularly fond of this style but in some instances where space or size is a factor, this might be the right choice for you. Otherwise I think it's all too easy for a visitor not to notice this style of search bar.
Search Box Using an Image instead of a Submit Button
This one is increasingly popular. Instead of the standard html search button it uses an image instead. Typically an icon like a magnifying glass is used instead of a search form button.
For this example I created my own magnifying glass search icon which is free to use - no link backs or thanks or rigmarole are necessary - just download the search icon and use it if you want to.
There are many different ways to use an image instead of the standard submit button for a search form but this is one of the easier ways I've found to implement this type of functionality.
Hey! If you want you can download all the search examples code and images.
HTML5 Search box
There are some other features available in HTML5 that aren't fully supported by all browsers yet but will soon become very useful - when I get the energy I'll create a full page on building HTML5 forms - but otherwise I've covered the most common site search styles used on websites today.
Also HTML5 forms can handle placeholder text without having to add javascript to make it work - a feature that more and more web developers are starting to leverage.
For most modern browsers at this time the placeholder text in a HTML5 form will disappear once a new first letter is typed - as opposed to disappearing once the text box is clicked on. It's a slight behavioral difference from what I would expect but it's still pretty neat how HTML5 can handle this type of behavior naturally.
I'll do a rewrite on the HTML5 features across the browsers sometime in the very vaguely defined future.
The Most Popular Tools
- Random Word Generator: Generate a list of random words. Great tool for brainstorming ideas.
- Random Sentence Generator: Create random sentences for creative brainstorming.
- Random Number Generator: Generate some random numbers in a specific number range.
- Remove Line Breaks: Remove unwanted line breaks from your text.
- Random Choice Generator: Let this tool make a random decision for you.
- Reverse Text Generator: create social media posts or text messages in reverse or mirrored text
- Convert Word to HTML: Automatically convert word contents to HTML code.
- Text to HTML: Quickly change plain text into HTML paragraphs.
- HTML to Text: Remove HTML tags, leaving only text content.
- Alphabetical Order: Alphabetize lists, or other text content with this tool.
- Random Decision Maker: Generate a random decision with this app.
- Capitalize the First letter of Sentences
- HTML Table Generator: Generate the code for a simple HTML table.
- Word Counter: Count the number of words in your text.
- Remove Duplicate Lines: Remove duplicate lines from a text file.
- HTML Compression: Compress HTML contents into a smaller size.
The Newest Tools by Category
Text Fixing Tools
- Remove Line Breaks
- Add Line Breaks Online
- Remove Duplicate Lines
- Paragraph to Single Line
- Remove Extra Whitespaces
- Uppercase or Lowercase Text
- Unscramble Letters to Make Words
HTML Coding Tools
- Remove HTML Tags from a String
- HTML Text Generator
- HTML List Generator
- Convert URLs to HTML Links
- Convert CSV Text to HTML Table
- HTML Character Encoding Tool
Word & Language Tools
- Word Counter
- Title Capitalization Tool
- Page Title and Description Letter Counter
- List of Common Words
- Plural Noun Generator
- Random Nouns Generator
- Random Letter Generator