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Once the user has filled in anything then the label is completely lost. How is that better then having the label above or to the right where it is always viewab

by timmaah 17y ago

Once the user has filled in anything then the label is completely lost. How is that better then having the label above or to the right where it is always viewable?

alabut 17y ago
It's sort of lost - the info is still there in the form of the information they entered, which is a pretty strong hint. You're not likely to forget your name or website url, for example. You still have a point about the usability of labels outside the form field, especially given the caveat in the article that "this plugin still has problems when the browser tries to pre-fill the fields". But it's still a useful technique because it makes the labels a lot easier to read because it's possible to left-align both the labels and the input fields. Just to give you a sense on how much thought needs to go into the graphic design of labels and form fields, here's a breakdown of the pros and cons behind labels arranged vertically, left-justified and right-justified: http://www.lukew.com/resources/articles/web_forms.html http://www.lukew.com/resources/articles/web_forms.html There's so much to learn about form design that the guy milked into an entire book.
- dcneiner 17y ago
  The link has great info. Thanks!
- teej 17y ago
  LukeW did a talk in March that goes in to more depth then that article. It's definitely worth listening to: http://www.lukew.com/ff/entry.asp?794 http://www.lukew.com/ff/entry.asp?794
pmichaud 17y ago
I think it just saves space in applications where UI space is scarce. It's also a useless trick that amateurs can abuse for fun. Yay!
oneplusone 17y ago
A plugin such as this has a very limited and specific set of use cases. The most obvious one being a search box that says search inside, but once it receives focus it goes away.
jlongster 17y ago
Thank you!! Finally someone who shares my sentiment!
arockwell 17y ago
What's worse is that this doesn't gracefully degrade. If you have javascript disabled your text will be written over top the label text and is completely unreadable.
- rapind 17y ago
  Well instead of styling all labels in the css, you could create a css class for the overlay effect and then add that class to the labels (all or just some etc.) on the form with jquery. That way it's unobtrusive javascript and works when javascript is disabled without mucking up your form.
_pius 17y ago
It's not completely lost. If you delete the content you fill in, the label returns.

by timmaah 17y ago

Once the user has filled in anything then the label is completely lost. How is that better then having the label above or to the right where it is always viewable?

alabut 17y ago

It's sort of lost - the info is still there in the form of the information they entered, which is a pretty strong hint. You're not likely to forget your name or website url, for example. You still have a point about the usability of labels outside the form field, especially given the caveat in the article that "this plugin still has problems when the browser tries to pre-fill the fields". But it's still a useful technique because it makes the labels a lot easier to read because it's possible to left-align both the labels and the input fields. Just to give you a sense on how much thought needs to go into the graphic design of labels and form fields, here's a breakdown of the pros and cons behind labels arranged vertically, left-justified and right-justified: http://www.lukew.com/resources/articles/web_forms.html http://www.lukew.com/resources/articles/web_forms.html There's so much to learn about form design that the guy milked into an entire book.

dcneiner 17y ago
The link has great info. Thanks!
teej 17y ago
LukeW did a talk in March that goes in to more depth then that article. It's definitely worth listening to: http://www.lukew.com/ff/entry.asp?794 http://www.lukew.com/ff/entry.asp?794

pmichaud 17y ago

I think it just saves space in applications where UI space is scarce. It's also a useless trick that amateurs can abuse for fun. Yay!

oneplusone 17y ago

A plugin such as this has a very limited and specific set of use cases. The most obvious one being a search box that says search inside, but once it receives focus it goes away.

jlongster 17y ago

Thank you!! Finally someone who shares my sentiment!

arockwell 17y ago

What's worse is that this doesn't gracefully degrade. If you have javascript disabled your text will be written over top the label text and is completely unreadable.

rapind 17y ago
Well instead of styling all labels in the css, you could create a css class for the overlay effect and then add that class to the labels (all or just some etc.) on the form with jquery. That way it's unobtrusive javascript and works when javascript is disabled without mucking up your form.

_pius 17y ago

It's not completely lost. If you delete the content you fill in, the label returns.