Text inputs

A text input lets your team members add plain text to your data files or front matter.

There are four types of Text input:

• Text
• Textarea
• Email
• Disabled

For each input, you can configure how CloudCannon handles null values. For Textarea inputs, you can configure a character counter. You can also use the general configuration options available for all inputs.

Text#

The Text input provides a simple editing interface for plain text.

You can configure a Text input using the type key with the value text. Define the type key under your input key name within _inputs. For more information, please read our documentation on configuring your inputs.

_inputs:
  blog_title:
    type: text

{
  "_inputs": {
    "blog_title": {
      "type": "text"
    }
  }
}

Once configured, the Text input will appear in the Data Editor or sidebar of the Visual or Content Editor when you add it to a data file or the front matter of a markup file.

---
blog_title: The benefits of static sites
---

Page content goes here.

Textarea#

The Textarea input provides a resizable editing interface for plain text.

You can configure a Textarea input using the type key with the value textarea. Define the type key under your input key name within _inputs. For more information, please read our documentation on configuring your inputs.

_inputs:
  page_description:
    type: textarea

{
  "_inputs": {
    "page_description": {
      "type": "textarea"
    }
  }
}

Once configured, the Textarea input will appear in the Data Editor or sidebar of the Visual or Content Editor when you add it to a data file or the front matter of a markup file.

---
page_description: This page is about how to configure your inputs.
---

Page content goes here.

Email#

The Email input provides an editing interface for plain text with an email icon for context.

You can configure an Email input using the type key with the value email. Define the type key under your input key name within _inputs. For more information, please read our documentation on configuring your inputs.

_inputs:
  contact_address:
    type: email

{
  "_inputs": {
    "contact_address": {
      "type": "email"
    }
  }
}

Once configured, the Email input will appear in the Data Editor or sidebar of the Visual or Content Editor when you add it to a data file or the front matter of a markup file.

---
contact_address: support@cloudcannon.com
---

Page content goes here.

Disabled#

The Disabled input is a single line of read-only plain text. The field for this input appears grayed-out, and you can only edit the value in the Source Editor.

You can configure a Disabled input using the type key with the value disabled. Define the type key under your input key name within _inputs. For more information, please read our documentation on configuring your inputs.

_inputs:
  author:
    type: disabled

{
  "_inputs": {
    "author": {
      "type": "disabled"
    }
  }
}

Once configured, the Disabled input will appear in the Data Editor or sidebar of the Visual or Content Editor when you add it to a data file or the front matter of a markup file.

---
author: Karen Key
---

Page content goes here.

Options#

You can configure Text inputs using the options key under your input key, inside of _inputs.

_inputs:
  seo_description:
    type: textarea
    options:
      show_count: true
      empty_type: 

{
  "_inputs": {
    "seo_description": {
      "type": "textarea",
      "options": {
        "show_count": true,
        "empty_type": null
      }
    }
  }
}

Text inputs have the following options available:

Unconfigured Text inputs#

In some cases, CloudCannon can still detect a Text input even if you have not configured it.

CloudCannon will interpret any unconfigured input with the key name:

• textarea or description, or that ends in _textarea or _description, as a Textarea input.
• email or email_address, or that ends in _email or _email_address, as a Textarea input.

image_description: /images/forest.jpeg

CloudCannon will interpret any unconfigured input with a string value as a Text input, provided that the key name does not match the naming convention for any other input type.

This behavior is convenient if you have simple inputs, or do not want to configure inputs. It is also beneficial for new websites on CloudCannon where you have yet to create any CloudCannon-specific configuration.

Valid values#

Text inputs can have multiple valid values for empty, single line, and multiline content. Here are some examples of valid values for the key text. These work for Text, Textarea, and Email inputs