# Entry text : keeping the placeholder displayed/editable
**URL:** https://community.glideapps.com/t/entry-text-keeping-the-placeholder-displayed-editable/30897
**Category:** Feature Requests
**Created:** [August 24, 2021, 7:00pm UTC](https://community.glideapps.com/t/entry-text-keeping-the-placeholder-displayed-editable/30897 "2021-08-24T19:00:32Z")
**Posts on this page:** 9
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@AyS\_0908](https://community.glideapps.com/u/AyS_0908)
#### Post date: [August 24, 2021, 7:00pm UTC](https://community.glideapps.com/t/entry-text-keeping-the-placeholder-displayed-editable/30897/1 "2021-08-24T19:00:32Z")
Hi, in some cases, we provide guidelines to users in the placeholder of an entry text.
It could be useful to have the option to make the placeholder editable by the end-user, so that she/he just have to complete it.
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### Author:  [@Jeff\_Hager](https://community.glideapps.com/u/Jeff_Hager)
#### Post date: [August 24, 2021, 7:09pm UTC](https://community.glideapps.com/t/entry-text-keeping-the-placeholder-displayed-editable/30897/2 "2021-08-24T19:09:59Z")
Wouldn’t that just be to set the default value in a form, or if it’s a custom form, then set the column value through an action when the screen is loaded?
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### Author:  [@AyS\_0908](https://community.glideapps.com/u/AyS_0908)
#### Post date: [August 24, 2021, 8:14pm UTC](https://community.glideapps.com/t/entry-text-keeping-the-placeholder-displayed-editable/30897/3 "2021-08-24T20:14:17Z")
Yes good idea if it is in a form.
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### Author:  [@Darren\_Murphy](https://community.glideapps.com/u/Darren_Murphy)
#### Post date: [August 25, 2021, 3:03am UTC](https://community.glideapps.com/t/entry-text-keeping-the-placeholder-displayed-editable/30897/4 "2021-08-25T03:03:21Z")
When would you use a text entry component outside of a form, custom or otherwise?
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### Author:  [@AyS\_0908](https://community.glideapps.com/u/AyS_0908)
#### Post date: [August 25, 2021, 5:34am UTC](https://community.glideapps.com/t/entry-text-keeping-the-placeholder-displayed-editable/30897/5 "2021-08-25T05:34:50Z")
If I take the ex of my current app; it guides young entrepreneurs in designing the Business Model & Plan of their project: it has therefore dozens of entries, including many Text ones.
- Each project is _initiated_ via a Form with very few questions
- Then the _detailed writing_ is done in the newly created project:
→ here, my Text Entries don’t have the _default value_ option; and this is where enabling the user to complete the _placedholder_ would be useful.
NB : it’s clearly not a priority 1 request (since I don’t think that many people are working that way), but rather an idea (should have put it in @Jeff_Hager wiki for livecoding sessions…)
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### Author:  [@Darren\_Murphy](https://community.glideapps.com/u/Darren_Murphy)
#### Post date: [August 25, 2021, 6:20am UTC](https://community.glideapps.com/t/entry-text-keeping-the-placeholder-displayed-editable/30897/6 "2021-08-25T06:20:40Z")
> [@AyS\_0908](#):
>
> → here, my Text Entries don’t have the _default value_ option; and this is where enabling the user to complete the _placedholder_ would be useful.
Yes, but you can still create a default value using the option that Jeff described, no?
That is:
- Create a template column/s to hold your default text
- Create User Specific Columns to act as the target for your text entry components
- When a user opens the screen, use a custom action to write the default text into the User Specific Columns
- Users can then adjust the text as desired
- Then when the user submits, use another custom action to write the User Specific Column values to the appropriate places.
This a a technique that I use _all_ the time, for both creating new rows and updating (editing) existing ones.
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### Author:  [@AyS\_0908](https://community.glideapps.com/u/AyS_0908)
#### Post date: [August 25, 2021, 6:41am UTC](https://community.glideapps.com/t/entry-text-keeping-the-placeholder-displayed-editable/30897/7 "2021-08-25T06:41:49Z")
Thank you @Darren_Murphy.
Yes, you’re both right, it is a very good workaround; nevertheless, isn’t it a little “heavy” to build if we have “50” Text entries?
My feeling is that having the ability to edit the placeholder should replace this, shouldn’t it?
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### Author:  [@Darren\_Murphy](https://community.glideapps.com/u/Darren_Murphy)
#### Post date: [August 25, 2021, 7:18am UTC](https://community.glideapps.com/t/entry-text-keeping-the-placeholder-displayed-editable/30897/8 "2021-08-25T07:18:40Z")
> [@AyS\_0908](#):
>
> Yes, you’re both right, it is a very good workaround; nevertheless, isn’t it a little “heavy” to build if we have “50” Text entries?
I knew you would say that 😉
And yes, but… even if you had native placeholder support you’d still face the same problem, right? You still need to store those 50 place holder text blocks somewhere…
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### Author:  [@AyS\_0908](https://community.glideapps.com/u/AyS_0908)
#### Post date: [August 25, 2021, 7:24am UTC](https://community.glideapps.com/t/entry-text-keeping-the-placeholder-displayed-editable/30897/9 "2021-08-25T07:24:22Z")
> [@Darren\_Murphy](#):
>
> I knew you would say that
😉
> [@Darren\_Murphy](#):
>
> still need to store those 50 place holder text blocks somewhere…
Not sure, why? Today the placeholder is directly entered in the Text Entry component.
(you may answer: this means that we cannot manage it in the database and risk to loose it if we delete the component: (1) As a start, I accept the risk, (2) At target, we could imagine that in GDE, the Text field proposes to enter both the title of the field + the placeholder)
