Question

I am building a registration page. I want to make it like SO does: you see the text “John Smith (optional)” in a field, and when you start typing, the text disappears. How do you do it in JavaScript? (Don’t blame me for not trying anything, I’m a JS noob)

Optional: notice that the suggestion is in gray, but typing the text becomes black. I’d like that effect, too.

Answer 1

Placeholder demo

<input type="text" name="email" placeholder="E-mail" />

If you want you can also style your placeholder with css