Question

<textarea onfocus=" javascript:clearContents(this); this.cleared=true;" rows="5" cols="40" id="comment" name="comment" <?php if($vis["username"] == $pusername) { echo "DISABLED"; } ?>>...</textarea>
<input onsubmit="if (!this.comment.cleared) clearContents(this.comment); return true;" type="submit" name="Submit" value="Stem!"/> 

function clearContents(element) {
  element.innerHTML = '';
}

This wont work, and i cant figure out why. What it does: clears the content if it hasnt been onfocus/clicked on by the person

Answer 1

clearContents( document.getElementById('comment') )

You should bind onsubmit to the <form> and do this unobtrusively, ideally…