Fancy Textboxes
I think it’s fair to say that every Web site contains at least one textbox. The HTML textbox has been a standard for a long time, and it does its job quite well. Its only flaw is that it is just so plain. It can’t display any fancy HTML formatting like people have come to expect from Windows applications. It provides no easy way for users to enter rich text, HTML content, or to restrict the content that users can enter. There are textboxes out there that will do these things, and more — and they are merely a download away.
FreeTextBox by John Dyer is compatible with Internet Explorer and Mozilla browsers. The user interface is nearly identical to Microsoft Word, so your users should find it to be quite familiar and intuitive. It’s also nearly as functional as Microsoft Word, providing a truly rich environment for users to enter nicely formatted documents.
Figure 2: FreeTextBox allows your users to enter richly formatted documentation and is ideal for content management systems.
htmlArea is another great WYSIWYG text editing control available to allow users rich text entry. InteractiveTools.com has generously provided this control free of charge under a simple BSD open-source license. Although they don’t provide support for the control, they do provide a free forum on their Web site that appears to be full of plenty of answers to common questions, as well as thorough online documentation. If you have the luxury of dictating that your users have Internet Explorer 5.0 or above, then this is an easy to use control that will likely be a valuable resource in your toolbox.
XStandard is fine example of a cross-browser rich textbox web control. The reasonably full-featured lite version is free even for commercial use, while the pro version costs some money.
FCK Editor is another free textbox control that provides rich editing capabilities. I haven't played with it personally, but I've gotten good reports about it from fellow developers, so you might as well check it out:
15 Seconds provides VB.NET source code for a masked edit control that you can customize to your heart’s content. The associated article provides all you need to know about the control and how to add your own masks.
http://www.15seconds.com/issue/030506.htm
I have created a free Numeric Textbox control. It accepts numbers only, other characters are not permitted to be entered. It's nothing incredibly fancy but the source code is free and so is the article that explains it. This is a good place to start to learn how to create your own web controls.
http://SteveOrr.net/articles/InheritAndExtend.aspx
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