Textarea
A multi-line <textarea> for longer free-form entries. Use it when you expect customers to write more than a single sentence.
When to Use
- Full personalised message for greeting cards
- Gift message text (paragraph length)
- Design brief or custom specification
- Order notes or special instructions
- Any entry that needs multiple lines
Configuration Settings
When you add a Textarea field in the Addon Builder, you can configure the following inputs across different sections:
General Settings
- Label: The text heading displayed above the textarea on the product page. Used to identify the field in the cart and order details.
- Description: Additional helper text shown below the textarea. Useful for providing instructions (e.g. "Please be as detailed as possible").
- Placeholder: Grey hint text that appears inside the empty textarea (e.g.,
Write your message here...). It disappears once the customer starts typing.
Validation
- Field is Required: A checkbox toggle. When enabled, the customer is forced to type something into this field before they are allowed to add the product to their cart. Whitespace-only values are rejected.
Restrictions
- Min Length: The minimum number of characters the customer must type. If set, an error is shown if they type fewer characters.
- Max Length: The absolute maximum number of characters allowed. The browser will physically prevent the customer from typing more than this limit.
Pricing Logic
You can charge extra when a customer fills out the Textarea field. Configure this in the Pricing tab of the field.
Available Inputs:
- Price Type: Choose how the price is calculated.
- None: No charge.
- Flat Fee: A fixed charge added whenever the customer types anything.
- Percentage: A percentage of the product's base price added whenever the field is filled.
- Character Count: Charges a set amount per character typed. The price updates live on the frontend as the customer types. This is highly useful for long-form text that has a per-word or per-letter cost.
- Math Formula: For advanced dynamic pricing using placeholders like
[char_count],[base_price], and[quantity].
- Price Amount / Formula Expression: Depending on the Price Type selected, enter the dollar amount, percentage value, character rate, or the exact math formula.
Master the Pricing Engine
Smart Product Options and Addons includes five different pricing strategies, including dynamic math formulas. We've created a dedicated guide to explain all of them in detail.
Conditions
Open the Conditions tab to dynamically show or hide this Textarea based on what the customer has selected in other fields.
Available Inputs:
- Enable Conditional Logic: Toggle to turn conditions on or off.
- Action: Choose whether to Show or Hide this field when conditions are met.
- Match Type: Choose ALL (every rule must match) or ANY (at least one rule must match).
- Rules: Define the specific field to watch, the comparison operator (e.g.,
==,is not empty), and the value to check against.
Example: Show the "Special Instructions" textarea only when the customer selects "Custom Order" from a previous dropdown.
Learn More About Conditions
Conditional logic lets you build dynamic, branching forms that adapt as the customer interacts. See the full list of operators and examples in our detailed guide.
Stock
While less common for text inputs, you can link the act of filling out this field to a global inventory pool using the Stock tab. This is useful if entering text consumes a physical resource, like a limited "Design Review Slot".
Available Inputs:
- Enable Stock Management: Toggle to activate inventory tracking for this field.
- Inventory Item: Search and select an existing Global Stock Item, or create a new one directly from the dropdown.
- Reduction Mode: Choose how stock is deducted (Per Item Quantity, Per Line Item, or Formula).
Global Stock Management
Smart Product Options and Addons lets you share stock pools across multiple options and products, complete with cart-reservation to prevent overselling.
Example & Frontend Display
To see how this comes together, let's look at a common scenario: Selling a custom greeting card. You want to let customers type a long message to be printed inside the card, and charge them a flat $2.00 fee for the printing service.
You would configure the Textarea field like this:
- Label:
Inside Message - Description:
Type the message you want printed inside the card. - Placeholder:
Dear John, Wishing you a very happy birthday... - Price Type:
Flat Fee - Price Amount:
2.00
Frontend Product Page View: With those settings, here is how the field renders on your product page for customers to interact with:
When a customer fills out the field and adds the product to their cart, the data is safely sanitized using WordPress's sanitize_text_field() (which strips HTML but preserves the text). Line breaks are preserved as spaces in the order meta display.
Cart & WooCommerce Order View: The field label and the customer's typed text will appear clearly on the cart page, checkout, and in your WooCommerce admin order screen exactly like this:
Inside Message: Wishing you all the best on your special day. With love, the Smiths!