Simple Javascript Tagging Widget (Free Download)

Welcome to a tutorial on how to create a simple tagging widget with Javascript. Need to add tags to your audio, video, post, product, or whatever else? Well, we don’t actually need any third-party frameworks – Here is a simple example with pure Javascript – Read on!

 

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

 

QUICK START

<!-- (A) JS & CSS -->
<script src="2-tag.js"></script>
<link rel="stylesheet" href="3-tag.css">
 
<!-- (B) ATTACH TAGGING HERE -->
<div id="demo"></div>
<small>Hit enter or comma to add a tag.</small>
 
<!-- (C) THE JAVASCRIPT -->
<script>
// (C1) TO ATTACH TAGGER
taggr.attach({
  target : document.getElementById("demo"), // required, target <div>
  tags : ["Doge", "Cate"], // optional, default tags
  maxLength : 12, // optional, max tag characters
  maxTags : 3 // optional, max number of tags
});
 
// (C2) TO GET TAGS
// var tags = document.getElementById("demo").getTags()
</script>

For you guys who just want to use this as a “plugin”:

1. Captain Obvious at your service, load the Javascript and CSS.
2. Create an empty <div> to generate the tags widget.
3. Call taggr.attach() to create the tags widget.
   • target Target HTML element to generate the tags widget, required.
   • tags Default tags to append, optional.
   • maxLength The maximum number of characters, optional.
   • maxTags The maximum number of tags, optional.
   • To get the list of tags in your own function, use document.getElementById("TAGS").getTags().

 

 

THE JAVASCRIPT

var taggr = {
  // (A) ATTACH TAGGING
  len : 0, // track number of characters for "backspace remove tag"
  attach : instance => {
    // (A1) TAGS WRAPPER
    instance.target.classList.add("tagwrap");
 
    // (A2) ATTACH INPUT FIELD
    instance.tagin = document.createElement("input");
    instance.tagin.type = "text";
    instance.tagin.className = "tagin";
    if (instance.maxLength !== undefined) { instance.tagin.maxLength = instance.maxLength; }
    instance.target.appendChild(instance.tagin);
 
    // (A3) COMMA OR ENTER TO ADD TAG
    instance.tagin.onkeyup = evt => {
      // (A3-1) COMMA OR ENTER TO ADD TAG
      if (evt.code=="Comma" || evt.code=="Enter") {
        if (instance.tagin.value=="," || instance.tagin.value=="") {
          instance.tagin.value = "";
        } else {
          taggr.add(instance, instance.tagin.value.replace(/,/g, ""));
        }
      }
 
      // (A3-2) BACKSPACE TO REMOVE LAST TAG (IF CURRENT VALUE IS EMPTY)
      if (evt.code=="Backspace" && taggr.len == 0) {
        let last = instance.target.querySelectorAll(".tag");
        if (last.length>0) { last[last.length - 1].remove(); }
      }
    };
 
    // (A4) ATTACH DEFAULT TAGS
    if (instance.tags !== undefined) {
      instance.tags.forEach((name, i) => taggr.add(instance, name));
    }
 
    // (A5) GET TAGS
    instance.target.getTags = () => {
      let tags = [];
      Array.from(instance.target.querySelectorAll(".tag"))
      .forEach(tag => tags.push(tag.innerHTML));
      return tags;
    };
  },
 
  // (B) ADD A NEW TAG
  add : (instance, name) => {
    // (B1) CHECK MAX TAGS
    if (instance.maxTags !== undefined) {
      let count = instance.target.querySelectorAll(".tag").length;
      if (count >= instance.maxTags) {
        alert(`Maximum ${instance.maxTags} tags allowed.`);
        return;
      }
    }
 
    // (B2) CREATE & APPEND NEW TAG
    let tag = document.createElement("div");
    tag.className = "tag";
    tag.innerHTML = name;
    tag.onclick = () => tag.remove();
    instance.target.insertBefore(tag, instance.tagin);
 
    // (B3) EMPTY TAG INPUT
    instance.tagin.value = "";
  }
};

Uh oh, this looks “very confusing”, but keep calm and look carefully. There are only 2 functions here.

• taggr.attach() You already know this, we use it to create the “tags widget”. Not going to explain line-by-line, read through the sections and they are very straightforward… It’s just long-winded.
• taggr.add() Fired when the user hits “enter” or “comma”, appends a new tag in the wrapper.

 

 

GENERATED HTML

<div id="demo">
  <div class="tag">Doge</div>
  <div class="tag">Cate</div>
  <input type="text" class="tagin">
</div>

Yep, this is what taggr.attach() generates. Don’t think this needs an explanation…

 

THE CSS

/* (A) WRAPPER */
.tagwrap {
  display: flex;
  border: 2px solid #aaa;
}
 
/* (B) SHARED TAGS */
.tagwrap .tag, .tagwrap .tagin {
  margin: 10px 5px;
  padding: 10px;
}
 
/* (C) TAGS */
.tagwrap .tag {
  color: #fff;
  background: #2d7dc1;
  cursor: pointer;
}
.tagwrap .tag::after {
  content: "X";
  padding-left: 20px;
}
 
/* (D) TAG INPUT */
.tagwrap .tagin {
  flex-grow: 1;
  background: none;
  border: 0;
}
.tagwrap .tagin:focus {
  outline-width: 0;
  outline: none;
}

Lastly, just CSS cosmetics to make things look better. Nothing much really… We simply set the <div> wrapper to display: flex, the tags and text input field will “flow” quite flawlessly.

 

 

 

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EXAMPLE CODE DOWNLOAD

Click here for the source code on GitHub gist, just click on “download zip” or do a git clone. I have released it under the MIT license, so feel free to build on top of it or use it in your own project.

 

 

COMPATIBILITY CHECKS

• Arrow Functions – CanIUse
• CSS Flexbox – CanIUse

This example will work on all modern “Grade A” browsers.

 

LINKS & REFERENCES

• Simple Tag System With PHP MySQL – Code Boxx
• Javascript Tagging Example On CodePen