Textarea Block - Flex Forms

The Textarea block collects open-ended paragraphs — reviews, bug reports, biographies. For formatted HTML answers use Rich text; for static instructions use Plain text.

Business Use Cases

Customer Feedback

Collect rich, qualitative reviews and testimonials from users about your service.

Support Tickets

Provide a large canvas for users to describe the steps required to reproduce a technical bug.

Job Applications

Ask candidates open-ended questions like “Why do you want to work here?” and enforce minimum word counts.

Configuration & Usage

Deploy to Canvas

Drag the Long Text block from the Component Catalog onto the Canvas.

Configure the Prompt

Define the prompt in the Label. For long text, a good Placeholder (e.g., “Describe the issue in detail…”) is highly recommended to set expectations.

Enable Autosize (Recommended)

Toggle Animated Autosize in the Inspector to ensure the field grows seamlessly as the user types.

Technical Configuration Schemas

Fine-tune the textarea experience using these settings in the Inspector.

Visuals & Sizing
Behavioral Features
Validation Rules

string

default:"md"

The visual size of the textarea. Available options: sm, md, and lg.

integer

The initial number of rows (height) of the textarea before the user starts typing.

boolean

default:"false"

When enabled, the textarea automatically and smoothly expands its height as the user types multiple lines.

string

The maximum height of the textarea when animated_autosize is enabled (e.g., 300px). After reaching this height, the field will start scrolling.

boolean

default:"false"

Adds a dictation microphone button to the textarea, enabling speech-to-text.

boolean

default:"false"

Embeds a native emoji picker button within the textarea interface.

Data Payload Architecture

Long text submissions maintain their formatting via invisible newline characters (\n). When passing this data to other systems, ensure they support multiline strings.

{
  "submission_id": "sub_881",
  "data": {
    "bug_description": "When I click the save button, nothing happens.\n\nI have tried restarting my browser."
  }
}

[
    'bug_description' => "When I click the save button, nothing happens.\n\nI have tried restarting my browser.",
]

Deep Dive: Managing Constraints

When asking for open-ended feedback, users can sometimes write entirely too much, or conversely, give a useless one-word answer like “good.” You can forcefully curate the quality of your responses using the Minimum Length and Maximum Length settings combined with the Character Counter.

UX Tip: If you set a Minimum Length of 100 characters, always enable the Character Counter. Users need visual feedback on how close they are to satisfying the requirement.

Best Practices & FAQs

Psychology of Initial Rows

If you expect a long story, set the rows parameter to 5 or 6. A larger empty box psychologically encourages the user to write more. A small box implies you only want a quick sentence.

When to use Rich Text Instead

If you need the user to submit text with bolding, italics, or bullet points, use the Rich Content Block instead of Long Text.

​Business Use Cases

Customer Feedback

Support Tickets

Job Applications

​Configuration & Usage

​Technical Configuration Schemas

​Data Payload Architecture

​Deep Dive: Managing Constraints

​Best Practices & FAQs

Business Use Cases

Configuration & Usage

Technical Configuration Schemas

Data Payload Architecture

Deep Dive: Managing Constraints

Best Practices & FAQs