Countable is a JavaScript function to add live paragraph-, word- and character-counting to an HTML element. Countable is a zero-dependency library and comes in at 1KB when minified and gzipped.

View the Demo

The preferred method of installation is bower.

bower install Countable

Alternatively, you can download the latest zipball or copy the script directly.

Countable is available as a Node / CommonJS module, an AMD module and as a global. All methods are accessed on the Countable object directly.

The live and once methods both accept a callback. The given callback is then called whenever needed with a single parameter that carries all the releavant data. this is bound to the current element. Take the following code for an example.

var area = document.getElementById('text')

Countable.once(area, function (counter) {
  console.log(this, counter)
})

=> <textarea id="text"></textarea>, { all: 0, characters: 0, paragraphs: 0, words: 0 }

Bind the callback to all given elements. The callback gets called everytime the element's value or text is changed.

Countable.live(area, function (counter) {
  console.log(counter)
})

Remove the bound callback from all given elements.

Countable.die(area)

Similar to Countable.live(), but the callback is only executed once, there are no events bound.

Countable.once(area, function (counter) {
  console.log(counter)
})

Checks the live-counting functionality is bound to the given.

Countable.enabled(area)

Countable.live() and Countable.once() both accept a third argument, an options object that allows you to change how Countable treats certain aspects of your element's text.

{
  hardReturns: false,
  stripTags: false,
  ignoreReturns: false
}

By default, paragraphs are split by a single return (a soft return). By setting hardReturns to true, Countable splits paragraphs after two returns.

Depending on your application and audience, you might need to strip HTML tags from the text before counting it. You can do this by setting stripTags to true.

In most cases, returns should be counted as part of the all property. Set ignoreReturns to false to remove them from the counter.

Countable supports all modern browsers. Internet Explorer is supported down to version 7. Note that some browsers don't implement the oninput event consistently so there might be differences in the way Countable works in different browsers.

Upgrading from version 1.x.x is easy. Most likely, you've used something like the following:

var area = document.getElementById('area')

new Countable(area, function (counter) {
  console.log(counter)
}, { stripTags: true })

The new syntax offers more functions as described above, but to keep the live-counting functionality, you just write this:

var area = document.getElementById('area')

Countable.live(area, function (counter) {
  console.log(counter)
}, { stripTags: true })

• The callback parameter is no longer optional
• options.once has been replaced with Countable.once()
• Countable.live() and Countable.once() both accept one or more elements, rather than just a single one
• Inside the callback, this is now bound to the current element

2.0.2 (2014-02-19)

• NEW: Returns are counted as part of the all property. A new option ignoreReturns was added to restore the old behaviour.

2.0.1 (2013-07-13)

• FIX: Missing parameter in Countable.once. (Thanks to MrOPR)

2.0.0 (2013-05-25)

• NEW: Countable has a new Syntax. You can now use Countable.live, Countable.once, Countable.die and Countable.enabled. Notes on upgrading is provided in the README.
• NEW: Countable can now work on multiple elements with one function call.
• FIX: Prevent a XSS bug. (Thanks to Rob--W)

1.4.2 (2013-05-23)

• FIX: Fix a bug where options wouldn't be applied correctly.

1.4.1 (2013-05-22)

• NEW: Added option to execute the callback only once.

1.4.0 (2013-05-20)

• NEW: Allow for an options object as the third parameter.

1.3.0 (2013-05-16)

• NEW: Countable is now available as an AMD and CommonJS module.
• FIX: Better handle textarea with predefined value. (Thanks to besmithett)

1.2.0 (2013-05-02)

• NEW: Optionally strip HTML tags. (Thanks to craniumslows)
• NEW: Include ucs2decode function from the punycode library to better handle special characters. (Thanks to craniumslows)
• IMPROVED: Better handling of punctuation.

1.1.1 (2013-03-16)

• IMPROVED: Better support for foreign languages and special characters.

1.1.0 (2013-03-12)

• NEW: Include number of characters including whitespace.
• NEW: Countable is now available on Bower.
• IMPROVED: Improve performance when counting the values.
• IMPROVED: Improve performance when trimming strings by using String::trim when available.
• IMPROVED: Better documentation.

1.0.0 (2013-03-11)

• Initial release

My name is Sacha Schmid (@sachaschmid). I'm a front-end engineer from Switzerland. I am the creator of SSGS and other open source projects.

Are you using Countable in a project? I'd love to see what you've achieved. Just send me a tweet.

• @epmatsw
• @craniumslows
• @Rob--W