Disable validation of HTML5 form elements

Question

In my forms, I'd like to use the new HTML5 form types, for example <input type="url" /> (more info about the types here).

The problem is that Chrome wants to be super helpful and validate these elements for me, except that it sucks at it. If it fails the built-in validation, there's no message or indication other than the element getting focus. I prefill URL elements with "http://", and so my own custom validation just treats those values as empty strings, however Chrome rejects that. If I could change its validation rules, that would work too.

I know I could just revert back to using type="text" but I want the nice enhancements using these new types offers (eg: it automatically switches to a custom keyboard layout on mobile devices):

So, is there a way to switch off or customise the automatic validation?

Answer 1

If you want to disable client side validation for a form in HTML5 add a novalidate attribute to the form element. Ex:

<form method="post" action="/foo" novalidate>...</form>

See https://www.w3.org/TR/html5/sec-forms.html#element-attrdef-form-novalidate

Answer 2

I had a read of the spec and did some testing in Chrome, and if you catch the "invalid" event and return false that seems to allow form submission.

I am using jquery, with this HTML.

// suppress "invalid" events on URL inputs
$('input[type="url"]').bind('invalid', function() {
  alert('invalid');
  return false;
});

document.forms[0].onsubmit = function () {
  alert('form submitted');
};

<script src="https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/2.1.1/jquery.min.js"></script>
<form>
  <input type="url" value="http://" />
  <button type="submit">Submit</button>
</form>

I haven't tested this in any other browsers.

Answer 3

I just wanted to add that using the novalidate attribute in your form will only prevent the browser from sending the form. The browser still evaluates the data and adds the :valid and :invalid pseudo classes.

I found this out because the valid and invalid pseudo classes are part of the HTML5 boilerplate stylesheet which I have been using. I just removed the entries in the CSS file that related to the pseudo classes. If anyone finds another solution please let me know.

Answer 4

The best solution is to use a text input and add the attribute inputmode="url" to provide the URL keyboard facilities. The HTML5 specification was thought for this purpose. If you keep type="url" you get the syntax validation which is not useful in every case (it is better to check if it returns a 404 error instead of the syntax which is quite permissive and is not of a great help).

You also have the possibility to override the default pattern with the attribute pattern="https?://.+" for example to be more permissive.

Putting the novalidate attribute to the form is not the right answer to the asked question because it removes validation for all the fields in the form and you may want to keep validation for email fields for example.

Using jQuery to disable validation is also a bad solution because it should absolutely work without JavaScript.

In my case, I put a select element with 2 options (http:// or https://) before the URL input because I just need websites (and no ftp:// or other things). This way I avoid typing this weird prefix (the biggest regret of Tim Berners-Lee and maybe the main source of URL syntax errors) and I use a simple text input with inputmode="url" with placeholders (without HTTP). I use jQuery and server side script to validate the real existence of the web site (no 404) and to remove the HTTP prefix if inserted (I avoid to use a pattern like pattern="^((?http).)*$" to prevent putting the prefix because I think it is better to be more permissive)

Answer 5

Instead of trying to do an end run around the browser's validation, you could put the http:// in as placeholder text. This is from the very page you linked:

Placeholder Text

The first improvement HTML5 brings to web forms is the ability to set placeholder text in an input field. Placeholder text is displayed inside the input field as long as the field is empty and not focused. As soon as you click on (or tab to) the input field, the placeholder text disappears.

You’ve probably seen placeholder text before. For example, Mozilla Firefox 3.5 now includes placeholder text in the location bar that reads “Search Bookmarks and History”:

When you click on (or tab to) the location bar, the placeholder text disappears:

Ironically, Firefox 3.5 does not support adding placeholder text to your own web forms. C’est la vie.

Placeholder Support

IE  FIREFOX SAFARI  CHROME  OPERA   IPHONE  ANDROID
·   3.7+    4.0+    4.0+    ·       ·       ·

Here’s how you can include placeholder text in your own web forms:

<form>
  <input name="q" placeholder="Search Bookmarks and History">
  <input type="submit" value="Search">
</form>

Browsers that don’t support the placeholder attribute will simply ignore it. No harm, no foul. See whether your browser supports placeholder text.

It wouldn't be exactly the same since it wouldn't provide that "starting point" for the user, but it's halfway there at least.

Answer 6

I found a solution for Chrome with CSS this following selector without bypassing the native verification form which could be very useful.

form input::-webkit-validation-bubble-message, 
form select::-webkit-validation-bubble-message,
form textarea::-webkit-validation-bubble-message {
    display:none;
} 

By this way, you can also customise your message...

I got the solution on this page : http://trac.webkit.org/wiki/Styling%20Form%20Controls

Answer 7

Just use novalidate in your form.

<form name="myForm" role="form" novalidate class="form-horizontal" ng-hide="formMain">

Cheers!!!

Answer 8

If you mark a form element as required="" then novalidate="" does not help.

A way to circumvent the required validation is to disable the element.

Answer 9

Here is the function I use to prevent chrome and opera from showing the invalid input dialog even when using novalidate.

window.submittingForm = false;
$('input[novalidate]').bind('invalid', function(e) {
    if(!window.submittingForm){
        window.submittingForm = true;
        $(e.target.form).submit();
        setTimeout(function(){window.submittingForm = false;}, 100);
    }
    e.preventDefault();
    return false;
});

Answer 10

you can add some javascript to surpress those obnoxious validation bubbles and add your own validators.

document.addEventListener('invalid', (function(){
    return function(e) {
      //prevent the browser from showing default error bubble / hint
      e.preventDefault();
      // optionally fire off some custom validation handler
      // myValidation();
    };
})(), true);