Autocomplete using Javascript:
Sitepoint has a nice article describing a method to add auto-complete functionality to HTML input fields using Javascript. The article dosn’t have a demo, but Simon Willson’s post points to one on his site which auto completes color names. Users hate entering data, this script can make form filling a little easier. Update: Navneet in the comments points to a neat Javascript that fills flash forms with google autofill. But, isn’t it a security breach that pages can submit user info saved in google autofill without the users concent? On another note, Mook points to a method to resize flash object/embed tags dynamically.
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Interestingly I could not make the example from the sitepoint article to work, doing a diff of the Simon Wilson example with the sitepointarticle finally pointed out the error on line 86 (as opposed to line 107 as indicated by IE)
In any case, I don’t really know if people will like this in the beginning. It’s kind of the same argument one has with mystery meat navigation. You have already decided what to type into the field before actually typing it in.
For example I wanted to type brown, but when I type ‘b’ the autofill has already generated ‘blue’, now I have to re-orient myself and keep on typing without loosing focus. I think with more complex real-life scenarios, this would be a usability nightmare…
But the form autofills are a nice feature. I use Google Autofill a lot these days, and have a small hack for using Google Autofill with Flash Forms as well. Not elegant, but I have not had time lately to fix it up…
http://www.onclipevent.com/archives/enterframe/000130.html
By default, the auto fill option is set to warn you of all the fields being filled out. You can turn it off if you do not wish it to do so. In which case, yes, it is a potential privacy hazard, where the Autofill may submit information you did not want it to….