Version: 1.0 licenced under Creative Commons Attribution. This script is free to use as long as you maintain a reference to this page.

Commercial (paid) support is available via: eBrain ~ Innovative Internet Ideas or WebDesign Support.

function insertTab(o, e) { var kC = e.keyCode ? e.keyCode : e.charCode ? e.charCode : e.which; if (kC == 9 && !e.shiftKey && !e.ctrlKey && !e.altKey) { var oS = o.scrollTop; if (o.setSelectionRange) { var sS = o.selectionStart; var sE = o.selectionEnd; o.value = o.value.substring(0, sS) + "\t" + o.value.substr(sE); o.setSelectionRange(sS + 1, sS + 1); o.focus(); } else if (o.createTextRange) { document.selection.createRange().text = "\t"; e.returnValue = false; } o.scrollTop = oS; if (e.preventDefault) { e.preventDefault(); } return false; } return true; } <textarea onkeydown="insertTab(this, event);"></textarea>

It took a while to write & test this tab inserting javascript (which should work in all browsers and not be bothered by the SHIFT-TAB combi). Some helpful sites where:

• http://l4x.org/261/
• http://www.thescripts.com/forum/thread146557.html
• And I used these keywords to search: cross browser, textarea, javascript, keyCode, tab, AllowTabCharacter, tab_to_tab, enableTextareaTabInsertion, createRange, onkeypress, onkeydown, preventDefault, DOM, browsers (Opera, Mozilla, Safari, FireFox, MSIE, MSIE7, IE), etc.